The Marriage of Thought Field Therapy and Sex Therapy

sex therapy

Thought Field Therapy has potential for the treatment of sexual disorders and sexual dysfunction. In a week-long couple's workshop, 16 couples in various stages of marriage presented many opportunities to see Thought Field Therapy in action.

In sex therapy, the basic strategy of treatment depends on the specific sexual dysfunction. While sensate focus is designed to reduce anxiety, it may increase anxiety in couples with underlying fears. Genital pleasuring can evoke negative feelings, defenses against the appearance, odors or secretions of the partner or person's genitals. For example, a woman in her 40's who had been married for 23+ years had a phobia about not wanting her husband's semen on her body, was disgusted at the thought of having semen anywhere near her face or mouth, and for any kind of oral stimulation of the penis.

I did a diagnostic TFT treatment on her. After the TFT session and home play, she reported the following: "I did not tell Larry anything about TFT prior to our home play. I was somewhat skeptical of TFT even though I really wanted it to work. To Larry's surprise, and I mean surprise, and to my amazement and delight the treatment worked. This was the first time in our years of marriage that I was able to be the 100% giver and it felt good to give back to him in ways I could never bring myself to do before."

"I later told Larry about TFT and he said it would be worth it to send me across the country for this treatment." Other sessions of TFT during the week involved successful therapy for a dislike of kissing, performance anxiety, inability to achieve orgasm, fears, and other phobic reactions. Thought Field Therapy's application in the arena of any phobic or fear response make it a viable treatment modality for many sex problems.

Most therapists find problems of sexual desire difficult to treat. Traditional sex therapy and marital therapy are the least effective in this area. In my work with a young man in his 30's, complaining of sexual boredom and passionless sex, two sessions of TFT with causal diagnosis has made a major shift in his response to women.

The strategy of sex therapy is to -modify the couple's transactions so as to eliminate fear, guilt, and anxiety,- (quote from Helen Singer Kaplan, The illustrated Manual of Sex Therapy, 1987) Thought Field Therapy is a non-threatening treatment approach that can eliminate all of the above.

What Thought Field Therapy does not propose to treat is the quality of the relationship of the couple, their ability for intimacy or their communication styles.

Victoria Danzig, LCSW, has the Thought Field Therapy Center of La Jolla where she does approved trainings in Callahan Techniques® TFT. Her web page is: www.thoughtfield.com.

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