ABSTRACT
Sexual communication has commonly been equated with sexual self-disclosure, which is usually understood as a willingness to share one’s sexual history with a partner, particularly in relation to the risk of sexually transmitted infections or to disclosing preferences for certain sexual behaviours or techniques. Extraordinary lovers use the word “communication” in the broadest sense, to include the possibility of sharing every aspect of their sexual and non-sexual selves by giving and receiving verbally and via touch. Communication emerges as an altogether more complex phenomenon than has been understood traditionally in literature or in popular definitions. Communication helps couples to develop and express deep levels of empathy and to create an atmosphere conducive to optimal sexual experiences. Communication is fundamental in facilitating exploration, experimentation and discovery. As one person explained, communication could “be verbal, it can be vocal sounds that are not words, it can be nonverbal cues, something very overt like picking up a hand and putting it someplace else.”
