The scope and effectiveness of sex therapy.

Abstract

The Scope and Effectiveness of Sex TherapyAlthough physicians and other healers have dealt with sex problems for hundreds of years, the specialty of sex therapy as we now know it was officially born in 1970, with the publication of Masters & Johnson's Human Sexual Inadequacy. The new field was greeted by widespread acceptance both from professionals and the public and has grown in size and popularity.Like all other psychotherapies, sex therapy is not a monolith and actually refers to a number of approaches and methods . Although most sex therapists have in common a concern with changing overt behavior, a penchantThe authors wish to thank Bernard Apfelbaum, Carol Rinkleib Ellison, and Richard Milan for their comments.

Clinical Research in Sexual Dysfunctions:

“…Success rates for females achieving orgasm during a variety of sexual activities ranged from a high of 66% (during masturbation) to a low of 6% (intercourse, female on top). These rates are congruent with those cited in earlier reviews (0-75%; Zilbcrgeld & Kilmann, 1984). Multiple outcome criteria were employed by Libman et al including both subjective satisfaction and behavioral measures.…”

“…The need for this type of research in sex therapy was discussed earlier and is particularly relevant to the problem of primary orgasmic dysfunction in light of the high treatment success rates (70-100%) and almost nonexistent relapse rates (Zilbergeld & Kilmann, 1984). In a methodologically sound design using multiple outcome measures, the authors demonstrated the effectiveness of.the use of a vibrator in the "Partner-Involvement with no…”

“…Marks concluded that desensitization in fantasy produced weak effects and directed sexual skills training was "probably more potent than contrasting procedures" (1981, p. 754). Similarly, the Zilbergeld and Kilmann (1984) review concluded that, in general, direct work on a sexual problem (completing tasks or corrective exercises to effect change) was more effective than simply talking about or dealing with the presumed causes of a problem. Other than the stop-start or squeeze methods for premature ejaculation, anxiety reduction techniques for erectile dysfunctions, and anxiety reduction and stimulation by self or partner for female orgasmic dysfunctions, additional knowledge about the effects of particular types of direct work is lacking.…”

Perspectives of sex therapy outcome: A survey of aasect providers

“…It has already been suggested that sex therapy is not more or less effective than other therapies. 24 We also found that the four provider groups differed in their estimates of success rates (clieht satisfaction with sexual functioning) for some of the sex problems. Specifically, the Therapists and the Multiple-certified providers estimated higher success rates than the Educators and Counselors for premature ejaculation, secondary erectile dysfunction, and sexual arousal problems.…”

Disorder as harmful dysfunction: A conceptual critique of DSM-III-R's definition of mental disorder.

“…That literature seemed to establish that simple masturbation therapy could reverse this disorder in well over 90% of patients (Barbach, 1974;Ersner-Hershfield & Kopel, 1979;LoPiccolo & Lobitz, 1972;Payn & Wakefield, 1982;Wallace & Barbach, 1974), qualifying this condition as perhaps the most successfully treated mental disorder. These results were then cited in literature reviews to support the efficacy of brief sex therapy in the treatment of sexual disorders (e.g., Andersen, 1983;Zilbergeld & Kilmann, 1984), contrary to the common view that such treatment could not effectively deal with the complexity of disordered functioning. However, an analysis of the criteria used for sample inclusion and for outcome assessment in that literature (Wakefield, 1987a(Wakefield, , 1988a suggests that for the great majority of women who were "cured" there was no evidence that they had ever had an orgasmic dysfunction affecting their masturbatory activity in the first place.…”