自有史料記載以來，各種各樣的性問題似乎一直煩擾著各學科的學者們。例如，古代和中世紀的醫生研究了這些問題並且探索了各種各樣的醫學治療措施。比較而言，性功能障礙也似乎在當代已經變得愈來愈嚴重和越來越普遍。在19和20世紀，性功能障礙通常是精神病醫師治療的病種，它的“治癒”率總是令人感到沮喪。今天，我們能夠明白這種情形幾乎也沒有大的改觀，因為涉及性功能發揮的生理過程仍舊瞭解不多。

只有像諸如羅伯特L.迪金遜、恩斯特•格拉芬伯、阿爾弗雷德 C.金西、阿諾德 H.格基爾、馬斯特斯和詹森這些科學家的詳細而精確的研究，這種局面才大有改觀，這些科學家的研究最終讓性治療師徑直地逼近了對性功能障礙的治療，而不是把它作為別的什麼綜合征而誤入了歧途。

It seems that sexual problems of one kind or another have plagued many people in many societies since the dawn of history. We know, for example, that ancient and medieval physicians studied these problems and sought various medical remedies. However, it also seems that sexual dysfunctions have become more severe and widespread in modern times. In the 19th and 20th centuries, they were often treated by psychiatrists, and the rate of "cure" was not always encouraging. Today, we can see that this could hardly have been otherwise, since the physiological processes involved in sexual functioning were still poorly understood.

It was only the specific research of scientists like Robert L. Dickinson, Ernst Gräfenberg, Alfred C. Kinsey, Arnold H. Kegel, Masters and Johnson which finally allowed therapists to approach sexual dysfunctions directly, instead of treating them as symptoms of something else.