This survey of sexual practices in the United States has been combed by the media for items of interest to the public: monogamous sex is much more widespread in this country than has been thought; infidelity is less frequent than presumed; vaginal intercourse is the defining experience of heterosexual behavior; watching one's partner undress is stimulating to many people; married couples have more sex than single people (unmarried, cohabiting couples have the most sex of all); the majority of couples experience sex twice a week to several times a month; 2.8% of men identify themselves as homosexual and 1.4% of women do so, but a higher percentage of people consider a same-gender experience to have some appeal; 75% of men always experience orgasm compared with 28.6% of women, but more nearly equal numbers of men and women declare themselves satisfied with their sexual experiences. The book is, in fact, a

The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States

Therapy and Beyond: Counselling Psychology Contributions to Therapeutic and Social Issues presents an overview of the origins, current practices, and potential future of the discipline of counselling psychology. •Presents an up-to-date review of the knowledge base behind the discipline of counselling psychology that addresses the notion of human wellbeing and critiques the concept of ‘psychopathology’ •Includes an assessment of the contributions that counselling psychology makes to understanding people as individuals, in their working lives, and in wider social domains •Offers an overview of counselling psychology's contributions beyond the consulting room, including practices in the domain of spirituality, the arts and creative media, and the environmental movement •Critiques contemporary challenges facing research as well as the role that research methods have in responding to questions about humanity and individual experience.

Therapy and Beyond: Counselling psychology contributions to therapeutic and social issues

This study aims to explore personal meanings related to the constructs 'sexuality' and 'sexual pleasure' in people who choose to write in forums and blogs about their own experience with Bondage and Discipline, dominance and submission, and Sadism and Masochism (BDSM). We carried out semi-structured online interviews with 343 people, of whom 50 (24 women and 26 men) claimed to practise or to have practised BDSM, in order to investigate participants' definitions of their sexual experiences and the construction of sexuality and sexual pleasure from their personal point of view and from the perspective of the opposite sex. Data were analysed according to Grounded Theory methodology. Questions concerning the 'normality' or the 'deviance' of participants' sexual practices were reflected in the answers of the majority of BDSM practitioners. Sexuality was construed as a 'game' with specific rules, and 'pleasure' was associated with extremely intense experiences. The relationship between the partners was considered fundamental, as it gave meaning to the sexual practice. Both dominant and dominated roles were found to be tightly linked to the possession and management of power between partners, which either confirms or reverses the social construction of traditional male and female roles.

Forbidden games: the construction of sexuality and sexual pleasure by BDSM ‘players’

Participants in alternative or ‘kinky’ sexual behaviours are a sizable enough minority that psychotherapists are likely to see them in their practices. However, those who engage in bondage and discipline (BD), dominance and submission (DS) and sadism and masochism (SM) (BDSM) are concerned that mental health-care providers will view BDSM as evidence of psychopathology. This research employed an Internet-based survey of 766 therapists in the United States to assess therapists’ attitudes towards the BDSM community. Seventy-six per cent of the sample reported having treated at least one client who engaged in BDSM, although only 48% perceived themselves to be competent in this area. Attitudes towards BDSM were related to socio-demographic variables and self-perceived competence.

Assessment of therapists’ attitudes towards BDSM

This article describes the development and validation of a new measure, the Attitudes about Sadomasochism Scale (ASMS). Exploratory factor analysis with 213 participants yielded four subscales (Socially Wrong, Violence, Lack of Tolerance, and Real Life). Confirmatory factor analysis with a different sample (n = 258) indicated that this four-factor model fit the data well. Validation analyses using all 471 participants showed that the ASMS positively correlated with other measures of social and sexual conservatism (right-wing authoritarianism, attitudes about lesbians and gay men, sexual conservatism, rape myth acceptance). However, a multiple regression analysis showed that the majority of the variance in the ASMS was not explained by the four measures of conservatism, indicating that the ASMS measures a unique attitudinal construct. Further validation analyses revealed that participants who had prior knowledge about sadomasochism (SM), participants who have engaged in SM, and participants who knew a friend involved in SM all endorsed more positive attitudes on the ASMS. Thus, this study presents a reliable and valid measure of stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes about individuals involved in these nontraditional sexual practices.

Development and validation of the attitudes about sadomasochism scale.

Consensual sadomasochism (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism; BDSM) is relatively common, but the experience of psychotherapists who work with clients who engage in BDSM has received little study. We conducted semistructured interviews with 14 therapists experienced in working with BDSM clients. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for thematic content. Therapists emphasized the importance of cultural competence, including a nonjudgmental attitude and knowledge of BDSM practices and cultural values. BDSM was rarely a central issue in therapy, relationship issues were clients' most common presenting concerns. Therapists who practiced BDSM themselves often encountered boundary issues with clients.

Anne A Lawrence

Papers

Psychotherapists' experience with clients who engage in consensual sadomasochism: a qualitative study.