International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

240 INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
suggestions of genital analgesia. Such suggestions may be given directly, may be
transferred to the genital region from glove anaesthesia or via metaphor. Similarly
with dyspareunia the oversensitivity may be reduced by these methods.
HYPNO-EXPLORATION AND HYPNO-DYNAMIC THERAPIES
Where there are deeper dif®culties, and the sexual dysfunction is symptomatic of
more complex intrapsychic con¯icts, hypnosis may be used in an exploratory
fashion while the therapist must keep in mind the difference between the narrative
truth of therapy and the factual truth of the court room.
HYPNOTICALLY ASSISTED TREATMENT OF SEXUAL
DYSFUNCTION
Disorders of sexual functioning are classi®ed into disorders of sexual interest or
desire; disorders of sexual arousal; disorders associated with sexual penetration;
male orgasmic disorders and post-sexual distress. A brief account of approaches is
given below: for further reading in the hypnotic treatment of sexual disorders the
reader is directed to Araoz 1982, 1998); Brown & Fromm 1987); Hammond
1990).
TREATMENT OF DISORDERS OF SEXUAL INTEREST OR
DESIRE
Disorders of sexual interest have become one of the more commonly presenting
disorders and their treatment is by no means straightforward. Schover & LoPiccolo
1982) found that up to 50% of patients presenting in the `sex therapy clinic'
complained of `inhibited sexual desire' and yet, as Hammond 1990) notes, this is
one of the most complex and least successfully treated of the sexual disorders.
Careful evaluation is required to exclude medical and psychiatric causes. If of a
psychological aetiology, such disorders may arise from inadequacies in sexual
stimulation; an inability to become absorbed in sexual intimacy; distracting negative
self talk, thoughts or images; anxiety, guilt, or anger; or a lack of sexual
pleasure resulting in little interest due to there being insuf®cient pay-off for sexual
activity. Traumatic sexual experiences and inadequate parental models are also
frequently implicated in the aetiology of disorders of sexual desire Hammond,
1990). The nature of the intervention will depend upon the speci®c aetiology of the
disorder.