International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

236 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
WHY IS HYPNOSIS USEFUL IN THE TREATMENT OF
SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION?
Hypnosis, when added to traditional approaches to the treatment of sexual dysfunction
in both males and females, facilitates treatment and extends treatment options.
Hammond 1990) noted the advantages in using hypnosis as an adjunct to traditional
forms of sexual dysfunction, particularly in the way hypnotically-based
techniques may assist in working with the single individual if the patient's partner
is unwilling, unavailable or non-existent. Hypnosis provides direct and indirect
ways of effecting changes in negative thought processes at both the super®cial and
deeper schematic level. As Araoz 1982) noted, it is often the negative thinking of
patients with sexual disorders that perpetuates dif®culties. The involvement of
thought, image and symbolism in sexual interest, arousal and behavior cannot be
overemphasized. Changing the information, associations, symbols and images that
contribute to dysfunction is a primary goal of therapy. Hypnosis provides a powerful
means of in¯uencing all these cognitive levels in treatment.
HYPNOSIS IN ENHANCING ANXIETY REDUCTION
While relaxation is not a requirement of hypnosis, the use of hypnosis can facilitate
relaxation and reduction in the anxiety which may directly or indirectly impair
sexual functioning. Hypnotically cued relaxation may be utilized at the time of
sexual intimacy, during self-stimulation or during the sensate focus or pleasuring
technique, a process of in vivo desensitization. This use of cued relaxation may also
overcome the anxiety accompanying sexual guilt.
Alternatively hypnotically based relaxation may be added to systematic desensitization
in imagination, if in vivo work is not practical, for example when the
patient does not currently have a partner. In fact Wolpe 1958), in his original
account of systematic desensitization in imagination, utilized hypnotically based
relaxation techniques, without further discussing the role hypnosis played.
HEALTHY DISSOCIATION AWAY FROM THE SEXUAL FEARS AND
NEGATIVE COGNITIONS
As a transitional part of therapy, during self-stimulation, the sensate focus or
pleasuring experiences, and during actual sexual intimacy, the patient can be
encouraged to use dissociation in a healthy and constructive way, to separate
themselves from their sexual fears and negative cognitions about their sexual
functioning. Hammond 1990) describes strategies for patients to distance themselves
from an excessive focus on their sexual functioning. The approach described
is equally applicable to masturbatory and actual intimate relations.