I am teaching a course this summer entitled “Common Issues in Partners’ Sex Therapy,” and as I’m in the midst of creating the outline and curriculum, I thought it appropriate to go through my old catalogue of articles and see what I’ve already written that provides further resources to the material I plan on covering.  I’ve divided the class into six sections– 1) General considerations; 2) Communication issues; 3) Infidelity/sexual compulsivity; 4) Desire discrepancy; 5) Relationships in transition; and 6) Alternative relationships. I’ll go through each of these in turn.

Let’s start with “General considerations.” Typically when I work with a relational system, I want to get a sense of where each individual is developmentally. Are these folks in they honeymoon stage? Are they trying to differentiate from one another? Are they in different head spaces (one is trying to assert independence while the other is trying to maintain the status quo)? Are there any personality disorders that are preventing this relationship from moving forward? Here are some articles I’ve written in the past that provide further detail on these subjects:

The Connection Between Attachment and Sexuality
Couples Therapy: What is Differentiation?
Why The Beginning of a Relationship Determines It’s Success
Borderline Personality and Sexuality
Narcissism and Sexuality
Boundaries: The Most Important Part of a Relationship

Moving on now to “Communication issues,” my work as a therapist requires me to dissect the communication difficulties that relationship systems struggle with and then model new, more productive forms of relating. I am informed by numerous thinkers in this area including John Gottman and Daniel Wile and here are some articles that highlight some of these […]