Crystal Nesfield
Licensed Professional Counselor · Certified Sex Therapist · Somatic Experiencing Practitioner · EMDR Certified
My Story
I didn’t come to this work from the outside looking in.
I grew up with significant trauma and was shaped early by loss, instability, and experiences that took years to fully understand and heal. Addiction touched my life deeply — through people I loved and through my own journey into recovery. I know what it means to grieve people lost to substances. I know what it means to carry trauma in your body long after the events themselves have passed.
The turning point that brought me to this work was the sudden loss of someone I loved — someone whose untreated trauma and mental health struggles contributed to his death. That loss made something clear to me: people deserve access to care that actually reaches the level where the pain lives. I went back to school, earned my Master’s in Professional Counseling from Grand Canyon University, and committed myself to understanding trauma — how it forms, how it lives in the nervous system and the body, and how people genuinely heal.
My own healing has involved EMDR, somatic work, and learning to listen to what my body was trying to tell me long before my mind caught up. That experience is not separate from my clinical work — it is foundational to it.
I am in recovery. I have sat across from a therapist and tried to find words for things that lived deeper than words. I know what it feels like when the work finally reaches the right level. That shapes everything about how I show up for the people I work with.
Why trauma and sexuality:
My path into sex therapy emerged from recognizing how profoundly trauma affects the body — including sexuality, desire, intimacy, and the capacity to feel safe with another person. These aren’t separate issues. Healing one almost always requires attending to the other.
I trained at The Meadows, a nationally recognized trauma and addiction treatment center, alongside leading experts including Peter Levine and Pia Mellody. I began with a specialization in compulsive sexual behaviors and over time expanded into certified sex therapy — because I kept seeing how many people were struggling at exactly that intersection and how few therapists were equipped to help them there.
My approach:
I don’t believe one modality fits everyone. I bring a range of evidence-based, body-informed approaches to my work and weave them together based on what each person actually needs.
My training includes EMDR with specialized focus on attachment wounding, developmental trauma, and dissociation — Somatic Experiencing at the practitioner level — NARM, which addresses patterns formed in early relational trauma — Post Induction Therapy through Pia Mellody’s model — DBT skills — and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for clients who haven’t found relief through traditional approaches.
As a Certified Sex Therapist through AASECT, I bring specialized clinical training in sexual health, intimacy, and the full range of concerns that affect how people experience their bodies and their relationships.
My practice is affirming and welcoming to adults of all genders, sexual orientations, and relationship structures — including LGBTQ+ individuals, kink-identified clients, and those in non-monogamous relationships.
Specialized Training
Sex Therapy Training – Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment
Certified Sex Therapist – American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists
Out of Control Sexual Behavior (OCSB) – Doug Braun-Harvey, MFT, CGP
On-going consultation
Sensate Focus – Paula Leech, LMFT, CST, CSTS
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) – Somatic Experiencing International
Somatic Resilience and Regulation (SRR) – Steve Terrell, PsyD and Kathy Kain, PhD
Relational Bodywork and Somatic Education (BASE) – BASE Practitioner – Dave Berger, MFT, PT, MA, SEP
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – EMDR Institute – Certified -Specialized Training in Attachment Wounding, Developmental Trauma and Dissociation
Post Induction Therapy (PIT) – The Meadows of Wickenburg
Dialectical and Behavioral Therapy Skills Training – Psychwire
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Training – Polaris Insight Center
Previous Certified Sex Addiction Therapist – International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals – No longer maintaining certification