What is a Sexual Bond?
Sexual interest in humans is divided into 4 stages in itself. The first level of sexual interest is desire. Following the request, there is sexual arousal, this arousal plateaus in a phase and then orgasm takes place. The last stage of sexual interest is the dissolution stage.
Problems related to sexuality may be caused by issues that concern any stage of these 4 worlds. The inability to perform sexuality in a healthy way for various reasons is referred to as sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction is a condition that can occur in both sexes. Approximately 4 out of 10 women and 3 out of 10 men may experience sexual dysfunction at some point in their life.
There are many different conditions that are priced under sexual dysfunctions:
- Erectile dysfunction
- Sexual interest/arousal disorder in men and women
- premature ejaculation
- late ejaculation
- female orgasmic disorder
- vaginismus
A satisfying sex life is considered natural and healthy. For the continuation of the general smoothness of the connection, the couples must also maintain physical and emotional intimacy. Sex therapy can be used to analyze the problems that prevent the continuation of sexual life at a healthy level.
What is Sex Therapy?
Sex therapy is a speech therapy practice that focuses on mutual dialogue, sharing and reconciliation. Individuals in therapy contact to determine which of their medical, mental or personal problems has become a problem in their sexual life.
Sex therapists are licensed psychologists, physicians or psychiatry specialists trained in this field. Sex therapy, which is considered a discontinuous-term counseling service, is usually completed in the middle of 5 to 20 sessions, depending on the underlying cause.
How is Sex Therapy Applied?
During the session, many problems that may cause problems with sexual life are evaluated by the therapist. The degree of sexual desire, whether there is a random physical problem that may prevent sexual intercourse, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse) or the presence of chronic disorders that will prevent the maintenance of a healthy sexual life can be counted as examples of issues that can be examined during speech therapy.
As in other psychotherapy techniques, the sharing of experiences, worries and feelings takes place during the sexual therapy session. During the session, the therapist can meet with the couples one-on-one or separately.
At the end of each session, a future with a healthy sexual life is approached step by step. The sexual therapist continues to direct the sessions in order to first accept the problem that is the source of sexual dysfunction and to raise awareness, and to take steps to control this problem.
After the session, the couple can give various assignments by the sex therapist, such as reading a book about sexuality or healthy connection training.
At the same time, some psychological tests can be applied in order to investigate whether emotional problems can be the source of sexual dysfunction during sexual therapy sessions.
If it is determined that the problem that causes sexual dysfunction is caused by a physical problem during the session, the therapist directs the persons to the branch that analyzes this problem.
What Are the Benefits of Sex Therapy?
Sex therapy is a type of psychotherapy that is usually completed in a short time. While the underlying cause of sexual problems can be determined in a short time during the session, steps can be taken to analyze them, while the detection of some problems may take longer. The variability of the duration of sexual therapy is due to the complex nature of sexual problems.
Conditions such as stress, trouble or depression should not be overlooked as they may be related to sexual life.
The foundations of a successful therapy session can be laid through individuals’ mutual faith and good contacts. During one-on-one therapy, individuals’ sharing their worries about sexual activity can improve the understanding that couples show towards each other.
In men, the realization of an erection following sexual arousal occurs with increased blood flow to the penile region. As the increased blood flow fills the spaces in the penis, enlargement and hardening occur in the penis.
Erectile dysfunction, which is a problem encountered in 4 out of every 10 men aged 40 years, is a condition that is detected 2 times more in men aged 70 and over. Erectile dysfunction can occur due to physical or mental problems.
One of the situations in which sexual therapy benefits men is erectile dysfunction. Making an effort to be a part of the analysis for the couple to participate together and for the spouse to be a part of the analysis is one of the elements that will contribute to the success of the sessions.
In cases where tension is the cause of erectile dysfunction, sexual therapy sessions with the joint participation of couples usually result in positive results. The success rate is lower in therapy sessions with the participation of the male alone.
One of the problems that negatively affect the sexual life in men is premature ejaculation, that is, premature ejaculation. In premature ejaculation, people do not have control over the time of ejaculation and cannot delay this situation. There is no set time frame for premature ejaculation, and if the couple considers this to be a problem for their sexual life, they should seek medical help. Although premature ejaculation is a condition that is evaluated independently of the duration of sexual activity, ejaculation occurring in the first 3 minutes of sexual intercourse has a diagnostic value for this problem.
Premature ejaculation may occur in approximately 1 in 4 men. The only permanently accepted treatment approach for premature ejaculation, which is a common problem in all societies, is to gain control over the ejaculation action of the person through sexual therapy.
Sex therapy sessions for the analysis of premature ejaculation take an average of 3 months. Once the person has control over his ejaculation with sexual therapy, this situation can continue throughout his life.
About 40% of adult women face a problem at some point in their lives that can lead to sexual dysfunction. In general, the underlying cause is the loss of sexual desire or problems with the orgasm phase.
Anxiety is usually found on the basis of sexual problems in women. In the presence of expectation or performance anxiety about sexual activity, sexual functions are negatively affected. With sexual therapy sessions, it is aimed to control the rush that causes a decrease in sexual arousal in women.
One of the causes of sexual dysfunction in women is vaginismus. Vaginismus refers to the contraction of the muscles in the vagina region, which does not allow sexual activity to take place. In this situation, sexual intercourse to be attempted is quite painful and can cause a feeling of dread towards sexual activities.
High success rates have been achieved with 10 sessions over a period of approximately 120 days in individuals who applied to sexual therapy sessions with the complaint of vaginismus.
Problems related to the orgasm period are another of the problems that are successfully handled in sexual therapy sessions. The orgasm phase in sexual activity is a valuable phase for a healthy sexual life. In women who have complaints about orgasm, if this problem is not dealt with in a real way, it is a situation that should not be taken back because it is considered risky in terms of different sexual dysfunctions and relevance problems in the future.
