Sexual Issues, Therapy and Treatment
Some couples work together in therapy, but more often sexual issues are addressed as part of individual therapy.
Among the sexual issues encountered are problems often diagnosed as:
- sexual aversion
- problems of sexual desire
- arousal difficulties
- impotence
- dyspareunia (pain during sex)
- anorgasmia (generally preorgasmic women)
- premature ejaculation
- delayed orgasms
- unconsummated marriages, or
- lack of sexual communication among partners
I have also helped people dealing with medical issues, illnesses and injuries which intrude in sexual relationships, such as:
- the impact of a partner’s surgery on couples’ sexuality
- relationship rehabilitation after genital cancers or breast cancer
- the impact of chemotherapy and radiation therapy
- cardiac rehabilitation and sexual relationships
- the impact of severe injuries and accidents on sexuality
- changes of aging
- hormone levels and sexuality
- rehabilitation from genital surgery
- dissatisfaction withr genital shape
- sexual adjustment after childbirth
- medications impacting sexuality
- the impact of Viagra-type drugs on couples
- the impact of dementia
- developmental delays and intimate relationships
- alcoholism or addictions’ impact on sexuality.
Psychotherapy naturally deals with effects of trauma, such as:
- childhood neglect, abuse, or sexual abuse
- physical abuse after childhood
- spousal abuse
- post-traumatic stress
- rape victims
Sexual issues in couples’ therapy may include:
- negotiating preferred sexual activities
- extending partners’ sexual comfort levels
- sexless marriages or unconsummated marriages
- forging closer alliances between partners
- moving past arguments
- cruelty, untrustworthiness and power issues
- constant tension in relationships
- partners who play fast and loose with reality
- psychological warfare
- internet activities or pornography
- issues about sadism and masochism
- religious influences on sexuality
- dealing with children’s sexuality
- extending a couple’s sexual potential
- or others
I don’t provide 12 Step Sexual Addictions treatment. I treat people with “sexual addiction” behaviors or feelings, but I approach the treatment from a mind-body perspective.
What is today’s sex therapy? All talk, be assured. Nudity is neither encouraged nor allowed. In a typical couple’s treatment, people discuss the physical details of how they interact in order to illuminate their bedrock beliefs about relationships. Then they’re in a position to identify their own limitations to intimacy, limitations that keep them from deep, ongoing satisfaction in their love lives. Although most people start by seeing their partners as the culprits, the chance to see their own unwitting contributions (actually, their developmental dilemmas) sparks a process of self-recognition and self-improvement – and hope – that earns newfound respect from previously discouraged partners. 
Then suppose these new experiences warm the cockles of people’s hearts, or other nether regions? Couples tend to inspire one another to deeper levels of integrity, overcoming the shortcomings and blind spots that had been keeping them from more satisfying intimacy. Or suppose these new, shared experiences drive up the couple’s brain levels of dopamine, the basic reward system of the organism, which in turn drives up testosterone levels in both sexes, heating up sexual desire. What then? Then people’s eyes truly light up and you see how today’s sex therapy gets couples moving again past the normal roadblocks of a healthy relationship. You see how people become healthier and more capable of love.