ABSTRACT

In Sex in Human Loving, Eric Berne set out to find a language in which to communicate matters sexual, and in doing so he described the essential dilemma for men and women in expressing their sexuality. There is, a central and Irreducible paradox in considering human sexuality: the extraordinary differences between men and women. Cognitive processes influence the limbic system and other parts of the brain, providing the neurophysiological substrata of our sexuality. Perhaps the first was that sex tends to happen between two people! This followed through to the idea that a couple might be treated together, and by a couple; therapists were given permission to entertain the idea that a male and female clinician could join forces to explore sexual matters with a presenting partnership. When people presented with difficulties of sexual function, therapists discovered, after the first flush of enthusiasm for the new treatments, that the problem was not how to teach couples to function sexually.