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Sex therapy
A patient whose erectile failure has a clear psychological cause should undergo sex counseling before he pursues any invasive treatments. Sex therapy works best to treat erectile dysfunction if a man is generally healthy and has normal erections during sleep, normal blood tests, and a normal physical exam. Therapy can also help when ED is caused by stress from work, finances, relationship problems, or poor sexual communication.
Treatment is a short-term form of counseling, generally involving five to 20 sessions. (If a man drops out of therapy after only one or two sessions, successful treatment of ED is unlikely.) During the sessions, the counselor will give the patient "assignments" to do at home, such as practicing sexual communication skills, reading books about sexuality, and touching exercises that are designed to take away the pressure to perform during sex.
Not only does sex therapy work best when a man's sexual partner gets involved with the treatment; the therapy also helps a man's partnercope with the problem. When a partner gets involved with therapy, men resolve stress-related erectile dysfunction 50 to 70 percent of the time. When a man goes through counseling alone, the success rate is lower.
Even when erectile dysfunction has a clear physical cause, psychological problems sometimes contribute to erectile failure. Several sessions of sexual counseling can help a man who is going to receive medical or surgical treatment for erectile dysfunction. A counselor can guide a couple as they decide on a particular treatment, or the counselor can help the couple improve their sexual communication and lovemaking skills. A man who is single may benefit from counseling on how to talk to a new partner about penile injections or a vacuum constriction device.
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