Abstract
In thinking about what is new in the field of sex therapy it seems to me that there are at least five major shifts in focus over recent years. First, there has been a reemergence of interest and research in biologic factors in sexuality along with an increased recognition of biological causes of sexual dysfunctions (e.g., Brody, 1982). In the 1960s and 70s, in the flurry of psychological enthusiasm that greeted the work of behavioral strategists such as Annon (1973) Wolpe (1969), and Masters and Johnson (1970), there was a rather glib assumption in the field that practically all sexual problems were psychological in origin, mostly rooted in anxiety. While anxiety and depression may certainly precede, accompany or be sequelae to sexual difficulties, more contemporary estimates suggest that about 40% of these problems have a biological etiology (Spark, White, & Connolly, 1980; Nolen, 1981).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allgeier, E. R., & Allgeier, A. R. (1984). Sexual interactions. Lexington, MA: Heath.
Annon, J. S. (1973). The therapeutic use of masturbation in the treatment of sexual disorders. In J. P. Brady & J. D. Henderson (Eds.), Advances in Behavior Therapy, Vol. 4 (pp. 199–215 ). New York: Academic Press.
Beck, J. G., Barlow, D. H., & Sakheim, D. K. (1983). The effects of attentional focus and partner arousal on sexual responding in functional and dysfunctional men. Behavior Research and Therapy, 21, 1–8.
Bieber, I., Dain, H. J., Dince, P. R., Drellich, M. G., Grand, H. G., Grundlach, R. H., Kremer, M. W., Rifkin, A. H., Wilber, C. B., & Bieber, T. B. (1962). Homosexuality: A psychoanalytic study. New York: Basic Books.
Brody, J. E. (1982, May 18). Impotence: Experts urge greater attention to physical causes. New York Times, pp. CI, C8.
Davison, G. (1968). Elimination of a sadistic fantasy by a client-controlled counter-conditioning technique: A case study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 73, 84–90.
Dutton, A., & Aron, A. (1974). Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 510–517.
Ellis, A. (1958). Sex without guilt. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart.
Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press.
Ellis, A. (1975). The rational-emotive approach to sex therapy. The Counseling Psychologist, 5, 14–22.
Ellis, A. (1976). Sex and the liberated man. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart.
Ellis, A. (1977). The basic clinical theory of rational-emotive therapy. In A. Ellis & R. Grieger (Eds.), Handbook of rational-emotive therapy (pp. 3–34 ). New York: Springer.
Ellis, A. (1984). Rational-emotive therapy. In R. J. Corsini, (Ed.), Current psychotherapies (pp. 196–238 ). ( 3rd ed. ). Itasca, IL: Peacock.
Foster, A. L. (1978). Changes in marital-sexual relationships following treatment for sexual dysfunctioning. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 4, 186–197.
Harbert, T. L., Barlow, D. H., Hersen, M., & Austin, J. B. (1974). Measurement and modification of incestuous behavior: A case study. Psychological Reports, 34, 79–86.
Heiman, J. R. (1977). A psychophysiological exploration of sexual arousal patterns in males and females. Psychophysiology, 14, 266.
Hoch, Z. (1983). The G spot. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 9, 166.
Hughes, R. C. (1977). Covert sensitization treatment of exhibitionism. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 8, 171–179.
Kahn-Ladas, A., Whipple, B., & Perry, J. D. (1982). The G spot and other recent discoveries about human sexuality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Kaplan, H. S. (1979). Disorders of desire. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W., & Martin, C. Sexual behavior in the human male (1948). Philadelphia: Saunders.
LoPiccolo, L. (1980). Low sex desire. In S. R. Lieblum & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Principles and practice of sex therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
Marquis, J. N. (1970). Orgasmic reconditioning: Changing sexual object choice through controlling masturbation fantasies. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 1, 263–272.
Masters, W. H., & Johnson, V. (1966). Human sexual response. Boston: Little, Brown.
Masters, W. H., & Johnson, V. (1970). Human sexual inadequacy. Boston: Little, Brown.
McAuliffe, S. (1983, March). Is sexual deviance a biological problem? Psychology Today, p. 84.
Money, J. (1970). Use of an androgen-depleting hormone in the treatment of male sex offenders. Journal of Sex Research, 6, 165–172.
Money, J. (1977). Paraphilias. In J. Money & H. Musaph (Eds.), Handbook of sexology. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica.
Money, J. (1980). Genetic and chromosomal aspects of homosexual etiology. In J. L. Marmor (Ed.), Homosexual behavior, New York: Basic Books.
Money, J., & Ehrhardt, A. A. (1972). Man and woman, boy and girl. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Nolen, W. A. (1981, November). Impotence. Esquire, pp. 132–141.
O’Leary, K. D., & Arias, I. (1983). The influence of marital therapy on sexual satisfaction. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 9, 171–181.
Robinson, P. A. (1976). The modernization of sex. New York: Harper & Row.
Sager, C. J. (1976). Marital contracts and couple therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Schachter, S. (1964). The interaction of cognitive and physiological determinants of emotional state. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press.
Schwartz, M. F., Money, J., & Robinson, K. (1981). Biosocial perspectives on the development of the proceptive, acceptive, and conceptive phase of eroticism. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 7, 443–455.
Schwartz, M. F., & Masters, W. H. (1983). Conceptual factors in the treatment of paraphilias: A preliminary report. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 9, 3–18.
Spark, R., White, R., & Connolly, P. (1980). Impotence is not always psychogenic: Newer insights into hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal dysfunction. Journal of American Medical Association, 243, 750–755.
Stayton, W. R. (1984). Lifestyle spectrum 1984. SIECUS Report, 12, 1–5.
Storms, M. D. (1980). Theories of sexual orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 783–792.
Symons, D. (1980). The evolution of human sexuality. New York: Oxford.
Thorpe, J. G., Schmidt, E., & Castell, D. (1963). A comparison of positive and negative conditioning in the treatment of homosexuality. Behavior Research and Therapy, 1, 357–362.
Walen, S. R. (1980). Cognitive factors in sexual behavior. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 6, 87–101.
Walen, S. R., & Roth, D. (in press) Cognitive theories. In J. H. Geer & William O’Donohue (Eds.), Theories of human sexuality. New York: Plenum Press.
Walen, S. R., & Wolfe, J. (1983). Women’s sexual enhancement groups. In A. Freeman (Ed.), Cognitive therapy in couples and groups. New York: Plenum Press.
Wolfe, J., & Walen, S. R. (1980). Cognitive factors in sexuality. In R. Grieger & I. Z. Grieger (Eds.), Cognition and emotional disturbance (pp. 148–173 ). New York: Human Sciences Press.
Wolpe, J. (1969). The practice of behavior therapy. New York: Pergamon.
Zilbergeld, B., & Evans, M. (1980). The inadequacy of Masters and Johnson. Psychology Today, 14, 29–43.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Walen, S.R. (1985). Rational Sexuality. In: Ellis, A., Bernard, M.E. (eds) Clinical Applications of Rational-Emotive Therapy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2485-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2485-0_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9506-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2485-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive