A sex therapist and a psychiatrist who specialize in sexual disorders present a self-help guide for women whose sexuality is inhibited by fear or physical pain. Using clinical examples and interweaving accounts by women who have struggled with these problems, they provide a series of step-by-step exercises drawn from their extensive therapeutic experiences. Chapters outline the sexual response cycle, provide a variety of relaxation techniques, and detail individual treatment programs for specific sexual disorders. Advice on choosing and working with a therapist is also included.

"This is a wonderfully clear, complete, detailed, and reassuring discussion of the sexual facts of life for women. It provides excellent questionnaires to help the reader identify her own unique sexual nature and needs, together with concrete procedures to solve problems and work toward a healthy and satisfying sex life." -Kathleen Logan Prince, M.S.W., Certified Sex Therapist Sex is essentially a simple biological function, as natural to our bodies as eating or sleeping. When things go wrong, some kind of fear or physical discomfort is often at the root of the problem. This workbook offers a gentle and effective guide to help women understand and begin to overcome the fear or pain that inhibits or blocks their sexuality. Interweaving the voices of women who have struggled with these problems, the authors provide a series of exercises designed to help readers map the terra incognita of their own bodies and sexuality and work through healing treatment plans for specific problems.

The Sexual Alarm System explores the mental shield that develops around many womens bodies to protect them from real and perceived sexual intrusions and dangers. Leavitt discusses how the Alarm functions, how it develops, what triggers it, and how it interferes with a womans ability to be sexual in an intimate partnership.

No Ordinary Life: Parenting the Sexually Abused Child and Adolescent was written for parents, caregivers, survivors of abuse, counselors, and therapists to understand the special needs of the population of sexually abused children. It will help caregivers especially to establish appropriate expectations and sexual boundaries of the young people in their care. This book includes topic-specific subjects such as identifying the signs of sexual abuse in children; what to do when abuse is suspected or disclosed; how to deal with eating disorders, self-mutilation, and acting out behaviors; and disciplining the abused child or adolescent. There are also chapters speaking directly to adult survivors of sexual abuse that deal with healing from past abuse, ways to break the family cycle of incest, and how to start a survivor's group. Sandra Knauer offers hopefulness for healing in families suffering with abuse issues and treating sexual abuse in a multigenerational setting.

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The psycho-social needs of victims of rape and sexual assault are increasingly recognised and there is a need for a critical synthesis of knowledge and practice to support the development of training and best practice in the mental health and sexual health professions. The Trauma of Sexual Assault provides an understanding of the theoretical underpinning of the wide range of clinical problems that can follow sexual assault. Focusing on adult victims of sexual assault, this book brings together research findings, theoretical perspectives and implications for treatment, longer term management, and future policy. * The first text to consider the psychological impact of sexual assault on women and men * Incorporates a comprehensive flow-through model of psychological and social management from the initial presentation of the assaulted person onwards * A much needed reference, accessible to a wide range of professionals Part of the Wiley Series in Clinical Psychology

Helps adult victims of sexual assault move from brokenness to healing. This book outlines a theology or redemption and includes an application of how the disgrace of the cross can lead victims toward grace.