Addressing Issues of Sexuality in Couples Therapy: Emotionally Focused Therapy Meets Sex Therapy

Johnson, Susan M.; Simakhodskaya, Zoya; Moran, Michael

doi:10.1007/s11930-018-0146-5

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Attachment theory has informed many approaches within the clinical realm, including couples and sex therapy. When dealing with insecure attachment styles in committed relationships, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) has presented itself as an option to address attachment injuries and issues of sexuality in couples (Girard & Woolley, 2016;Johnson, Simakhodskaya & Moran, 2018;Johnson & Zuccarini, 2010;Wiebe et al, 2018). Girard and Woolley (2016) explored the sexual satisfaction outcomes in couples two years after completing EFT and found that EFT helped foster responsiveness and engagement in couple relationships.…”

Section: Attachmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because sex itself is an intimate activity, an avoidant individual is more likely to disengage from sexual activity or only engage in sexual activity in a way that is less effective at developing intimacy. Johnson, Simakhodskaya and Moran (2018) posit that avoidant individuals will engage in sex for self-enhancement rather than as a bonding activity. Because both inhibited sexual passion and avoidant attachment reflect similar behaviors in an individual such as the tendency to refrain and disengage from sexual desire and behavior, it is possible that individuals with this attachment style will be less likely to develop harmonious sexual passion, and more likely to develop inhibited sexual passion.…”

Section: Avoidant Attachmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sexual Passion and Attachment: Sexual Passion Style as a Mediator between Attachment Insecurity and Sexual Satisfaction in Committed Relationships

Valdez

Leonhardt

Busby

2020

J Marital Family Therapy

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Attachment insecurity is negatively linked to sexual satisfaction in committed relationships, but we have much to learn about the specific mechanisms underlying this connection. With a sample of 1,421 participants from Amazon's Mechanical Turk, we used structural equation modeling to explore whether sexual passion expression (harmonious, obsessive, inhibited) might mediate the association between insecure attachment (anxious and avoidant) and sexual satisfaction. Anxious attachment was linked to lower harmonious sexual passion, higher obsessive sexual passion, and higher inhibited sexual passion. Attachment avoidance was linked to lower harmonious sexual passion and higher inhibited sexual passion. Harmonious sexual passion was strongly linked to higher sexual satisfaction, and inhibited sexual passion was negatively linked to sexual satisfaction (for men). Sexual passion expression variables fully mediated the associations between attachment insecurity and sexual satisfaction. This study highlights that the expression of sexual passion may be important when considering the connection between attachment and sexual satisfaction.

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Section: Attachmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Avoidant Attachmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Passion and Attachment: Sexual Passion Style as a Mediator between Attachment Insecurity and Sexual Satisfaction in Committed Relationships

Valdez

Leonhardt

Busby

2020

J Marital Family Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…To understand sexual dysfunction, it is necessary to understand the whole context. It is fundamental to recognize that human behavior and sexual expression are not separated from the rest of the human experience, and then to integrate sex and marital therapy into general treatment programs [43,44].…”

Section: Globalize Your Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erectile Dysfunction: A Systemic look at the Mind-Body connection in Erectile Physiology

Brito¹

2021

JCRR

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Sex is, without a doubt, an experience for the senses and, as such, it is fundamentally an experience for the "here and now". Human sexuality is a natural and poignant experience. Although they may be accentuated by words, the vitality and depth of feelings provided by sexual contact are expressed through immediate sensory experience. Despite this, few people know how to create the satisfying and rewarding sexual experiences they desire. Since sex is essentially a present and undoubtedly a sensual experience, the most important change in internal processes involves paying attention to the sensations. This review aims to show how essential it is to have a careful attention of the patient as a whole, requiring a systemic look at him through a multidisciplinary approach, seeing the individual. Additionally, it will be shown the sexual dysfunction, as a psychosomatic being, integrating the physical and psychological evaluation, seeking data on the sexual life of the patient, relevant to the treatment of his dysfunction. The use of such approach facilitates the obtaining of unconscious information, brought through an extremely careful interview to raise the individual internal processes; understand attitudes, external behaviors, subjective states, representative systems and beliefs, in addition to a thorough observation of the ocular access tracks of the patient with erectile dysfunction, where incongruities may arise that could otherwise be disregarded and hinder the proper treatment of the patient. All this will allow a more complete understanding of his physiological response and will facilitate the reconnection of the individual to his natural process of sexual response.

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“… 9 Research has consistently demonstrated EFT to improve relationship satisfaction, maintain improvements across time (see metanalysis by Beasley and Ager 10 ) and support couples to develop a more secure bond from which to address difficult topics such as sexual problems. 11 EFT provides a framework to enable the development of a secure attachment within dyads by creating a safe space in which couples are able to understand their primary emotions and convey them to their partners. 12 When a patient and partner perceive each other as a ‘safe haven’, this creates the optimal conditions for healthy intimate relationships and sexual functioning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study protocol of a pilot study evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a psychosexual intervention for couples postallogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

et al. 2020

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IntroductionSexual dysfunction is one of the most common side effects of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for haematological cancers. Problems can persist between 5 and 10 years post-transplant and impact mood, couple intimacy and relationship satisfaction. Few intervention studies, however, target sexual dysfunction in patients post-HSCT. This pilot study aims to examine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a psychosexual intervention for HSCT survivors and their partners post-transplantation.Methods and analysisFifteen allogeneic HSCT survivors and their partners will be recruited. Patients who are more than 3 months post-transplantation will be sent invitation letters describing the couples’ psychosexual intervention that will be offered through this study. The intervention will comprise two components: (1) psychosexual education about medical and behavioural treatment options for sexual dysfunction delivered by a haematology nurse consultant; (2) emotionally focused therapy-based relationship education programme for couples delivered by a clinical psychologist (four sessions of 1.5 hours each). Couples who consent to participate will be administered a series of measures assessing mood, relationship satisfaction and sexual dysfunction preintervention and post-intervention, as well as satisfaction with the intervention postintervention. Feasibility of the intervention will be examined via recording enrolment rate, adherence, compliance with completing outcome measures and fidelity of intervention delivery.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Results will be presented at national and international conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal so that in can be accessed by clinicians involved in the care of allogeneic HSCT patients. If this intervention is found to be feasible and acceptable, its impact will be examined in a future randomised controlled trial and subsequently implemented as part of routine care in the allogeneic HSCT population.

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Addressing Issues of Sexuality in Couples Therapy: Emotionally Focused Therapy Meets Sex Therapy

Cited by 18 publications

References 22 publications

Sexual Passion and Attachment: Sexual Passion Style as a Mediator between Attachment Insecurity and Sexual Satisfaction in Committed Relationships

Sexual Passion and Attachment: Sexual Passion Style as a Mediator between Attachment Insecurity and Sexual Satisfaction in Committed Relationships

Erectile Dysfunction: A Systemic look at the Mind-Body connection in Erectile Physiology

Study protocol of a pilot study evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a psychosexual intervention for couples postallogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

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