Sensate Focus and the Psyche: Integrating Sense and Sexuality in Couple Therapy [Paperback]

This book explores both psychoanalytic and psychosexual perspectives of sensate focus, a programme of touching exercises for couples with sexual problems, and in so doing provides an original, integrated model for understanding the conscious and unconscious impact of this tactile intervention on couples in treatment.

Susan Pacey is a psychosexual and couple psychotherapist in private practice in Central London and formerly in the NHS. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Couple Psychotherapy by Tavistock Relationships and the University of East London in 2018. She is a teacher and author of several papers on sexuality and couples, and was an editor of the international journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy for seven years.

In this important and highly informative book Susan Pacey draws on her research and extensive professional experience to bring together body, mind and relationship in addressing the untapped potential of psychosexual therapy. She provides a theoretically grounded basis for overcoming the dualism that has restricted its development for decades. Sensate Focus and the Psyche should be required reading for therapists of every persuasion who work with adult sexuality.

Christopher Clulow PhD, Senior Fellow, Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology

In this extremely lucid book, Dr. Susan Pacey has provided us with a detailed exploration of the sensate focus approach to couple work with much wisdom, exploring the very close links to the more traditional, familiar forms of psychotherapy. By integrating these different bodies of theory and clinical insight, Pacey has succeeded in encouraging couple psychotherapists to speak about bodily sex in a more direct manner, while also inspiring sex therapists to think more psychoanalytically. Both students and senior practl#¹