Coming Together: Synthesizing Sex Therapy with Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy.

The fields of couple therapy and sex therapy have historically been divided, with sex therapists focusing on sexual problems as fuel for relationship distress and couple therapists conceptualizing relationship distress as the root of sexual problems. Various researchers and clinicians have worked to integrate the two worlds by offering strategies for integrating sex therapy interventions into couple therapy, either by providing just the information necessary to address the sexual difficulty or by articulating how to utilize a sex therapy intervention within a specific couple therapy modality. However, limited literature exists that truly integrates sex therapy with specific couple therapies, actively accounting for the theoretical lenses held by both. This paper explores the conceptual fit between Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT; Christensen, Doss, & Jacobson, Integrative behavioral couple therapy: A therapist's guide to creating acceptance and change. Norton Professional Books, 2020) and modern sex therapy. To highlight this fit, we first review IBCT's theory, process, and primary interventions and then summarize the current trends in the field of sex therapy. We outline the conceptual fit between IBCT and modern sex therapy, then provide a pragmatic model for how a therapist might integrate the two in practice, highlighted with a case example.

Out and in Harm's Way: Sexual Minority Students' Psychological and Physical Health after Institutional Betrayal and Sexual Assault.

In a large random sample of undergraduate university students, we investigated whether sexual minority individuals (i.e., lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals) experienced different rates of sexual violence victimization (including sexual assault and rape) and subsequent institutional betrayal compared to their heterosexual counterparts, and whether such differences may account for disparities in the psychological and physical health of sexual minorities compared to heterosexuals. In addition to differences in sexual assault victimization rates by gender and sexual orientation, we found differences in rates of institutional betrayal. When non-heterosexual women experienced sexual assault, they experienced a significantly higher rate of institutional betrayal compared to heterosexual women. Overall, greater institutional betrayal was associated with greater negative psychological and physical health outcomes in sexual minorities compared to heterosexual students. These findings reinforce the need for institutional reforms related to the climate and reporting of sexual violence on college campuses, and also identify sexual minority students as a population of particular risk for additional harm by their institutions when they need them most.