Therapists treating sexual difficulties have to explore all aspects of their clients to pinpoint how and why the difficulty has arisen. Extensive knowledge of physiology as well as interpersonal and emotional insight can help a therapist understand the situation of his or her clients.

In the following video, a therapist is taking a detailed sexual history of a man with erectile difficulties. Note how the therapist explains how his questions and the answers he gets provide clues as to where the sexual difficulty may lie.

Please watch the following video clip and answer the corresponding follow-up questions.

Taking a Sexual History

1			What kinds of questions is the therapist asking -- are they questions about relationships, or about biology, or both? How are these questions useful in diagnosing sexual difficulty?
2			Why does the therapist want to talk to his client without the client's partner present?
3			Is the diagnosis of male erectile disorder primarily psychological or biological? Based on this brief interview, what do you suspect is the basis of this client's difficulty?