Transforming the Sexual Narrative

Suzanne Iasenza

When couples come to therapy with problems involving desire, arousal, and orgasm, therapists often fall into the trap of thinking of them as somehow broken and in need of fixing. Instead, this workshop offers an approach that guides couples from a state of disconnection to becoming a  sexual-discovery team exploring their own idiosyncratic pathway to pleasure. Specifically, you’ll learn a three-part therapeutic process to help couples find alternatives to rigid scripts about what fulfilling sexuality is supposed to be like. You’ll explore how to:

• Conduct a detailed sexual history for partners to help them understand their current sexual narratives and how to create more liberating stories
• Empower both partners to make explicit their “menus” for preferred sexual activities as a way of expanding their repertoire for more genuine erotic satisfaction
• Help couples use sensate focus as a meditative tool to enhance their sexual development

Suzanne Iasenza, PhD, is faculty at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and the Postgraduate Program in Couples and Family Therapy of Adelphi University’s Derner Institute. She’s coeditor of Lesbians and Psychoanalysis: Revolutions in Theory and Practice and Lesbians, Feminism, and Psychoanalysis: The Second Wave.