***SPECIAL ISSUE: COUPLES AND SEX*** An Invitation to Couple Therapists to Become Involved in Sex Therapy and Research

The sad truth is that couple/marital therapy and sex therapy professionals do not typically communicate with each other nor speak the same “language. ” They read different journals, attend different conventions, and are often unaware of the major issues and controversies that exist within the other field. For example, how many couple therapists read the major clinical journal in the sex therapy field— Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy? How many couple researchers read the leading sex research journal—Archives of Sexual Behavior? How many couple therapists attend the Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists convention or the convention of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research? When the first author was trained as a marital therapist, he learned that 1) Sexual dysfunction is best understood as a symptom of an individual or relationship problem. 2) Sexual issues are best approached indirectly rather than risk intimidating the couple or violating sexual boundaries. 3) A hierarchical approach should be taken to dealing with problems