The Treatment of Sexual Dysfunctions - Diagnosis

In order to help people with their sexual problems, therapists need to know what exactly these problems are. Simply asking the patients or clients to name or define their problems - while always necessary - is usually not sufficient. Many women and men do not understand the functioning of their own bodies, misunderstand or misconstrue their symptoms or have unrealistic expectations. Therefore: Unless the problem can easily be solved by giving information or making some simple suggestions, a detailed diagnosis is necessary.
The diagnosis usually proceeds in two steps:

1. A physical examination
2. A detailed interview ("taking a sex history")