The challenge of monogamy: bringing it out of the closet and into the treatment room

Author: Brandon Marianne  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1468-1749

Source: Sexual & Relationship Therapy, Vol.26, Iss.3, 2011-08, pp. : 271-277

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Abstract

Sexual health professionals embrace a mind-body paradigm for the treatment of sexual dysfunction. Yet even with our inclusive approach, sexual disorders remain treatment challenges. Clearly we are missing something – a variable that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: monogamy is not necessarily natural for primates. This paper represents a long-overdue discussion about the monogamy dilemma and how it impacts our patients, our treatments and ourselves. This is not an exploration of whether monogamy is moral, ethical or beneficial. Rather, it is an examination of the possible impact that human non-monogamous nature has on the diagnosis and treatment of sexual dysfunction.