Research Article Review
Introduction
It is important to note that female sexual dysfunction does affect about 40% of reproductive age women globally; making an issue of discussion as far as the medical practice is concerned. Besides, various media exposure concerning male sexual dysfunction and the increasing number of viable treatment options for erectile dysfunction has made a number of them to seek for medical interventions, which has been regarded as taboo in most countries. Given that these challenges arise within the aspect of relation, researchers and psychologists have confirmed that the rising case of sexual dysfunction is among the intimate partners. That said, given that practitioners, urologists as well as gynaecologists are assessing women patients for analysis of several kinds of dysfunction, specific groups of these females with underlying medical conditions have been observed to have relatively high cases of sexual dysfunction. It does emerge that the counsellors, as well as physicians who interact with these patients, are in a better position to offer assistance to these intimate challenges which are usually embarrassing for clients to discuss. Some communities in Iran have considered the issue of sex and sexual behavior as a taboo and have been prohibited by the religious groups; this has made it challenging for the partners to come out and share their opinions and views. In this regard, we believe that this article will offer insights on possible interventions and treatment options for female sexual dysfunction.
Critical analysis of the article
In the article: “The Effectiveness of Pyscho-Educational and Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling on Female Sexual Dysfunction”: Mirzaee et al., (2020) assess the relevance and importance of psychoeducational as well as cognitive-behavioural counselling on female sexual dysfunction. Indeed, the issues discussed by the authors with regards to sexual satisfaction bring a clear perspective on the fundamental approaches needed to improve intimacy among the married couples/partners. Talking of Cognitive Behavioral Counseling (CBT): CBT tends to play a crucial in enhancing the sexual function in females. Mirzaee et al. (2020), argues that CBT for anorgasmia emphasizes enhancing changes in attitudes, appropriate sexual thoughts, and reducing anxiety levels thins improving on ones’ organismic ability. These cognitive methods are designed to decrease anxiety-generating cognitions assure the patients that he or she can enhance his or her ability when it comes to sexual dysfunction. Well, the behavioral method, as discussed in this article, does assist one in changing neuropsychological mechanisms in a bid to improve the sex life. For men, studies and research have shown that repeated practise of such a method can improve the reaction period of the ejaculation neuropsychological reflexes, reducing the ejaculation baseline of a person (Omidi et al., 2016). The article explicitly discusses the benefits of CBT counselling sessions, given that the session tends to improve the patients; attitude with regards to the sexual relationship and enhance the aspect of the sense of controls. For instance, the session entails non-vaginal stimulation, non-intercourse vaginal stimulation, and the actual sexual acts other than erotic stimulating methods all are geared towards sexual satisfaction. Up to now, other pharmacological agents have been established to be advantageous beyond placebo in improving the orgasmic functions in females. Mirzaee, et al. (2020), also showed that mindfulness which is a core component of CBT had brought considerable enhancements of all elements of female sexual response/reaction and satisfaction except for sexual pains.
Well, in as much as the CBT are vital when it comes to improving sexual desires and arousal levels among the women, I do believe that the review provides an overview of the components that should be put into place to ensure that psychological-educational aspects work effectively. One of the emerging issues is that the psychological approach should entail sex therapy which allows both partners to acknowledge the premonitory sensation and psychological as well as physical mechanisms/processes which will enhance sexual satisfaction. Besides, mindfulness, which is, of course, stressed in the article, is an essential tool when it comes to an understanding of sexual satisfaction. Mindfulness also improves one’s self-esteem, which is a contributing factor to sexual dysfunction among the women, as a result improving an individual’s perspectives can increase intensity stimulation, which leads to sexual excitements and thus relaxations. The frequent training sessions can heavily decrease the fear of sexual intercourse and thus enhance female sexual desires.
Conclusion
Based on the article review, I do believe that the progress of psychological interventions for sexual dysfunction has variable results, which of course, the contextual elements may affect the overall results. Even as much as interventions such as education and CBT are essential in solving female sexual dysfunction, treating relationship challenges that naturally accompany such problems is important, especially for long-term enhancements. Arguably, elements that are linked to positive treatment results, including but not limited to intimate satisfaction and ones’ successes. From the critical analysis of the article, there exists less well-controlled experiments and studies of the results of sex therapists; for some reasons, the studies may be very challenging to undertake and design.
References
Mirzaee, F., Ahmadi, A., Zangiabadi, Z., & Mirzaee, M. (2020). The Effectiveness of Psycho-Educational and Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling on Female Sexual Dysfunction. Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia, 42(6), 333-339.
Omidi, A., Ahmadvand, A., Najarzadegan, M. R., & Mehrzad, F. (2016). Comparing the effects of treatment with sildenafil and cognitive-behavioral therapy on treatment of sexual dysfunction in women: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Electronic physician, 8(5), 2315.