Specificity and application of sexual therapy

Abstract

U uvodnom dijelu rada bavimo se idejom seksualnosti i kako se mjenjala tijekom vremena, s posebnim naglaskom na glavne ličnosti u oblikovanju seksualne terapije. Nadalje proučavajući suvremenu seksualnu terapiju, navodimo neke od modela koji se koriste. Za potrebe ovog rada provedeno je kvalitativno istraživanje s ciljem dobivanja uvida u iskustva seksualnih terapeuta u primjeni seksualne terapije kao procesa savjetovanja. Uzorak čine licencirani seksualni terapeuti na području Hrvatske u razdoblju od veljače do svibnja 2018. godine, a metoda prikupljanja podataka jest polustrukturirani intervju. Tijekom razgovora pokušavalo se odgovoriti na pitanja definiranje seksualne terapije kao posebnog pristupa savjetovanju, specifičnostima u primjeni terapije jednako kao i dodirne točke s drugim psihoterapijskim pravcima te kakva je evaluacije seksualne terapije. Dobiveni podaci govore o percepciji seksualnih terapeuta u primjeni seksualne terapije u pogledu edukacije za seksualnog terapeuta, korisnika koji dolaze u terapiju, tehnike rada iz psihoterapijskih pravaca te tehnike rada specifične seksualnoj terapiji. Također se dotičemo teme izazova u radu odnosno izazova u radu s korisnicima ali i pojave tabua, mitova i uvjerenja kao prepreka u radu. Rezultati govore u prilog da iako literatura pruža teorijski okvir, stanje u praksi je ponešto drugačije no ono što se najjasnije ističe jest individualiziran pristup korisnicima tijekom cijelog terapijskog procesa.In the introductory part we are dealing with the idea of sexuality and how it has changed over time, with special emphasis on the major individuals in shaping sexual therapy. Furthermore, by studying contemporary sexual therapy, we list some of the models that are being used. For the purpose of this paper, qualitative research was conducted to gain insight into the experiences of sexual therapists in the use of sexual therapy as a counseling process. The sample consists of licensed sexual therapists in Croatia in the period from February to May 2018, and the method of data collection is a semi-structured interview. During the discussion we tried to answer the questions of defining sexual therapy as a special approach to counseling, specificity in therapy, as well as therapy application in common with other psychotherapeutic directions and what kind of sexual therapy evaluation. The obtained data refer to the perception of sexual therapists in the use of sexual therapy in terms of education for sexual therapy, users who come to therapy, techniques specific to psychotherapeutic schools and the techniques specific to sexual therapy. We also address issues of work challenges or challenges in working with users, but also the emergence of taboos, myths and beliefs as a barrier to work. The results argue that even though literature provides a theoretical framework, the situation in practice is somewhat different but what is most explicitly emphasized is the individualized approach to users throughout the therapeutic process