Sexual Grounding Therapy

Book excerpt: This important book explores the history of sexuality and the breadth of support available to people experiencing sex and relationship challenges, presenting a model of psychosexual therapy that’s contextualised in the past, present and future and examined within a developmental and relational framework. Sexual Grounding Therapy focusses on the work of Willem Poppeliers, who developed his unique approach to sex and relationship issues in the 1990s. Geoff Lamb explores the model’s historical context; offers a comparison with other contemporary approaches, both mainstream and alternative; describes the model and its application in detail; and looks at future directions for this innovative work. While Poppeliers’ approach to psychosexual therapy is radical, Geoff’s book emphasises and goes beyond this, taking a controversial stance on such topics as sexuality and religion, psychotherapy and science, and the position of both psychotherapy and psychosexual therapy in today’s society. Sexual Grounding Therapy explores how people’s needs at each stage of their lifelong psychosexual development relate to any current sex and relationship problems they may be experiencing. It will be invaluable, not only to professionals – counsellors, psychotherapists and others whose work involves sex and relationships – but also to readers who are interested in exploring their own self-development and relationships from a historical, social and family perspective.