Importance of Science in Sexual Health
Sex therapy focuses on many different aspects of sexual health and functionality between you and your partner.
Science is integral to sexual healthcare and the practice of sex therapy at Kimberly Keiser and Associates.
There are many reasons to seek a certified sex therapist, but specifically seeing a certified sex therapist ensures that your therapist has received extended training and has illustrated competency as a sex therapist. This results in sex therapists having an in-depth knowledge of human sexuality, sexual anatomy and physiology, and the treatment of sexual dysfunctions.
If a sexual dysfunction is identified, a sex therapist can work closely with other medical professionals to identify a treatment plan for both your mind and body.
Why Science is Important
At times there are remedies or treatments created in hope to improve symptoms associated with sexual dysfunctions including low sexual desire, vaginal lubrication, orgasm dysfunction, and genital pain disorders from a variety of origins.
But not every treatment is created equal. Proper research and treatment outcome studies are needed before incorporating a treatment into sex therapy.
What Happens When Science is Lacking
The ‘O-shot’ or orgasm shot, is one example of a medical procedure without the necessary science to substantiate its claims. It was developed by Charles Runels, MD, who claimed to improve a broad range of symptoms in women.
The O-shot method consists of withdrawing blood from a patient, removing the red and white blood cells, and then injecting the platelet rich plasma (PRP) into the same patient’s vaginal tissue.
While this treatment was promoted and advertised to healthcare providers and patients, no credible research has been found to demonstrate the efficacy of these treatments on improving female sexual dysfunctions.
Proper clinical studies conducted utilizing the rigor of the scientific process, peer review, and publication of scientific research are key to demonstrating the efficacy of any kind of treatment.
While the O-shot claims to treat a broad array of female sexual dysfunctions, Dr. Runels treatments are based on pseudoscience of one specific study that consisted of a small sample size of patients with one sexual dysfunction, which does not translate into establishing efficacy of the O-shot as a treatment for any specific female sexual dysfunction little alone multiple diagnoses.
How Science Informs Treatment
Human sexuality is dynamic, and its expression is unique for each person. Diagnosing and treating sexual issues or dysfunctions is complex and basing care on best practices and empirically based treatments is necessary to ensure effective treatment.
Given how limited resources can be for sexual healthcare, it is important that when you are seeking services you ensure that your provider has received adequate and appropriate training that is based on science.
Sex therapists are given specific training in order to conduct themselves professionally and ethically while providing care. As needed, we will work with additional healthcare providers across disciplines, e.g. medical doctors or physical therapists, to establish a treatment plan that best fits the needs of our patients.
In addition, all therapists specializing in sexual health are licensed mental health providers and practicing based on empirically based models and methodologies for clinical treatment interventions.