What's new in sex therapy: An update on recent developments in the field?

Sex therapy is one of the oldest surviving treatment modality in sexual medicine. It has been found effective in diverse range of sexual disorders in both the men and women and has a good evidence base also. In last few decades, various pharmacological and somatic interventions are found useful in sexual disorders. However the existing pharmacological agents have certain limitations and non-pharmacological interventions still remains relevant for a significant number of clinical situations in sexual medicine. Classical Sex Therapy (CST) as proposed by Masters and Johnson, however, have certain requirements like trained experts of both the genders working together and distinctive set-up which may be restrictive in application for most of the practitioners of sexual medicine. Required kind of set up and availability of both male and female therapist which although can provide privacy to the patients is rare in most resource constrained countries and restricted mainly to only certain parts of the world. There has been a leap in research in psychosexual medicine in recent decade involving classification, new medicines and improved emphasis on female sexuality also. The advancements have also affected sex therapy and it has gone through several modifications to suit the need of current times and resources. CST is modified in context of increasing knowledge and evidence base of cognitive behavior therapy, mindfulness based therapies and couple therapy etc. Approaches to combine sex therapy with pharmacotherapeutic interventions, other physical therapies like vacuum devices and surgical interventions is also advancing. This symposium is planned to update recent developments in sex therapy including 1. Current understandings of sex therapy; 2. Its modification and blending with other form of psychological therapies; 3. Its use along with other pharmacological, somatic and surgical treatment modalities; 4. Future prospects and updates.