The contributors to this book have drawn on different mentors to provide a framework for understanding the sexual problems of the couples they see, and to inform the work they do. But whether Freud, Jung, Klein or Bowlby has been the progenitor of their own particular therapeutic narrative, the spirit of enquiry and curiosity is evident in their approach. This has created space to explore the dimensions of sex, love, hate and power in ways that allow the facts of life to emerge and be discovered as something unique and authentic to each couple. It has also created a platform from which new understandings may emerge to inform practice in the future.

Clulow, Christopher

Foreword -- The facts of life: an introduction -- Psychoanalysis and sexpertise -- What do we mean by "sex"? -- Lively and deathly intercourse -- Separated attachments and sexual aliveness -- Dynamics and disorders of sexual desire -- Sexual dread and the therapist's desire -- Loss of desire and therapist dread -- Loss of desire: a psycho-sexual case study -- Power vs. love in sadomasochistic couple relationships -- From fear of intimacy to perversion -- Perversion as protection -- Intimacy and sexuality in later life