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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1743–1748Cite as

Low Sexual Desire in Couple and Family Therapy

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Name of Concept

Low Sexual Desire in Couple and Family Therapy

Synonyms

Drive; Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder; Inhibited Sexual Desire Disorder; Libido

Introduction

Inhibited sexual desire or conflicts over desire discrepancies are some of the most common complaints that sex therapists report seeing come through their offices. Defining “low” or “high” sexual desire can be inherently problematic, as most couples are already using each other’s desire level as a yardstick for comparison and many therapists become complicit in accepting the couple’s definitions as sufficient assessment to move ahead with treatment. Often, the lower desire partner is partner-labeled or assumes the responsibility of having something “wrong” with them (e.g., frigid, broken, puritanical, sexually inhibited, boring, non-adventurous). The higher desire partner can also be subject to negative labels (e.g., hypersexual, perverse, horny, “only wants sex,” selfish). With so many couples wanting to better...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Kristin M. Bennion

  2. Intimate Connections Counseling, Orem, UT, USA

    Kristin M. Bennion

  3. Symmetry Solutions, Wichita, KS, USA

    Natasha Helfer-Parker

Authors
  1. Kristin M. Bennion
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  2. Natasha Helfer-Parker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristin M. Bennion .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Employee Assistance Program, McLeod Health, Florence, SC, USA

    Farrah Hughes

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Allen Sabey

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Bennion, K.M., Helfer-Parker, N. (2019). Low Sexual Desire in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_435

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