ABSTRACT
The goals of both Sexual Medicine and Sex Therapy are similar and include restoration and/or enhancement of the sexual experience, but the practices of sex therapy and sexual medicine have little in common. Although each ostensibly acknowledges the importance of the other, the literature is lacking substantially in articles or chapters that discuss the integration of the two approaches. The area that has the most obvious overlap is the evaluation and treatment of sexual dysfunctions. Both sex therapists (i.e., individuals with training in a variety of psychotherapeutic disciplines) as well as clinical sexologists and sexual medicine practitioners, who may include physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, believe their respective approaches are essential for a complete evaluation. The perspectives of each discipline (or set of disciplines) are different, and the methods used to attain their goals differ. In this chapter, we will discuss the commonalities and differences between the two approaches.
