Psychosexual Counselling

Dyspareunia

June 28, 2016 by Albert

Whether what comes out of it is a child or a relationship, sexual intercourse is among the most personal and pleasurable experiences in a personís life. Regardless of oneís theological bent, nobody is to deny the important practical function of intercourse, not to mention that, barring a massive calamity, it is hardly going to be a torturous experience. Physiologically speaking, nerves in the respective genitalia of the genders assure this much to be true. But as anything in life, there are contradictions to the pleasurable aspects of sex. An example of such is Dyspareunia. Though this may be diagnosed in men, the primary sufferers of dyspareunia are females. This disorder is characterized by women and their recurrent or persistent experiences of pain before, during, or following sexual intercourse. This pain is primarily located in the genitals or within the pelvis. Though the reasons for it may be physiological, women with reported dyspareunia have largely been connected to psychological symptoms.

A common type of insertional dyspareunia is known as vaginismus. This is caused by intense involuntary contraction of the perineal muscles surrounding parts of the outer part of the vagina. This tightening of the vaginal muscles and its lack of lubrication is only one manifestation of dyspareunia. However, it is the most commonly diagnosed form because it affects male penetration by making intercourse painful, if not impossible. As a result, avoiding discussion of dyspareunia out of insecurities or embarrassment becomes impossible.

The range of physical factors that impact women from enjoying sex are many: complications in vaginal openings such as inflammation, infection of glands, or pain at the site of (more…)

The Electra complex

June 28, 2016 by Albert

With Harry Potter Mania striking the heart of popular culture, it is important to stress that Harry Potterís tale of a child avenging family murder is a timeless theme in storytelling. Perhaps an even more prominent example of this featured Electra, daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. The Greek myth goes that her father was murdered following the Trojan War by his wifeís lover, Aegisthus. Though the story varies from here, the basic premise is that Electra and her brother Orestes are responsible for revenge killing both their mother and Aegisthus. Dramatic to be sure, but parent-offspring dysfunction is replete in storytelling and history with many layers of meaning assigned to it. Among the more controversial interpretations of Electra’s story is rooted in psychology, namely, in Sigmund Freudís theory of psychosexual development.

Carl Jung – another 20th century psychologist- was the one who proposed the name ëElectra Complexí for the psychosexual theory proposed by Sigmund Freud. For Freud, the Electra Complex (and the Oedipus Complex in their male counterpart) was a fundamental stage in healthy psychosexual development in girls. Freud outlined several stages in a childís development that needed to be resolved in order for their healthy cultivation of personality into adulthood: the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages. Unsuccessful resolution of these individual stages, due to undergratification or excess stimulation may result in numerous antisocial or psychosexual disorders later in their life. Of all these stages, the phallic stage takes centre stage for the psychosexual development in young girls. That is where (more…)

The existence of low libido in men

June 28, 2016 by Albert

When women endure a sustained period of waning libido, their sex drive is influenced by both physical and emotional factors. Physiologically speaking, there are many processes involving fluctuating hormones that women’s bodies endure that male do not, such as menopause or pregnancy, that influence their sex drives. Though stereotypes paint males as having an insatiable sexual appetite from cradle to grave, men can also suffer from a lack of sexual drive which becomes a chronic problem. Gross generalizations tend to term the occurrence of low libido in men with a lack of physical sexual responses, such as achieving an erection or difficulty in ejaculating. For clarification, men suffering from a low libido can still perform sexually; meanwhile, men with high libidos cannot necessarily achieve an erection or perform. While the happening of a low libido is not as common as medical disorders, such as erectile dysfunction, low libidos are rooted in a variety of physical and psychological causes.

Concerning its causes, the primary cause for a declining libido can be apart of natural aging. Loss of libido has been described to be proportionate with age as the amount of testosterone in a man’s blood decreases as the years pass. In this way, males are similar to their female counterparts whose estrogen and testosterone levels drop off following menopause. Though it takes different effects between males, the drop in testosterone levels is less drastic and sudden than in females and thus men are often in denial as symptoms begin to show. Age is not the only factor in declining libidos in men that occurs because of hormonal activity. Men who suffer from chronic diseases, such as cancer or respiratory disorders, often encounter a drop in sexual satisfaction, either from prescribed medication or because the natural processes of the body have bigger to fish to fry than sexual engagement.

Other physiological causes for declining libidos in men include (more…)

Understanding the low libido in women

June 28, 2016 by Albert

Science has long paid a great deal of attention to the dire predicament of men losing their sex drive or their capacity to perform sexually. However, with taboos increasingly becoming irrelevant, greater focus is finally being invested in understanding womenís sexual health. What has come to light in the past few decades are two things: First, low libido is more common in women than their male counterparts. And second, the reason for this is because the female libido is far more complicated than the male libido. Unlike in males, waning libidos in females are more difficult to diagnose. This is because of their ambiguous signals and because female sex drive is influenced by both physical and emotional factors.

The official name assigned to distressingly low libidos is Hypoactive Sexual Desire (HSD), and it invites much debate regarding females. Partially, this is because, unlike men, female sexual responses are not necessarily projected in physical forms. Whereas lack of arousal or sexual dysfunctions in men interfere with sexual performance (such impotence or premature ejaculation), females with low libidos are still capable of doing ìitî, even if physical signs of arousal, such as erect nipples or increased blood flow to the genitalia, lessen. But a dampened libido is rarely assumed by women to signify permanence. After all, attempting to quantify what constitutes a low sex drive is impossible as even a healthy drive fluctuates by the influence of (more…)