A typical Surrogate Partner session is two hours long and scheduled once per week, while a typical talk therapy session with your collaborating clinician is 50-60 minutes once per week.

The average case is completed in 15-30 Surrogate Partner sessions, meaning that therapy spans several months, often ranging from 4 to 8 months, depending on the specific goals and progress of the client.

While I complete my supervised internship with IPSA, I am currently booking new clients at a discounted rate of $200/hr (private pay rate- insurance is not accepted at this time).

Surrogate Partners in Texas charge from $200-$500/hr.

Keeping in mind that sessions are typically 2hrs long, and cases are completed in an average of 15 sessions, you can expect your total investment in the Surrogate Partner side of the work to be $6,000 spread out over 4-5 months.

Keep in mind that you will also be seeing a talk therapist in conjunction with the Surrogate Partner. Many of these collaborating clinicians accept insurance which will result in a low copay. Some collaborating clinicians do NOT accept insurance; in which case, plan to spend $6,000 on the talk therapy side as well spread out over 4-5 months.

The work of Surrogate Partners is often misunderstood to center around explicit sexual contact and intercourse. In reality, the therapy supports the client in building a foundation of self-awareness, healthy boundaries, good communication, relaxation, and positive body image before more deeply intimate contact (often 10-15% of the work) is even considered.

Surrogate Partners continually assess the readiness of the client to engage in therapeutically relevant activity using the following criteria: (1) the activity is relevant to the therapeutic goals of the client, and (2) the surrogate, therapist, and client all agree that a foundation has been established, based on what has been done previously, that would allow that behavior to be corrective and therapeutic. An activity is included in the surrogate partner therapy program only if the aforementioned criteria are met.

Activities may include verbal discussion, sensate focus (touch) games and exercises, authentic relating games, and relationship roleplay.

If you are seeking “full-service sex work” or seeking to pay for a specific sexual activity or experience, Surrogate Partner Therapy is not for you.

According to the Surrogate Partner Collective (SPC), Surrogate Partner Therapy is both legal and ethical. There are no laws that prevent clients from seeking Surrogate Partners, prevent Surrogate Partners from practicing, or prevent therapists from collaborating with Surrogate Partners. Claims otherwise are rooted more in fear than fact, as the Surrogate Partner process has not been immune from the deeply-rooted fear, shame, and judgment around sexuality that has thrived in our culture. No statute prohibits the practice. After extensive research, the Surrogate Partner Collective (SPC) have not been able to find evidence of any case in which a surrogate partner or a collaborating therapist has been prosecuted for violating a criminal law or held liable for violating a civil law.

In 1997, Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, former United States Senator, and former California Attorney General, stated: “If it's between consensual adults and referred by licensed therapists and doesn't involve minors, then it's not illegal.”

Click here to read about the triadic model.

For Surrogate Partner Therapy, I ONLY work on cases within the triadic model.

For Intimacy Coaching (couples’ coaching and masturbation coaching for single and partnered people), I am available to meet outside of the triad.

Surrogate Partner Therapy is designed to create a safe and supportive environment for clients to explore intimacy, communication, and relationships, and this involves building a degree of trust and connection between the Surrogate Partner and the client. 

However, the Surrogate Partner-client relationship is ultimately a professional one, governed by ethical guidelines and intended to be temporary and therapeutic in nature.

I (Ali) have a boundary that I will not date current or former clients or see them in a romantic or platonic context outside of sessions. I maintain a professional relationship with my clients because what's important is meeting their goals.

Like most therapeutic modalities, Surrogate Partner Therapy work touches on and can activate the entire range of human emotion, which the collaborating clinician helps the client to process through talk therapy. You are always welcome to authentically express and process your emotions in the container of our work together.