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Who Are Sex Therapists and What Do they Do?

Summary & Participants

Whether you're happily married or living single, you've probably worried about your sex life at some point or another. There's nothing unusual about a less-than-perfect sex life. But if you and your partner can't seem to overcome your sex troubles, or if you have a sexual disorder, you may consider seeking professional help.

Medically Reviewed On: July 03, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Welcome to our webcast. I'm David Folk Thomas. The topic today is sex therapy. You may have heard about it, but how much do you really know about it? A lot of people seek sex therapy when they think their sex lives aren't going the way they'd like them to be or they may be having some problems. We're going to discuss the topic of sex therapy. Joining me are a couple of experts from the medical field. On my left is Dr. Robert J. Filewich. He's a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety disorders. He's also the Executive Director for the Center of Behavior Therapy in White Plains, New York. Sitting next to Dr. Filewich is Dr. Ken Rosenberg. He's a psychiatrist affiliated with New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cornell University Medical Center. He's also in private practice in New York. He specializes in substance abuse and sexual disorders. Gentlemen, thanks for joining us on the webcast. Dr. Filewich, let's start with you. Give us the definition. What is a sex therapist? What do they do?

ROBERT J. FILEWICH, PhD: It's a licensed, qualified health professional that will go ahead and help people who have sexual problems, either in their relationship with their partner or sexual problems that are interfering with their life in such a way that it's creating a lot of uncomfortable and serious problems.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Dr. Rosenberg, how do you become a sex therapist? Are they licensed?

KEN ROSENBERG, MD: Hopefully they're licensed, and people can be licensed in a variety of ways, but unfortunately, it's not like become a psychologist or a psychiatrist where you have boards and you have 10 million people watching you and exams and a whole protocol. Someone can call themselves a sex therapist if they take a weekend seminar or if they're at a several a year study course at Cornell University, where we're at.

ROBERT J. FILEWICH, PhD: In the State of New York there's really no law that really prohibits people from calling themselves a therapist of any kind, including a sex therapist.

KEN ROSENBERG, MD: So you try to find a good therapist, a good psychiatrist, a good psychologist who has some specialties in sexual disorders, because you don't know who you're going to see if you just find someone who just calls themselves a sex therapist.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: And patients who go to see sex therapists, what are the reasons they go there?

KEN ROSENBERG, MD: So many. The most common reason for men is probably, right now, erectile dysfunction. Impotence is a major reason why men seek help, especially with all the publicity around Viagra and that sort of thing.

ROBERT J. FILEWICH: That and premature ejaculation. Those are probably the two major ones.

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