The History and Evolution of Sex Therapy and its Relationship to Psychoanalysis

Abstract

The dominant treatment methods for male sexual dysfunction are currently biomedical and pharmacological. Historical analysis of the therapeutic field, however, shows that this trend is quite recent. This paper provides a historical examination of the treatment of male sexual dysfunction, analyzing the role of psychology and psychoanalysis in the treatment field. At various points in history, sexual therapies have accounted for the biological, psychological and social factors of male sexual dysfunction; this attention, however, has rarely been balanced. By tracing the evolution of treatment models, this paper shows how psychological and psychoanalytic principles have influenced the treatment of male sexual dysfunction. Despite the recent dominance of cognitive behavioral and biomedical techniques, the paper concludes, sex therapy is a discipline in flux, and with the increased push for integrative and multi‐modal treatment models, the (re‐)introduction of psychodynamic techniques in mainstream sex therapy is a promising possibility for future clinical practice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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