ABSTRACT
Sexuality is ever-present in human life, and sexual dysfunctions have plagued humankind for a long time. In describing the sexual dysfunctions and their treatment through counselling, a four-phase model of human sexual response are suggested. The models are, the four-phase model of Masters and Johnson, the three-phase model of Kaplan and the four-phase model from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM IV). Physical disabilities can cause sexual dysfunctioning either by directly affecting genital responses or by indirectly affecting the capacity for sexual acts and interactions. Counselling is a working process appropriate for helping people with difficulties of recent or immediate origin. The principles of the new sex therapies provide a means of understanding sexual dysfunctions. Participation in the sensual, non-demand exercises of sensate focus may highlight beliefs about non-sexual love-making and about the participants' own bodies.
