THE PLACE OF HYPNOSIS IN PSYCHIATRY, PART 2: ITS APPLICATION TO THE TREATMENT OF SEXUAL DISORDERS

This paper is based on a world-wide search of the literature focusing on the application of hypnotherapy in the treatment of sexual dysfunction. The authors review a range of treatment procedures which have been shown to be highly effective for a wide range of sexual dysfunctions listed in the DSM-IV. This paper demonstrates that hypnotherapy is a very valuable tool for a wide variety of sexual dysfunctions. Some of these treatments are behaviourally oriented, in particular the cognitive re-structuring used in the treatment of frigidity; others are more psychodynamically oriented, such as the use of age regression in the treatment of premature ejaculation; and a third group combines these approaches. Detailed accounts of the treatment procedures are given so that hypnotherapy practitioners may incorporate these techniques in their consulting rooms.