Journal of Counseling Research

Ronak Eshghi - Fatemeh Bahrami - Maryam Fatehizadeh - Amir Keshavarz Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) or Frigidity is one of the most common female sexual dysfunction (FSD) that can cause marked distress and interpersonal difficulties. This condition may significantly damage the marital relationship and as such weaken family life. Hypoactive sexual desire disorder may have roots in lack of knowledge or insufficient awareness, or incorrect attitudes towards sexual relationship. The purpose of this investigation was to study the effectiveness of couples sexual cognitive-behavioral therapy on improvement of HSDD symptoms and its dimensions (behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical) in women who suffered from this condition in city of Isfahan. This research was quasi-experimental with pretest and posttest, with control group. The sample in this study were 18 couples who had referred to counseling centers in Isfahan, who were randomly selected and assigned to experimental and control groups. Researchers used a modified version of female frigidity scale consisting of written and visual items (Eshghi & Bahrami, 2005). The experimental group received 8 sessions of couples sexual cognitive-behavioral therapy, while the control group was received no intervention. The results of covariance analysis indicated that the specific counselingintervention was effective in women's total frigidity scores (P=0.0001) and its subscales: behavioral subscale (P=0.00), cognitive subscale (P=0.003), emotional subscale (P=0.0001), and physical subscale (P=0.003). The results of the present study showed that couples sexual cognitive-behavioral therapy appears to improve female sexual desire through improvement of couples sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes and beliefs, sexual skills, and sexual self-disclosure.