Per Olov Lundberg

The Nordic Association for Clinical Sexology (NACS): A Brief History

1978
During the World Congress on Sexology in Rome 1978 a group of people decided to form Nordic Association for Clinical Sexology at a dinner at Restaurant Sabatini in Trastevere. Present at this dinner October 19th. were Preben Hertoft from Denmark, Birgitta Gustavii, Torvald Höjerback, Per Olov Lundberg, Anna-Lisa Nilsson and Annika and Michael Scott from Sweden as well av Birgitta Linner from Finland. 

1979
After some correspondence Sture Cullhed invited us to join at a meeting in Linköping June 15th. Here also a representative from Norway, Thore Langfeldt was present. At this meeting the idea of forming NACS took further steps forward and this meeting has since been called the first NACS-conference

1980
Using the model of some other organisations in our countries such as NAFA (Nordic Association for Andrology) and SMS (Scandinavian Migraine Society) we took the stand that each country should have its own organisation, formally and economically separated from NACS. NACS should be an umbrella organisation with the main task to invite people from the national organisations to a yearly Conference.

In 1980 we had two meetings 18-19.1.1980 in Hindås, Sweden (Second NACS-Conference) and 17-18.10.1980 in Lysebu, Oslo (Third NACS Conference). At the Hindås meeting NACS`s bylaws were formulated and its was decided that NACS should have a board constituted by the chairmen - later called presidents- of the three national organisations. Swedish Association for Sexology (SFS) had been formalised already at the Hindås meeting.

1981
The work was intensified this year when the Forth NACS Conference was held 15-17.10 1981 at Schæffergaarden in Gentofte, Denmark. Here Danish Association for Clinical Sexology (DACS) was constituted on October the 17th. Preben Hertoft from Denmark, Thore Langfeldt from Norway and PO Lundberg from Sweden were elected the NACS board. It was decided to start a Nordic multidisciplinary sexological journal called Nordisk Sexologi, which was first issued 1983 by Munksgaards Forlag and later by Dansk Psykologisk Forlag with Søren Buus Jensen as Editor. Some of us mean that the 1981 Conference was the first real NACS meeting. Anyhow, if so we have to wait four more years before we can celebrate our 30 years anniversary.

1982
This year Norwegian Association for Clinical Sexology was constituted March 17th and the Fifth NACS-Conference was held 29.9-1.10 1982 at Sjudarhöjden in Sigtuna Sweden.

The Following Years
During the following years NACS held regular meetings, once a year, most of the time in September. The places of the meetings varied with a regular turn from Norway to Denmark to Sweden. The number of participants was from around 70 up to 125. 1994 the meeting in Copenhagen was in co-operation with the regular Meeting of the European Federation for Sexology. The languages had all the time up to this meeting been the three "native" Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Also being an EFS meeting now, of course English was introduced as one of the accepted languages. So was also the situation next year in Island where a number of guest speakers from other countries were invited.

Finland and Estonia
Sexologists from Finland had all the time been informed of our NACS-meetings. However, most of the time only Swedish speaking Finns had attended. From the meeting in Grimstad 1999 this changed and the Finnish Assocation for Sexology soon became a full member of NACS. The first NACS meeting in Finland was held 2000 and the one in Estonia 2003. Thus, now NACS has five full member organisations, one from each country.

The Journals
Our journal Nordisk Sexologi had had 15 good years and played an important role in the development of sexology in our countries. However, not being printed in English and also because of lack of manuscripts the journal faded away by the end of year 1997. The idea was then that maybe we could be more successful with a journal in English. Dansk Psykologisk Forlag accepted the idea and from 1998 Scandinavian Journal of Sexology was published with PO Lundberg as Editor-in-Chief and an International Editorial Board from twelve countries. Original communications as well as reviews from all over the world were printed in four issues per year. However, besides the members of the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Associations, who all had agreed to subscribe to the journal we had few subscribers from other countries. During the following years the membership declined in number in some countries and the just included Finnish Association declared that they were not interested in a mandatory subscription. Thus, the NACS president, from Finland at the time, and the publisher agreed to close down the journal after four years.

Authorisation for Sexologists
More successful was another NACS task, the procedure of Authorisation for sexologists. It the nineties it became more and more evident that the word "sexologist" was used by many people with little knowledge or training in the field in our countries. NACS therefore asked for financial support from the Nordic Council. Financed in such a way an elected group of people under the head of Kerstin Fugl-Meyer worked for three years and a consensus of Nordic educational program for clinical sexologista took form. The programs were approved by NACS at the annual meeting in Grimstad 1999. The programs, one for Clinical Sexology and one for Sexological Counselling has them been revised, Each country has a National Authorisation Group and NACS has a NACS Authorisation Committee (NACSAK), now under the head of Elsa Almås that finally approves the candidate. The first approval took place in Copenhagen 2002.
 

Uppsala July 17, 2007.
P. O. Lundberg