New therapy from the Université de Montréal helps women with reduced sexual desire

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A new sex therapy developed by a researcher at the University of Montreal is helping women whose sexual desire has decreased – a problem that affects between 30 and 40 percent of all adult women.

Couples therapy was recently tested and standardized by Sophie Bergeron, a professor in the psychology department at the University of Montreal and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Intimate Relationships and Sexual Well-Being, and will be the subject of a randomized clinical trial starting in January.

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“We speak of a disorder of sexual interest and arousal when women experience low desire for at least six months and this is accompanied by significant distress,” said Bergeron. “Low desire in women is the most common reason why people consult sexologists and couples psychologists.”

Up to a quarter of women who notice a decline in their sexual desire feel such distress. In this situation, Bergeron added, both partners may doubt themselves, feel inadequate, or even begin to doubt their attraction to the other or the other’s attraction to them.

Therapy helps to normalize these feelings, to understand that this is a widespread problem, and to accept that “people do not have this problem because they are doing something wrong.”

The feasibility study conducted by Bergeron and her colleagues Natalie O. Rosen of Dalhousie University and Katrina Bouchard of the University of British Columbia found moderate to significant improvements in core symptoms of low sexual desire in the relationship and sexual distress.

There is every indication that men have slightly stronger sexual desires than women, Bergeron said. If some men had weaker desires, she said, “women’s sexuality would be more malleable and adaptable.”

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Desire disorders rarely have biomedical causes, says Bergeron. They are more often caused by interactions within a relationship. It is important to see them as a problem that affects both partners, she says.

“We actually frame the problem in such a way that it affects the couple rather than the woman.”

“A recent study says it could be related to the many responsibilities that women in heterosexual couples still have, with their increased psychological stress,” Bergeron said. “So there are also important psychosocial factors that could play a role. Women have many responsibilities, a lot of work, they have to take care of children, aging parents, etc.”

The intervention, offered only in virtual mode to increase its accessibility, is based on communication, acceptance, openness and vulnerability between partners. While other therapists treat the woman alone, this intervention initially aims at developing intimacy within the couple.

The therapy also invites participants to talk openly about sexuality, one of the most difficult topics for couples and one that many avoid addressing. Participants in this therapy are encouraged to share, for example, their sexual preferences.

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A large part of the intervention also focuses on debunking myths surrounding sexuality, including those that cause women to blame themselves and feel guilty about their lack of desire.

“We have to take the burden off the woman’s shoulders,” Bergeron said. “We have to understand desire, what the accelerators of desire are, but also what the brakes on desire are. We ask the couple to examine their daily life to identify these factors. We work a lot on developing and deepening intimacy.”

Therapists also work on developing empathy, she added, knowing that it is “an important protective factor that increases desire.” Since sexuality involves a great deal of vulnerability, “each partner’s ability to respond empathically is important (…) because we want couples to have access to that part of themselves, to be vulnerable to the other and to be accepted in that, through empathy.”

Couples are invited to take part in body awareness exercises to relearn how to touch, but without the pressure of having sexual intercourse afterwards.

“The treatment never aims to increase the frequency of intercourse,” Bergeron said. “We don’t even try to increase desire, because that would be counterproductive. We place a lot of emphasis on how to experience more pleasure during intercourse.”

“The reasoning is: the more pleasant something is, the more likely we are to want to treat ourselves to it more often.”

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