Reflection paper on Couples and Sex Therapy

In the Beginning

In the past, the society of the sex and couple therapist was less diverse than it is now. Therapy was mainly assisted by culture to control conflict in the society. In this regard, the main conflicts were based on coexistence rather than diversity (Watters, & Boyd, 2009). The few cases of diversity that existed met with more opposition and came with more intensity than the cases are today. Diversity was far less appreciated in those days and individuals preferred to live with people who shared almost every aspect of their culture.

Diversity that originated from aspects such as disability and gender was however still present in these societies (Gurman, 2008). Sex and couple therapists had to handles issues that surround these factors and try to maintain a peaceful coexistence between couples. Notably, the issue of gender was more sneered at than it is today. The society might have taken women as the homemakers while the men were viewed as breadwinners. Failure to meet the needs of the society in this regard might have resulted in conflict.

Today

Today the society is more diverse. With the rise in the diversity of the society, people have learned to embrace people from other cultures, beliefs and values. With this, the issue of diversity has become more important to the sex and couple therapist. The law has also been more lenient with individuals with diverse beliefs. By allowing, for example, same sex marriages, the sex and couple therapists have had an increase in the number of issues that are presented to them (Gurman, 2008). Even more important, since diversity often comes with theories and myths, they have had to understand every sense of diversity to offer more reliable guidance.

Issues like race have become a more welcome scenario than they were in the past. In this regard, people from diverse cultures have found themselves in same marriages. The consequence has been conflicting cultures and a need to compromise. In this regard, sex and couple therapists have had to act as middlemen between cultures to offer the guidance that is most suitable for different scenarios. Moreover, divorces have become a more common phenomenon and therapists must regularly find themselves handling issues of divorce among couples. People from today’s society have more disregard for abusive marriages and are more eager to leave them.

Future

The future may become even more diverse than it is today. The immigration issue that has raised a lot of debate has meant that the society meets people from diverse backgrounds each day. With intermarriages and relationships between these individuals, the future of therapy is likely to be much more diverse. The society is also becoming more and more irreligious as time moves on. Even those who are spiritual no longer believe that people should be forced to live in the ways of their religion. Consequently, the role of religion in controlling marriages has become less obvious. While religious leaders would have facilitated coexistence between couples, this may become irrelevant in the future (Watters, & Boyd, 2009).

Issues that continue to raise conflict in the society today may also become less common in tomorrow’s society. As individuals become more and more accommodating to the beliefs of others, they may allow same-sex marriages and assisted reproduction (Connor, Sauer, & Doll, 2012). The therapist’s role may become that of offering further guidance and wishing away misunderstandings.

References

Connor, J., Sauer, C., & Doll, K. (2012). Assisted Reproductive technologies and world religions: Implications for couple therapy.

Gurman, A. S. (2008). Clinical handbook of couple therapy. New York, NY: The Guilford Press

Watters, Y., & Boyd, T. V. (2009). Sexuality in later life: Opportunity for reflections for healthcare providers.