Abstract
People with paraplegia have to fight their own and societal attitudes and stereotypes that reduce sexuality to the physiological functions of genitalia. These psychological and social limitations arise from cultural and disability models that focus sexual pleasure on phallocentric primacy, and sexual attractiveness of perfect bodies. In this chapter, we evaluate the impacts of a psychoeducational intervention in a personal growth group on the sexual life of two groups of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their partners, throughout their sexual interest and satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. In the first study, nonparametric statistical tests were used to compare pre- and post-outcome measures for all participants. In the second study, the grounded theory was used to explore dialogs and activities that were audiotaped during the group meetings. The participants in both groups were patients and their partners. The psychoeducational intervention was clearly effective in increasing sexual interest and satisfaction as well as the motivation and ability to enjoy sexuality. Anxiety was minimized for all participants, although it may not have been associated with the psychoeducational intervention. In addition, the intervention significantly improved the partner and patient group’s opportunity and ability to enjoy sexuality.
Highlights
When someone has experienced spinal cord injury (SCI), the first question they often ask is, “Doctor, will I ever walk again?” The thought soon after—sometimes never verbalized—emerges with equal urgency: “Will I be able to have sex?” This question is not answered the slogan of the American Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine [1] exhorts to believe that “No injury, no matter how serious, can take away your ability to have a relationship, experience love, and experience the attraction between two people” (p. 3)
The participating female was the partner of a male with SCI, the only couple in the group
Several studies [5, 9, 93–96] and guides [1, 4, 68] urge that adequate education [96] and psychological support [97] be provided to people with SCI in order to facilitate successful participation in sexual activities
Summary
When someone has experienced spinal cord injury (SCI), the first question they often ask is, “Doctor, will I ever walk again?” The thought soon after—sometimes never verbalized—emerges with equal urgency: “Will I be able to have sex?” This question is not answered the slogan of the American Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine [1] exhorts to believe that “No injury, no matter how serious, can take away your ability to have a relationship, experience love, and experience the attraction between two people” (p. 3). These challenges do not just emanate from the genital dysfunction caused by the injury, including alterations or loss of genital sensation, or erection, ejaculation, lubricate, and orgasm [3, 4] They arise because they must rediscover a new way of pleasure to themselves and others by learning to Paraplegia inhabit a body that in many ways is new and dissimilar and requires a different way of touching, caressing, and exploring themselves and their partner [4]. In addition to this difficult adjustment to changes, like many other people with disabilities, people with SCI have to battle with their own and societal attitudes and stereotypes that deny individuals with disabilities are sexual beings [4, 5]. Disability is understood as an individual inability to conform to a standard of normality, namely when the abnormality occurs within the person [15], making him/ her different from the majority of people [16]
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