COURSE FOR SPECIALISTS

Sexuality –

between excitement and taboo

How to deal with sexuality in therapy and counselling – a Gestalt therapy view.

Sexuality is a central part of being a human. It determines our feelings, thoughts, and actions – when it is active, but also when it is absent. We are convinced that therapists should deal with this important topic – not explicitly as sex therapists, but quite naturally in our daily work with our clients.

Sexuality can be fascinating, simple, complicated, embarrassing and fulfilling. It has many facets. It can be directly named as a problem, perceived more as a symptom or even be taboo or cry out for freedom. Sexuality is not just one topic among many but touches people’s identity to a considerable extent. Who I am? What constitutes me?

Sexuality can be understood as a bio-psychic act of procreation, as well as eroticism, intimacy, a specific attraction between people – love -, as a private matter or social communication, as a commodity for sale or as a mystery of life. It is not by chance that autocratic systems try to define, restrict, or limit sexuality in a foreign way. Sexuality contradicts the idea of order and coercion – sexuality is unpredictable, unruly, and anti-authoritarian.

Sexuality and therapy

If sexuality is a constitutive part of being human, therefore it is also part of the common ground in therapy, even if it is not explicitly mentioned and touched upon. As Watzlawick has said: “You cannot not communicate”, sexuality can also flow into the therapy process without being consciously considered.

As therapists, coaches, and counsellors we inevitably meet the topic of sexuality. Not always directly, sometimes only subtly and in various forms and depths.

How do we deal with it? How confident do we feel about this topic? Do we want to, and can we address it, or do we feel it is an extremely private topic?

As a therapist, it is important to be (self-)aware of this seemingly all-encompassing but rarely openly addressed topic and its impact on therapist, on the client and ultimately on the therapy process.

There are many questions that can arise:

• how confident and self-aware am I with the topic?
• what are my own ethical foundations based on my socio-cultural background and biographical experiences?
• how am I connected to my own sexuality?
• what sub-topics make me feel (un)comfortable, embarrassed, excited and what do I want to avoid?
• Where are my boundaries and how I deal with my curiosity?

Being aware of your boundaries, prejudices, personal experiences, doubts, fantasies and introjects is a good prerequisite to be able to face this topic in the therapy, to recognize transference and countertransference processes.

Sexuality and Gestalt

There has not been a lot of explicit writings about sexuality in Gestalt therapy. This is an area where organismic needs and social introjects conflict a lot.

How do we deal with this and where do we stand as Gestalt therapists? What about the concepts of transference and countertransference, shame, and contact?

Where can the founders of Gestalt therapy (Lore and Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Wilhelm Reich) help us and where do we need a new way of thinking about sexuality that is appropriate for today?

More about the program is below in the course introduction section…

COURSE INTRODUCTION