3rd Edition
New Directions in Sex Therapy Innovations and Alternatives
New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives, 3rd Edition focuses on new and cutting-edge therapy paradigms as alternatives to conventional clinical strategies, challenging practitioners to expand our thinking about how to deal with sexual concerns. Award-winning sex therapist, Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D., brings together the best therapists and sexologists to advance beyond predominant approaches to sexual difficulties.
Part I highlights the major problems and criticisms facing sex therapy and furnishes a rationale for new directions, with chapters on ethics, heteronormativity and comprehensive sexual education/healthcare as human rights issues. Part II demonstrates new approaches to dealing with traditional sex therapy concerns, including sexual desire discrepancies, difficulties with erections and orgasms and sexuality in older couples. There is also attention to concerns typically overlooked including those related to consensual nonmonogamy, sexuality and disability and marginalized populations. This edition is replete with helpful new clinical illustrations across the spectrum of theoretical orientations, such as EFT/EFIT, narrative-relational, psychodynamic, CBT, humanistic, experiential and group therapy modalities to demonstrate these approaches in action. There are also queer-informed perspectives on sex and relationships and innovative contributions on the person of the therapist and on promoting optimal erotic intimacy.
This book is intended for students and clinicians who deal with sexual issues and concerns in therapy–clinicians of every kind, novices and advanced practitioners–rather than only those who define themselves as sex therapists.
Introduction: The State of the Art in Sex Therapy
Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D.
Part 1: Critiques of Conventional Models of Sex Therapy
1. A Critique of Heteronormativity in Sex Therapy
Karen Blair, Ph.D.
2. First Do No Harm: A Critique of the Lack of Health Professional Training on Sexuality
Elisabeth Gordon, M.D. and Pebble Kranz, M.D.
3. Ethics and Sex Therapy: Principles, Challenges, and Controversies
Daniel N. Watter, Ed.D.
4. Capable of Risk: Sexual Risk-Taking and the Dignity of Marginalized Women
Laina Y. Bay-Cheng, MSW., Ph.D. and Hannah G. Ginn, MSW
5. Teaching Parents to Become Sex Educators: A New Role for Sex Therapists
David S. Ribner, DSW and Hailey DiCaita, MA
Part 2: New Alternatives/ Innovations in Sex Therapy
6. Taking a Sex-Positive History
Charles Moser, Ph.D., M.D.
7. Concepts and Practice of Intimacy-Based Sex Therapy
Carol Rinkleib Ellison, Ph.D.
8. Approaching Your Highest Sexual Function in Relationship: A Reward of Age and Maturity
Jeanne Shaw, Ph.D. – A Classic Chapter
9. Walking with a Couple into a Dominatrix’s Dungeon: Therapeutic Presence and the Self of the Therapist
Wendy E. Miller, Ph.D.
10. The Good Enough Sex (GES) Model: A Couple Approach Focused on Sharing Pleasure
Barry McCarthy, Ph.D., Lana Wald Ross, Ph.D. and Michael Metz, Ph.D.
11. Narrative Relational Sex Therapy: Applying an Intersectional Lens
Suzanne Iasenza, Ph.D. and Ric Mathews, MSEd
12. Sex Therapy with Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Wendy Maltz, M.S.W.
13. Pleasures and Pressures of Polyamory: A Psychodynamic Perspective
Magdalena J. Fosse, Ph.D.
14. Engaged and Alive: Treating Sexual Concerns through Modern Group Analysis
Dan Rosen, MSW
15. Keys to the Sexual Mysteries: An Integrative Model for Exploring Clients’ Stories
Gina Ogden, Ph.D. – A Classic Chapter
16. An EFIT Approach to Sexuality and Physical Disability: Enlivening Eros with the Uniquely-Bodied
Mike Moran, MSW
17. Promoting Optimal Sexual Experiences in Group Therapy: An Alternative to “Stopping Too Soon and Settling for Too Little”
Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D., Maxime Charest, M.A., Nicolas Paradis, M.ED., Lianne A. Rosen, Ph.D. Shannon Lawless, M.Sc. and Jessica Valade, B.A.
Biography
Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D. is Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Optimal Sexual Experiences Research Team at the University of Ottawa. She is a clinical psychologist, Certified Sex Therapist and Educator. Kleinplatz has edited five books and authored Magnificent Sex: Lessons from Extraordinary Lovers, winner of the 2021 Society for Sex Therapy and Research Consumer Book Award, with A. Dana Menard, Ph.D. In 2015, Kleinplatz received the AASECT Professional Standard of Excellence Award.
"Peggy Kleinplatz has curated guidance from the leading voices in 21st century sexology to create a resource that is as impressive in scope as it is in sensitivity. New Directions in Sex Therapy lays the foundation for ethical, inclusive, and affirming sexual health practice. This book belongs on the desk of every mental and medical health provider who cares about the holistic well-being of those they serve."
Stefani Goerlich, PhD, LCSW, author of The Leather Couch: Clinical Practice with Kinky Clients and With Sprinkles On Top: Everything Vanilla People and Their Kinky Partners Need To Know to Communicate, Explore and Connect
"Dr. Kleinplatz’s wisdom and years of experience coalesce in this updated and enriching resource which will elevate and enhance our field in a significant way. This is a must-read for anyone who is a provider of sex therapy and sexuality education, especially in clinical settings."
Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD, author of Love by Design: 6 ingredients to build a lifetime of love
