THE TREATMENT OF SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

ISBN-10: 0-87668-166-6
Writers: William E. Hartman and Marylin A. Fithian
Title: Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction
Subtitle: A Bio-Psycho-Social Approach
Edition: First Aronson Edition
Language: English
Place of Publication: New York
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.
Year of Publication: 1974
Format: 152x234mm
Pages: xix+282
Illustrations: 20 black and white figures
Jacket Design: Raymond Solomon
Binding: Blue cloth in duotone dust jacket
Original Price: USD 12.50
Weight: 593 gr.
Entry No.: 2012026
Entry Date: 12^th July 2012

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction grew out of four years of seminars at the Center for Marital and Sexual Studies with professionals who deal with sexual problems. The object of these seminars was to disseminate the latest information and techniques in sexual therapy. The emphasis here is not on theory but on actual clinical procedures.

The book is based on the pioneering work of Masters and Johnson. To them the authors are indebted for much of their two-week intensive sexual therapy program. An average of 35 hours is spent with each couple, depending upon the particular needs and desires of the two spouses in treatment. The program involves a series of 34 steps which include psychological testing, the taking of sexual histories, examinations, exercises, homework assignments, and audiovisual stimulants, including video tape viewings of actual sexual intercourse. All of these measures are described in detail in the book and the multiplicity of forms are shown in full in the useful appendix.  The generous bibliography will guide the interested reader in the precise direction he wishes to take.

The bio-psycho-social approach is action-oriented, reflecting the active nature of intercourse itself. The patients learn through doing. The program aims to make a couple more intimately aware of each other and their feelings. Learning to touch leads to caressing and eventually to exploring through non-demand techniques,  while the man and woman each become fully aware of the other’s body and feelings.

The authors have had 10 years experience as a dual-sex therapy team and better than one when it comes to observing misguided emotional response. Such an approach also minimizes dependency needs in therapy and precludes identification with a lone therapist. For recently married couples with relatively uncomplicated problems, the group workshop is recommended.