Sex and couples therapy: A method of treatment to enhance physical and emotional intimacy

Abstract

It has been well documented that couples presenting for sex therapy frequently have difficulties in resolving conflict and in expressing emotional as well as physical intimacy. Recent studies have shown that intimacy is an important variable in determining the health or pathology in the dyadic system. Furthermore, the level of intimacy is influenced by a capacity for self disclosure and an ability to consider the partner's opinion. This paper describes a method of treatment that combines well-known strategies to treat sexual problems with a new approach to couples therapy, which encourages self-disclosure to facilitate mutual understanding, decrease conflict, and increase intimacy.

Culture and Sexual Self-Disclosure in Intimate Relationships

“…Therapists and sexologists have discovered that discussing one's sexual preferences is advantageous to relationships (e.g. Masters & Johnson, 1976), increasing sexual satisfaction and reducing sexual problems (LoPiccolo & LoPiccolo, 1978;Metts & Cupach, 1989;Russell, Preferences", which is comprised of six items, including such statements as: "I let my partner know what I do not like in sex" or "I let my partner know what feels good to me in sex". Chiou and Wan (2006) devised a scale called the Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale for Taiwanese Adolescents (SSST).…”

Influence of self-disclosure of Internet celebrities on normative commitment: the mediating role of para-social interaction

“…However, studies have revealed that SD affects para-social interaction (PSI) (Rubin et al , 1985; Kim and Song, 2016; Ding and Qiu, 2017), which is defined as the unilateral connection between Internet celebrities and their followers (Wang et al , 2015). Researchers have suggested that SD facilitates mutual understanding, decreases conflict, and increases intimacy (Russell, 1990); furthermore, it assists in the formation of interpersonal relationships (Dutton et al , 2019). Although Internet celebrities operate on interactive SNSs, where PSI has become an increasingly salient feature (Venus and Aziz, 2019), research on PSI has typically been focused on non-interactive media, such as television or radio (Wulf et al , 2021).…”