Counseling - Treating Erectile Dysfunction: Mens Sexual Health

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Counseling

If your erectile dysfunction is due partly or wholly to psychological factors or tensions with your partner, treatment with just a pill probably won't work. Even when there is a physical cause, strain can develop in your relationship. Or you may have performance anxiety that prevents you from initiating sexual contact. In such situations, counseling may be helpful.

You can find a qualified therapist in your area through the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, the leading organization that certifies sex therapists (see "Resources"). To be certified, a counselor must be a licensed or state-certified health care professional, such as a medical doctor, psychologist, or social worker.

Sex therapy can have several goals. It can educate you and your partner about the nature of sexual arousal, it can improve communication, and it can reduce the anxiety associated with sex. To meet these goals, therapists often suggest that couples initially try to reestablish intimacy with hugging and other nonsexual touching, and then — over a period of weeks or months — work up to more sensual interplay and, eventually, sexual intercourse. Sometimes relaxation techniques are also used to help overcome sex-associated anxiety.

Little is known about the effectiveness of psychotherapy for erectile dysfunction because few studies have been done on outcomes. But some reports are encouraging. In 1997, a study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior involving 37 couples reported that a brief period of sex and relationship therapy helped most of these couples attempt sex more often. The couples were also significantly more satisfied with their sex lives.

It has become increasingly common for counseling to be used along with Viagra and related drugs (Levitra and Cialis). These drugs seem to be most effective for erectile dysfunction that's psychological in nature. For example, Viagra's success rate in such cases is 84%, compared with about 70% among all men with erectile dysfunction. Doctors often prescribe these drugs to help men overcome performance anxiety in the short term, but they also recommend psychotherapy to help them work through the root of the problem. Once their confidence is restored, some men are able to have erections without taking medication. Whichever treatment or combination of treatments you use, the better the communication between you and your partner, the more successful you're likely to be.

Last updated:	September 05, 2008