A constructivist approach to sex therapy with couples

Couple therapists benefit from having knowledge about sexuality and how it influences the couple relationship. Traditional couple therapy often focuses on relational issues while ignoring the sexual components of the relationship. Traditional sex therapy techniques often focus on the behavioral aspects of sexual difficulties while ignoring their underlying sexual meanings. This article presents a systemic-constructivist approach to integrative sexual and couple psychotherapy that encourages in-depth exploration of sexual meanings and their impact on the couple relationship. The concepts of holonic sex therapy developed by Rubio (1983), which focuses on four main aspects of sexuality (gender, eroticism, interpersonal bonding, and reproductivity holons), are presented as ways of mapping problematic sexual meanings, in a way that permits their integration with other constructivist approaches to therapy. A series of case vignettes is offered to exemplify this holonic perspective. © 1999 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC