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“Gives the reader a view of the cutting edge of research and practice in sex therapy....Appropriate as a text for a graduate course in sex therapy or for anyone who wants an update on current practices in this field. In addition, a number of chapters have relevance for anyone conducting therapy.”

—Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy (on the fourth edition)


“The case examples are extremely helpful and convey in practice the theory and research so thoroughly elaborated in each chapter....This is a remarkable book that can add enormously to a clinician's knowledge.”

—Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic (on the fourth edition)


“This highly readable book is of value to most practitioners working with adults, even if their caseload is general and not specific to sex therapy.”

—Doody's Review Service (on the fourth edition)


“The gold-standard text for the assessment and treatment of sexual problems across the lifespan. Edited and written by the leading international experts in the field, this comprehensive book covers a wide range of perspectives and methodologies. The sixth edition covers a number of important new topics. This book is an invaluable guide for beginning and experienced sex therapists, for students, and for practitioners in the broader clinical and therapeutic community as well.”

—Elizabeth Grill, PsyD, President Elect (2019–2020), Society for Sex Therapy and Research; Departments of Psychiatry, Reproductive Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Cornell Medical College


“This book is proof that human sexuality is an ever-evolving science and phenomenology. A changed world requires a changed practice. This is the reference book you want on your shelf.”

—Esther Perel, MA, LMFT, private practice, New York City; podcast host, Where Should We Begin?


“With a rich 40-year history, this text has been significantly updated and revised in its timely sixth edition. The surprising amount of new empirical work is evidenced by succinct summaries of important findings as well as extensive bibliographies, making the book a treasure trove for researchers, graduate students, clinicians, and educators. As a professor of Marriage and Family Therapy for over 30 years, I have used this book as my primary sex therapy text. It blends research, medical advances, and clinical practice in a very accessible, integrative biopsychosocial paradigm. The clinical cases are relevant, realistic, and engaging—a great resource for learning. Many of the authors are new in this edition, and bring new international and intercultural insights. Both DSM-5 and ICD-11 classifications are included, and current controversies are explicated, rather than avoided! This book's multidisciplinary perspective encourages thoughtful communication and responsive best practices that can enhance connection and pleasure around the world.”

—Delores Friesen, PhD, MFT, Professor Emerita of Pastoral Counseling, Fresno Pacific University Biblical Seminary

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Table of Contents

Introduction, Yitzchak M. Binik & Kathryn S. K. Hall

I. Sex Therapy for Sexual Dysfunction

1. Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder in Women, Lori Brotto & Julia Velten

2. Female Sexual Arousal Disorder, Cindy M. Meston, Amelia M. Stanton, & Stanley E. Althof

3. Low Sexual Desire in Men, Pedro Nobre, Joana Carvalho, & Kristen Mark

4. An Integrative Biopsychosocial Approach to the Conceptualization and Treatment of Erectile Disorder, Dennis Kalogeropoulos & Julie Larouche

5. Orgasm Problems in Women, Laurie B. Mintz & Juliana Guitelman

6. Treatment of Premature Ejaculation: Psychotherapy, Pharmacotherapy, and Combined Therapy, Stanley E. Althof

7. Delayed Ejaculation, Michael A. Perelman

8. Genital Pain in Women and Men, Sophie Bergeron, Natalie O. Rosen, Caroline F. Pukall, & Serena Corsini-Munt

9. Lifelong Inability to Experience Intercourse (Vaginismus), Moniek M. ter Kuile & Elke D. Reissing

10. Sexual Aversion, Charmaine Borg, Stephanie Both, Moniek M. ter Kuile, & Peter J. de Jong

II. Therapeutic Challenges for Sex Therapy

Section A. Sexual Limits and Boundaries

11. The Privileging of Pleasure: Sex Therapy in Global Cultural Context, Kathryn S. K. Hall & Cynthia A. Graham

12. Out-of-Control Sexual Behavior, Douglas Braun-Harvey & Michael A. Vigorito

13. The Pleasure of Power: Sex Therapy in the BDSM Community, David Ortmann

14. Restoring Trust and Sexual Intimacy after Infidelities, Lawrence Josephs

Section B. Lifespan and Transitions

15. Sexuality in the Transition to Parenthood, Natalie O. Rosen & E. Sandra Byers

16. Sexuality and Aging: Navigating the Sexual Challenges of Aging Bodies, Daniel N. Watter

17. Sex and Couple Therapy with Survivors of Childhood Trauma, Heather B. MacIntosh, Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel, & Sophie Bergeron

18. Gender Dysphoria in Children and Adolescents, Kenneth J. Zucker

19. Improving Sexual Function and Pleasure in Transgender Persons, Mats Holmberg, Stefan Arver, & Cecilia Dhejne

Section C. Medical Issues

20. Sexuality and Cancer, Sharon Bober & Sandy Falk

21. Sexuality in Men and Women with Spinal Cord Injury, Frédérique Courtois & Marina Gérard

22. Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder, Caroline F. Pukall & David Goldmeier

23. Conclusion: Where Is Sex Therapy Going?, Marta Meana, Kathryn S. K. Hall, & Yitzchak M. Binik

Index

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About the Editors

Kathryn S. K. Hall, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Princeton, New Jersey. She is a past president of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research and is the book review editor for the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. Dr. Hall is a member of the Special Classification Review Board appointed by the Governor to oversee the treatment of incarcerated sex offenders in the state of New Jersey. She teaches and conducts trainings internationally on the practice of sex therapy. Her research interests and publications address the need to adapt sex therapy for a culturally diverse population.

• Author's website

Yitzchak M. Binik, PhD ("Irv"), is Professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill University and Director Emeritus of the Sex and Couple Therapy Service at McGill University Health Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Binik is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and was a member of the DSM-5 workgroup on sexual and gender identity disorders. He has published approximately 150 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of sexuality and health psychology. Dr. Binik is a recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Professional Psychology Award from the Canadian Psychological Association and of the Masters and Johnson Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Mentorship Award from the Society for Sex Therapy and Research.

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Contributors

Stanley E. Althof, PhD, Executive Director, Center for Marital and Sexual Health of South Florida, West Palm Beach, Florida; and Professor Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio

Stefan Arver, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Huddinge at Karolinska Institutet; senior physician, ANOVA (Andrology, Sexual Medicine, and Transgender Medicine), Karolinska University Hospital; and Director, the EAA-accredited Andrology Educational Center, Stockholm, Sweden

Sophie Bergeron, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Yitzchak M. Binik, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, McGill University, and Director Emeritus, Sex and Couple Therapy Service, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sharon Bober, PhD, Senior Psychologist, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Charmaine Borg, PhD, lecturer, Department of Experimental Psychopathology and Clinical Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Stephanie Both, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychosomatic Gynecology and Sexology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

Douglas Braun-Harvey, LMFT, CST, CST-S, adjunct faculty member, Widener University Center for Human Sexuality Studies, Chester, Pennsylvania; lecturer,

University of Michigan Certificate Program in Human Sexuality, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and cofounder, The Harvey Institute, San Diego, California

Lori A. Brotto, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Women’s Sexual Health and Professor, Department of Gynaecology and Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, and Executive Director, the Women’s Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

E. Sandra Byers, PhD, LPsych, Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Joana Carvalho, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Humanities and Technologies, Lisbon, Portugal

Serena Corsini-Munt, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Frédérique Courtois, PhD, Professor and Director, Sexology Department, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Peter J. de Jong, PhD, Professor, Department of Experimental Psychopathology, and Chair, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Cecilia Dhejne, MD, PhD, Psychiatrist, Academic Specialty Center, ANOVA, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Sandy Falk, MD, Director of Gynecology, Sexual Health Program of the Adult Survivorship Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and instructor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Marina Gérard, MA, PhD candidate, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

David Goldmeier, MD, Clinical Lead, Jane Wadsworth Sexual Function Clinic, Imperial College and Imperial College NHS Healthcare, London, United Kingdom

Cynthia A. Graham, PhD, Professor of Sexual and Reproductive Health, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom; Senior Research Fellow, Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Bloomington, Indiana; and visiting Research Fellow, Rural

Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

Juliana Guitelman, MS, PhD candidate, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Kathryn S. K. Hall, PhD, private practice, Princeton, New Jersey

Mats Holmberg, MD, PhD, endocrinologist and senior physician, ANOVA, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Lawrence Josephs, PhD, Professor, Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York

Dennis Kalogeropoulos, PhD, clinical psychologist and Executive Director, Psychologia, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Julie Larouche, MPs, Co-Director and Training Coordinator, Sex and Couple Therapy Service, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Heather B. MacIntosh, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, MScA in Couple and Family Therapy Programme, School of Social Work, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Kristen P. Mark, PhD, MPH, Director, Sexual Health Promotion Lab, and Faculty Fellow, Office of LGBTQ* Resources, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky

Marta Meana, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada

Cindy M. Meston, PhD, Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, and Director, Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Laurie B. Mintz, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Pedro J. Nobre, PhD, President, World Association for Sexual Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Professor and Director, Laboratory for Research in Human Sexuality, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; and Research Fellow, Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Bloomington, Indiana David Ortmann, MSW, LCSW, licensed psychotherapist, sex therapist, keynote speaker, and author, New York, New York, and San Francisco, California

Michael A. Perelman, PhD, Clinical Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Reproductive Medicine, and Urology, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University, New York, New York

Caroline F. Pukall, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, and Director, Sex Therapy Service, Queen’s Psychology Clinic, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Elke D. Reissing, PhD, CPsych, Professor, School of Psychology, and Director, Human Sexuality Research Laboratory, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Natalie O. Rosen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Amelia M. Stanton, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Global Psychiatric Clinical Research Training Program, Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Moniek M. ter Kuile, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Gynecology, and Director, Outpatient Clinic of Psychosomatic Gynecology and Sexology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada

Julia Velten, PhD, research associate, Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

Michael A. Vigorito, LMFT, CGP, CST, licensed marriage and family therapist, Washington, DC

Daniel N. Watter, EdD, senior partner, Morris Psychological Group, PA, Parsippany, New Jersey

Kenneth J. Zucker, PhD, certified psychologist, College of Psychologists of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Audience

Clinicians who work with clients on issues pertaining to sexuality, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, couple and family therapists, mental health and pastoral counselors, and psychiatric nurses; researchers and graduate students in sex therapy and human sexuality. Also of interest to ob/gyns, urologists, and family physicians.

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Course Use

Serves as a text in graduate-level courses in sex therapy, human sexuality, and couple therapy.

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Previous editions published by Guilford:

Fifth Edition, © 2014
ISBN: 9781462513673

Fourth Edition, © 2007
ISBN: 9781593853495

Third Edition, © 2000
ISBN: 9781572305748

Second Edition, © 1989
ISBN: 9780898623895

First Edition, © 1980
ISBN: 9780898626001

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New to this edition:

• Many new authors and extensively revised chapters.
• Coverage of advances in sexual medicine, ICD-11 diagnostic changes, and other timely topics.
• Chapters on sexual aversion, female sexual arousal disorder, and out-of-control sexual behavior.
• Chapters on the transition to parenthood and the treatment of sexual concerns in the BDSM community and adult transgender clients.
• Chapters on additional medical issues: cancer and spinal cord injury.