Sex therapy for female sexual dysfunction

INTRODUCTION: About 45% of women suffer from some form of sexual dysfunction. Despite its high prevalence, there are few studies that have systematically evaluated sex therapy in comparison with other interventions. OBJECTIVE: Review randomized clinical trials that present psychotherapeutic interventions for female sexual dysfunctions. METHOD: Through a search in three databases (Medline, Web of Science and PsycInfo), 1419 references were found. After an analysis of the abstracts, twenty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria and composed this review. RESULTS: Sex therapy, as proposed by Masters and Johnson and Heiman and LoPiccolo, is still the most commonly used form of therapy for sexual dysfunctions; although it has shown results, the results do not consistently support that this is the best alternative in the treatment of sexual dysfunctions. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of systematic study of many female sexual dysfunctions. Orgasmic disorder and sexual pain (vaginismus and dyspaurenia) are the most extensively studied disorders and those in which sex therapy seems to have better outcomes.