What is the Sexocorporel approach?

Sexocorporel is a sexual therapy approach developed by Jean‑Yves Desjardins (1931–2011) at the Département de sexologie of Université du Québec. Over the past 30 years, it has continuously evolved based on clinical experience and scientific knowledge.

The main goal of Sexocorporel is to help people develop abilities that improve their sexual health, starting from their individual sexual concerns. > more about sexual therapy in the Sexocorporel approach

> Summary of the Sexocorporel concept based on texts by Jean-Yves Desjardins and Dominique Chatton (PDF)

Core assumptions of the Sexocorporel concept

1. Body and mind are a fundamental unity
   The body includes human thinking, experiencing, sensing, and interacting. Body, emotions, thoughts, and behavior are viewed as aspects of one unified whole, in which changes in one aspect always involve changes in the others. If I move, this affects my brain and my thinking. If I experience an emotion, this corresponds to specific neurophysiological and muscular bodily processes. Bodily states and sensations have their counterpart in thoughts and feelings, and thoughts and feelings correlate with bodily states.

Sexocorporel views the human being as an indivisible whole, as an individual. To understand sexuality and therapeutic work, it focuses on different components of the individual: the body, subjective experience, relationships, and cognition.

2. Life takes place in the three dimensions of movement
   From breathing and facial expression to walking: living people are always in motion. This movement can be expressed through three dimensions:

•    Time (movement rhythms)
•    Amplitude (range of movement)
•    Muscular tension (muscle tone)

These three dimensions of movement shape all human action and make it possible to consciously influence our behavior, emotions, feelings, and perceptions in daily life and sexuality. Through the intentional use of these dimensions, we are able to consciously increase and modulate sexual arousal.

3. The experience and expression of sexuality are the result of learning processes
   Sexuality involves innate anatomical and physiological factors. However, how we experience them and what we make of them is learned. This learning begins in early childhood. Every person develops abilities and resources within their sexuality. Sexual problems arise when these learned abilities can only be adapted to new life situations to a limited extent. They can be expanded through new learning processes.

Sexuality is a lifelong learning process

Sexuality involves innate anatomical and physiological factors. However, how we experience them and what we make of them is learned. For example, the flow of blood into the sexual organs (vasocongestion) is an involuntary, reflexive process that becomes accessible to conscious awareness and intentional influence through learning processes.

How does sexual learning work?

Sexual learning begins in early childhood. From birth, the genitals of every healthy human being contain numerous nerve endings that can be stimulated and contribute to sexual arousal. Before stimulation is consciously experienced as arousing and can intentionally be evoked, many repetitions are necessary. Depending on which receptors are stimulated and in what way, people learn very different arousal techniques and perceive sexual arousal in very different ways. As a result, they associate different images, feelings, thoughts, needs, and preferences with sexuality.

Starting with the exploration of one’s own genitals and genital play with peers and with the other sex, people develop a perception of their own gender identity and gender differences. At the same time, socialization introduces concepts such as “public” and “private,” meaning sexuality as intimacy with oneself and with others. Through role-playing, games with rules, and initiation games, children connect sexual arousal with socialization processes, communication skills, and emotional intensity.

Lack of support for learning processes

Like all development, sexual development occurs in waves and continues throughout life through new discoveries and the reinforcement of what has already been learned through repetition or revisiting earlier developmental stages. Physical changes during different life phases — such as the “hormonal storm” that initiates puberty — as well as illness and disability require new sexual learning processes with oneself and with others.

No other human ability receives as little support, guidance, and understanding from parents and society as sexuality. Sexual learning therefore develops largely autodidactically and often without awareness that learning is taking place. Likewise, many people are unaware that they can influence their sexuality through new learning processes when they encounter limitations.

New learning processes in sexual therapy

From the perspective of the Sexocorporel concept, every person has developed abilities and resources within their sexuality. Sexual problems arise when these learned abilities can only be adapted to current life situations or needs to a limited extent. These limitations are neither pathological nor deficient. They can be expanded through new learning processes. Sexual therapy in the Sexocorporel approach is based on this understanding.

Which Components Does Sexocorporel Distinguish?

Sexocorporel views the human being as an indivisible whole, as an individual. For the exploration and understanding of sexuality, however, it looks at the individual and their sexuality through four different lenses. Each lens focuses on a different aspect: the body, subjective experience, relationships, and cognition — while recognizing that these components are different aspects of the same individual.

Physical Components

• The arousal function
• Sexual arousal modes
• Sensory sources of arousal
• Biological foundations: anatomy, genes, hormones, blood vessels, nervous system, etc.

Components of Subjective Experience

• Sexual pleasure function
• Sense of belonging to one’s own biological sex
• Sexual self-confidence
• Sexual desire
• Sexual and emotional attraction codes
• Sexual fantasies and dreams
• Emotional intensity

Cognitive Components

• Knowledge
• Understanding
• Belief systems
• Ideologies and ideals
• Value judgments
• Ways of thinking

Relationship Components

• Self-centering vs. other-centering
• Feelings of love
• Seduction
• Erotic communication
• Erotic competence

Physical Components: The Arousal Function

The arousal function can be divided into two parts:

• Arousal reflex
  This activates
  1. Vasocongestion (the flow of blood into the sexual organs/erectile tissue), controlled by the autonomic, involuntary nervous system, along with other physiological reactions that cannot be consciously controlled
  2. muscular processes connected to the “three bodily laws,” the three fundamental elements of physical activity: movement (space), rhythm (temporal organization), and muscle tone (muscular tension)
• Learning processes
  Muscular processes can be consciously influenced from approximately the fifth to sixth month of life onward

The desire many women and men have to enjoy sexuality and to live in a loving relationship — in other words, the desire to connect genitality with the experience of intimacy — is ultimately based on the arousal reflex. When the increase in arousal succeeds, the journey culminates in reaching the point of no return through a second reflexive, involuntary process that leads into orgasm.

The “space” between these two reflexes can become “inhabitable” through learning processes. Learning means activating higher brain centers and enables conscious experience. Learning processes connected to the arousal reflex directly influence the quality of erotic behavior and experience and are therefore referred to as direct causalities.

The arousal reflex can already be observed in the male fetus in the womb through ultrasound examinations. All psychological aspects related to sexuality — that is, components of subjective experience, sexuality-related cognitions, and the corresponding relationship components — develop in close interaction with the arousal function.

The arousal reflex and learning processes are connected insofar as the intensity of sexual arousal — more precisely, vasocongestion — can only be consciously influenced through the interplay of accompanying changes in muscular tension and rhythmic movement. All learning processes in the various forms of human expression (walking, speaking, making music, dancing, and many others) are ultimately based on the handling of these three bodily laws — as well as, naturally, breathing.

Sexual Arousal up to Orgasm

Sexual arousal can be influenced quantitatively (intensity) and qualitatively (pleasure) through consciously directing and playing with the bodily reactions that accompany it. Many of our clients wish to experience more sexual pleasure and to reach orgasm. The prerequisite for this lies in learning processes on the physical level: only through diffusion — that is, the ability to let sexual arousal spread or diffuse throughout the body — can pleasurable sensations and the experience of sexual arousal intensify.

Canalization, in turn — the ability to channel sexual arousal into the genitals — enables reaching the point of no return and achieving orgasmic discharge (ejaculation, spasmodic response) or orgasm, which includes simultaneous emotional release. This consciously steerable, indirect influence on the arousal reflex through physical learning processes is accessible to every woman and every man.

Sexocorporel distinguishes between orgasmic discharge and orgasm. This distinction allows for a more precise approach to sexual difficulties related to “orgasm.”

Orgasmic release

Orgasmic release is a purely physical process. After a person reaches the point of no return during increasing arousal, rhythmic contractions of the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles occur (approximately every 0.8 seconds). In people with a penis, ejaculation takes place.

An orgasmic release can also occur without ejaculation, for example when ejaculation is medically impossible or consciously suppressed, as practiced in certain Taoist techniques.

When the ability for orgasmic release is absent, we speak of anorgasmia and anejaculation (ejaculatio deficiens, absence of ejaculation).

Orgasm

Orgasm is a complex psychophysiological phenomenon in which orgasmic discharge is accompanied by intense subjective experience (pleasurable sensations).

Sexual satisfaction is directly related to the intensity of experience. Prerequisites include the ability to spread and intensify arousal throughout the body, as well as the ability to let go emotionally and genitally.

In anorgasmia, the pleasurable sensations accompanying the increase in sexual arousal and orgasmic discharge are absent. Especially in women, it may also occur that orgasmic release takes place without being consciously perceived. Or that certain muscular contractions are felt but not interpreted as orgasmic release.

The transitions between orgasmic release and orgasm are fluid.

Physical Components: Sexual Arousal Modes

Jean-Yves Desjardins observed that most people develop specific stimulation habits, and that there is a relationship between the subjective experience of sexuality, the objective process of increasing arousal, and the way people use their bodies during this process.

The term “sexual arousal mode” refers to these often long-standing, specific bodily movement and stimulation habits that an individual uses, more or less consciously, to become sexually aroused alone or with others and, if possible, to reach orgasmic release or orgasm.

Sexual arousal modes are conditioned stimulation patterns that can be learned and practiced from early childhood onward. They can be changed throughout life through practice.

For women and men to improve the quality of their sexual lives through appropriate learning processes, it is first necessary to evaluate which arousal mode they primarily function in and what limitations may arise within it.

We distinguish between two groups of arousal modes: in some, sustained high muscular tension is used to intensify sexual arousal; in others, intensification occurs through alternation between tension and relaxation in movement.

Arousal Modes Intensified Through Tension

Pressure Arousal Mode

This arousal mode functions through stimulation of proprioceptive receptors (deep sensitivity) in the genital area. It is more frequently used by women and somewhat less often by men.

Women increase arousal by pressing their thighs together — with or without an object (pillow, etc.) — by strongly contracting the pelvic floor muscles or by pressing the genital area against a surface. Men may clamp the penis between their thighs, press it with the hand or body weight against a surface, or press the glans with three fingers, and so forth. Intense pressing and pushing are always required, often accompanied by strong, rapid movements; the muscles of the whole body are tense (muscular rigidity), and breathing is strongly restricted.

The pressure mode is very efficient and allows rapid orgasmic release. The relaxation afterward is generally experienced as pleasurable. Depending on the person, a feeling of security may arise from the sense of being “held” within the tension. In some women, pelvic floor tension enables orgasmic release during vaginal penetration. In some men, arousal intensifies through anal tension and stimulation.

The limitations of the pressure arousal mode are due to the high level of muscular tension. On the one hand, it restricts genital vasocongestion and pleasurable sensations. On the other hand, rigidity in the upper body limits access to the experience of sexual pleasure. In addition, high tension — especially in the upper body — activates the sympathetic nervous system. This explains why violent fantasies and unpleasant thoughts or feelings occur relatively frequently. Muscular rigidity and frequent breath-holding can also lead to physical discomfort.

In partnered sexuality, creative solutions for intensifying arousal may be used (staging, role play). Fine, superficial touch may sometimes feel unpleasant, making affectionate exchange more difficult. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system can trigger a judgmental gaze and emotional distance. Closeness often becomes possible only after release and relaxation.

When the ritual of arousal intensification is highly specific, it may not be usable during intercourse. When a man relies exclusively on the pressure mode, ejaculation difficulties and erectile difficulties are frequently observed. Women more often report difficulties during intercourse, such as orgasm problems or pain caused by pelvic floor tension. An immobile pelvis also does not foster fantasies or desire to penetrate with the penis or to receive with the vagina.

Mechanical Arousal Mode

The mechanical arousal mode is used by many men and women to shape and intensify sexual arousal. It enables orgasmic release through the stimulation of surface receptors by means of uniform, rapid, “mechanical” friction. At the same time, muscular tension in the pelvic area — and often throughout the whole body — increases significantly.

The mechanical arousal mode stimulates the skin’s superficial sensory receptors through rapid rubbing of the vulva, especially around the clitoris, sometimes at a very precisely defined point, or of the penis or parts of the penis (e.g. the glans or frenulum). The stimulating movements become increasingly fast and mechanical, constant and continuous, leading to automatisms. They are often not consciously perceived. During penetration, the man moves his whole body en bloc increasingly rapidly back and forth (expressed in terms such as “pounding”).

Genital arousal often requires increased concentration and is therefore vulnerable to disruption. It may also involve effort. Due to rigidity in the upper body and activation of the sympathetic nervous system, access to the experience of sexual pleasure is limited. Perception is sometimes restricted to narrowly defined sensations in the genital area. Sexual fantasies often need to be actively engaged in order to intensify arousal.

Particularly in women, a precise ritual of rhythm, pressure, and position may be required to achieve orgasmic release. If the ritual is very precise, it may not be reproducible by the partner. During intercourse, some women reach orgasm through additional friction on the vulva or clitoris, while for others penetration interferes with the increase in arousal. During mutual stimulation, partners may also fail to provide the right kind of stimulation at the right spot.

Difficulties controlling ejaculation are not uncommon in men, as the mechanical arousal mode is often used with little awareness and does not promote learning processes for modulating sexual arousal. With increasing age, men sometimes develop coital erectile dysfunction because stimulation within the vagina is no longer sufficient.

Pressure-Mechanical Arousal Mode

This mode simultaneously involves both superficial and deep receptors. During masturbation, stimulation is generated through pressure and friction, for example by vigorously rubbing the genitals against a surface or pillow, etc. The limitations regarding pleasurable sexual experience and the difficulties during intercourse are similar to those of the pressure arousal mode or the mechanical arousal mode.

Vibration-Induced Arousal Mode

The VIM resembles the pressure-mechanical arousal mode. It activates superficial and deep vibration receptors through extremely rapid impulses. Stimulation usually occurs directly on the clitoris/glans using a vibrator or shower stream. In the process, the muscles around the genitals — and often throughout the entire body — become strongly tensed. The VIM is more commonly found in women than in men.

Vibration often allows orgasmic release to be reached very quickly. For anorgasmic women, this mode can provide an easy way to experience first releases. Problems may arise if a person depends on a specific sex toy for increasing arousal and this is not integrated into partnered sexuality. Due to the high muscular tension, the limitations regarding pleasurable sexual experience are similar to those of the pressure arousal mode and the mechanical arousal mode.

Arousal Modes Intensified Through Movement

Undulating Arousal Mode (UAM)

In this mode, the person remains in a state of sexual fluidity, meaning that movements throughout the body are flowing and the muscles are not tense. This allows arousal to diffuse throughout the whole body, leading to highly pleasurable sensations and intense erotic experience. The interplay of rhythms and movements is highly varied, and muscle tone fluctuates but generally remains rather low. This arousal mode therefore occurs more frequently in women.

For orgasmic release, however, the necessary build-up of tension is partly lacking — that is, the ability to channel sexual arousal into the genitals through increasing muscular tension. Achieving orgasmic release therefore usually requires switching into another mode.

Wave-Like Arousal Mode

In this mode, deep receptors are activated through the “Double Swing”. Here, the pelvis and shoulders move simultaneously along the body axis, driven by abdominal breathing (similar to coughing, laughing, or sobbing). A distinction is made between the “Pelvic Swing” (pelvic movement) and the “Upper Swing” (movements of the chest, shoulders, and head). The lower rocking motion intensifies sexual arousal, while the upper one intensifies emotional sensations.

As in the undulating mode, the wave-like arousal mode involves an interplay of subtle to intense movements, slow to rapid rhythms, and changing muscular tension. Unlike the undulating mode, however, these movements occur along the body axis. The alternating movements intensify sexual arousal through the resonance of increasingly powerful waves, culminating in orgasm. Orgasm is achieved through the connection between sexual arousal and intense pleasurable feelings. During orgasm, a double release occurs: on the genital level, arousal is intensified through the pelvic rocking motion and, after diffusing throughout the body, is re-channeled into the genitals to allow discharge. Emotional release through the upper rocking motion enables the pleasurable feelings accompanying this discharge to be consciously experienced.

The wave-like arousal mode allows women to perceive sensations inside the vagina more intensely and to become aware of an internal cavity. This “eroticization” of the vagina is a prerequisite for developing coital sexual desire (see below). In men, the WAM creates the physical conditions necessary for experiencing themselves as phallic and penetrating. This “phallic eroticization,” in turn, forms the basis of coital sexual desire.

Components of Subjective Experience

Perceptions, feelings, emotions, symbols, fantasies, and inner representations directly connected to sexuality are referred to as components of subjective experience. They develop through learning processes within sexualization. The arousal modes we acquire have a significant influence on this development.

In their interaction with one another, the components of subjective experience form what we call sexodynamics. By sexodynamics, we mean on the one hand the art of recognizing what sexually attracts and arouses us. On the other hand, we mean the ability to express this attraction and arousal through sexual desire, to connect it with erotic images, fantasies, feelings, and the experience of one’s own masculinity or femininity, and to enjoy it pleasurably in autoerotic or partnered sexuality.

The following sections explore some components of subjective experience in greater detail.

Sexual Pleasure Experience

Sexual pleasure experience is the ability to enjoy sexual arousal. Most men, women, and couples who consult us wish to fulfill their dream of experiencing sexuality pleasurably. But is this possible when there are no flowing movements that allow sexual arousal to diffuse throughout the body, when arousal cannot be channeled into the pelvis, or when the ability to let go is missing? In other words: because the brain and body form a functional unity, improving the arousal function directly enhances the experience of pleasure and the capacity for orgasm.

The following table shows how physical abilities support healthy sexual functioning:

The bodily capacities are thus reflected in emotional experience. For example, high muscle tension can make pleasurable sensations more difficult to perceive. The more skills a person acquires through the further development of their arousal function, the more they are able to modulate sexual arousal, and the more intensely they experience sexual pleasure and orgasmic release. Cognitions—meaning what a person knows about sexuality, the norms that apply to them, and their beliefs—either facilitate or inhibit learning processes and therefore influence pleasure experience and the arousal function.

Sexual health in relation to the experience of pleasure requires the ability to intensely enjoy sexual arousal and surrender or letting go, both on a genital and an emotional level. The basis for this is the connection between pleasant emotional sensations and bodily arousal. This is not always present: sexual arousal can also become associated with unpleasant feelings. In extreme cases, such as during rape, physical sexual arousal may be triggered; however, the feelings experienced in such a situation are painful. In contrast to Masters and Johnson, who represented the sexual response cycle as a single curve, we therefore distinguish two curves: the curve of bodily arousal and the curve of emotional experience, i.e., sexual pleasure.

Feeling of gender belonging

This concept addresses the question of how much a person feels at home in their own sexual body and within a gender group. It is a fundamental component of self-perception. It significantly influences a person’s sexual experience, is in turn influenced by it, and interacts closely with the other components. It develops from early childhood onward based on perceptions of one’s own body and the responses of the environment.

The feeling of gender belonging consists of:

The sense of belonging to one’s own sexual body. This refers to the personal, subjective perception of one’s own corporeality. It describes the ability to eroticize the sexual body (to experience, imagine, and symbolize it as sexually aroused and arousing):

• Body and genitals: Imagining, experiencing, and enjoying oneself in the desire to actively interact with the body and the aroused genitals
• Erection/penetration: Imagining, experiencing, and enjoying oneself in the desire to enter something with the penis or something else
• Inner space/receiving: Imagining, experiencing, and enjoying oneself in the desire to be filled in the inner space (vagina, anus, etc.)

And the sense of belonging to a gender group: This is based on engagement with sociocultural gender roles and culturally assigned gender stereotypes. Stereotypes refer to behaviors, gestures, posture, gait, interests, and morphology that are culturally attributed to men, women, and other gender constructs. A certain degree of alignment with stereotypes can support the feeling of gender belonging.

The development of a feeling of gender belonging is linked to learning processes at the level of genitality. Sexocorporel sexual therapy is therefore particularly well suited to working on the sense of belonging to one’s own sexual body when clients encounter limits in their sexuality or experience difficulties regarding their sense of gender belonging.

Sexual self-confidence

Sexual self-confidence means being able to present oneself with pride in one’s masculinity/femininity/diversity, in one’s gender, and in one’s sexual arousal, and to be seen in that.

Sexual desire

Sexual desire is the pleasurable mental anticipation of fulfilling a sexual need, either alone or with another person, involving sexual arousal. Sexocorporel distinguishes between

1. Emotional desire:
   The wish for sexual activities for any reasons unrelated to sexual arousal (e.g. the need for closeness, self-validation, power, relationship confirmation, money, or the desire to have children)
    
2. Sexual desire:

• Coital sexual desire: The wish for heterosexual or homosexual intercourse in order to fulfill both genital and emotional needs. This includes the eroticization of one’s own sexual body and the body of the other person.
• Sexual release desire: The wish for activities alone or with others in order to trigger genital sexual arousal, enjoy it to varying degrees, and release it.
• Biological desire: Hormonally triggered desire for sexual activities, e.g. through testosterone or around ovulation

In sexual therapy, it becomes evident that emotional needs are often unstable reasons for wanting sex, particularly when they can also be fulfilled in other ways. The desire for sexual arousal and the expectation that it can be easily triggered and experienced pleasurably provide a more reliable motivation.

The following support sexual desire:

• Physical arousal with corresponding sources of arousal and an arousal mode that allows sexual arousal to be connected with pleasurable feelings
• A secure sense of belonging to one’s own sexual body
• Sexual self-confidence
• Eroticization of otherness and distance: The ability to eroticize the other person in their distinctiveness and also across physical distance
• Eroticization of intimacy: The ability to eroticize closeness, connection, love, tenderness, etc.
• Development of sexual and emotional attraction codes in relation to another person.

Sexual and emotional attraction codes

Sexual and emotional attraction codes – what sexually and emotionally attracts and arouses a person – relate to people’s physical characteristics and personalities. They also include objects, scenarios, etc. We distinguish attraction codes on the levels of reality, fantasy, and dreams.

A person may possess a broad spectrum and great variability of attraction codes. In some cases, they are restricted, in the sense that sexual arousal occurs exclusively through certain body parts, objects, or scenarios (“fetishism”).

Sexual fantasies and dreams

Sexual fantasies include imaginations, memories, and anticipations across all sensory modalities (images, smells, etc.). They can trigger and accompany the arousal reflex. They require the capacity to enter modified states of consciousness, including sleep (dreams).

Sexual fantasies reflect a person’s personal – especially sexual – developmental history, meaning learning processes on the cognitive level as well as on the levels of arousal function, sexual experience, and relational capacities. Fantasy content ranges from narrow to highly elaborate scenarios; they are metaphors for engaging with one’s own gender, attraction codes, sexual desire, etc., as well as with needs, wishes, and fears.

Emotional intensity

The ability to give emotional intensity to sexual needs and desires, sexual longing, and erotic action creates vitality in personal expression.

Cognitive components

By cognitive components, we mean knowledge, values, norms, belief systems, ways of thinking, idealizations, mystifications, and ideologies related to sexuality.

They reflect an individual’s learning history and the social environment in which a person has grown up and lives.

Cognitive components guide and support or inhibit (for example through feelings of guilt and shame) sexual learning processes and give sexuality personal meaning.

Relational components

By this we mean various capacities:

• falling in love
• enjoying intimacy
• loving and forming attachments
• seduction: winning over the other person for an erotic encounter based on awareness of one’s own needs
• communication: expressing one’s own sexual needs, wishes, fantasies, boundaries, and fears

How are sexual difficulties approached in Sexocorporel sexual therapy?

Focus on sexual capacities and learning processes

In Sexocorporel sexual therapy, what a person has learned sexually is understood as a capacity. Depending on the presenting concern, limitations in the sexual learning process become visible and can be expanded through a therapeutic practice project built upon the person’s existing abilities.

A fundamental principle of Sexocorporel is the understanding that the limits of learned patterns are not pathological or deficient, but rather represent attempts at solutions that originally had a meaningful function and, when they later contribute to sexual problems, can be adapted to the person’s current life situation through learning processes. For example, a person may have learned to stimulate themselves efficiently during masturbation until orgasmic release occurs. In partnered sexuality, however, this may not work because their learned arousal mode does not easily translate into partnered sexual practices. From the perspective of Sexocorporel, the person can build on their already acquired abilities and take further learning steps in order to expand the limits of their arousal habits and learn to increase arousal toward orgasmic release in partnered sexuality. Many sexual difficulties can be approached and resolved through similar learning processes.

Focus on the direct causes of sexual problems

Clinical experience clearly shows that problems related to the arousal function (premature ejaculation, anorgasmia, erectile dysfunction, etc.), sexual desire, pain during sex, sexual attraction and compulsivity, and in some cases also the experience of gender identity, are connected to learning processes on the bodily-sexual level. In the Sexocorporel model, these are referred to as direct causes.

Often, these factors are not explored. Instead, relationship problems, psychological difficulties, or significant life experiences are directly linked to the sexual problem. According to that perspective, sexuality should develop spontaneously once these “obstacles” are removed. In most cases, however, this does not correspond to sexual reality, because the relevant learning processes have not yet taken place. Conversely, a broad and well-integrated sexuality can protect against such disruptive factors.

Distinguishing between mental and sexual health

The majority of clients who seek therapeutic help for sexual problems are psychologically healthy. Long-standing clinical experience, including that of other authors such as Helen Kaplan, confirms this. Conversely, sexual difficulties are common among people with mental health conditions. Sexual disorders can also severely affect a person’s mental health or couple relationship. In Sexocorporel sexual therapy, indirect causes are also evaluated, as they may hinder sexual learning processes and may require specialized treatment.

Precise evaluation of the components

The evaluation interview begins with the person’s presenting concern. We focus on information relevant to understanding the person’s sexual functioning and their sexual problem. Since more than 80% of sexual difficulties are likely connected directly to arousal habits, a precise assessment of the arousal mode and the person’s relationship to their own genitals is a central component of nearly every evaluation.

It is also often useful to have the person describe the course of a typical sexual encounter with a partner in detail. Mapping the arousal curve can be especially helpful in this process.

The evaluation generally extends over several sessions, during which the different components of sexuality are explored in relation to the presenting issue. The pieces gathered during the evaluation are not only collected but also organized and connected logically, i.e. placed into a coherent framework. The evaluation focuses primarily on the here and now. Aspects of the person’s sexual learning history may contribute to understanding the current situation.

As the evaluation progresses, initial hypotheses about the person’s sexual functioning are developed. These guide further questions and allow the hypotheses either to be rejected or strengthened.

Encouraging and supporting learning and practice processes

The direct cause of sexual problems often lies in limitations within sexual learning. Accordingly, therapy stimulates new learning processes. Changes in arousal habits, perception, thinking patterns, and interaction styles have effects both intrapsychically and within relationships. Exploration and practice play a central role in the formation of new habits.

The individualized practice model of Sexocorporel is far more comprehensive than many exercise-based programs because it does not merely aim to enrich mechanical techniques, but also seeks to reach the person emotionally and relationally. This approach requires that the original habits and patterns have been identified during the evaluation process and understood in terms of their function.