Exploring Desire and Intimacy

This is an amazing resource for any clinician working to assist clients with sex and intimacy. Wonderfully practical and useful! -Eli Coleman, PhD, director, Program in Human Sexuality, University of Minnesota Medical School A workbook that works for all therapists. I will definitely recommend it to my students, and adapt the exercises and worksheets for couples. -Esther Perel, author of Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence Exploring Desire & Intimacy offers resources to create everything from initial exploratory conversations to deep, revelatory insights. Gina Ogden's Four Dimensions model is invaluable as a practical framework for understanding where sexuality and sensuality fit in an individual's or couple's life. -Emilie Nagoski, author of Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life. Gina Ogden is one of the world's foremost sex therapists and sex educators. Almost every page of this book resonates with her thoughtfulness and heart. It's a book I wish I had been able to read when I was in training, but nothing like it existed at the time. -Paul Joannides, PsyD, author of Guide to Getting It On This book is a masterpiece. So practical--inspired and inspiring! A dynamic practitioner guidebook that presents a truly remarkable roadmap for unlocking the mysteries of sexual suffering while alchemically transforming our clients' journey toward sexual wholeness. -Patti Britton, PhD, MPH, past president of AASECT, co-founder of SexCoachU.com, author of The Art of Sex Coaching. Gina Ogden has created a sex therapy workbook for clinicians based on her emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual approach. Her unique exercises explore the complexity of sexual desire and intimacy. This will be a valuable resource for body-oriented creative clinicians who advocate breaking barriers so individuals and couples can experience a vital sexuality. -Barry McCarthy, PhD, professor of psychology at American University, author of Rekindling Desire Exploring Desire and Intimacy is a brilliant, action-packed, must-have part of any competent therapist's toolkit! -P. Michele Sugg, MSW, LCSW, CST, past president of AASECT. Such a thoughtful, practical resource that enables all of us-layperson and professionals alike-to explore those aspects of sexuality and intimacy that impact our lives in so many complicated ways. Another treasure from Gina Ogden on our book shelves and in our 'tool kits.' -Judy Norsigian, executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves. In Exploring Desire and Intimacy, Dr. Gina Ogden supports her innovations in therapy with the latest neuroscience research findings as she guides practitioners to help clients learn how body, mind, heart, and spirit are all integral parts of sexual experience. --Beverly Whipple, PhD, RN, FAAN, past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS), co-author of The G-Spot and other bestselling books. A treasure! I will definitely be getting it for my students. It will help them see that their job as sexuality educators is to help clients or students find their own vision of sexual life-not intrude into their story but simply offer tools for its construction. The exercises, especially 'Re-Membering,' ensure that they will consult with the dark side as well as the light. -Susan Stiritz, PhD, senior lecturer and coordinator of sexuality studies for the Brown School, Washington University, St. Louis WOW! This book is simply brilliant and a wonderful contribution to our field. Dr. Gina Ogden has taken the powerful concept of the Four-Dimensional Wheel and brought it to clinicians in an easy to use, practical format that will be wonderful adjunct therapy for any clinician who works with individuals or couples on matters related to sex, intimacy and relationships. -Neil Cannon, PhD, LMFT, instructor, University of Michigan School of Social Work Sexual Health Certificate Program In her most comprehensive volume thus far, Gina Ogden both elucidates theory and offers practical treatment tools that transcend standard sex therapy treatment models. Drawing on her original 4-Dimensional Wheel paradigm, and introducing original intervention strategies from actual sessions with clients and supervisees, Ogden's wisdom will surely inspire and enhance your practice. -Talli Y. Rosenbaum, MSc, CST, academic advisor, The Yahel Center for Jewish Intimacy Reading this workbook made me feel I had just spent the weekend with a mentor and friend, and I cannot imagine teaching her work without including this book. As you read Exploring Desire & Intimacy, you'll be guided by a master as she gives you specific ideas and practices for integrating the Wheel into your particular setting. -Tina Schermer Sellers, PhD, founder of the Northwest Institute on Intimacy, Seattle, WA Exploring Desire and Intimacy is a bit of magic that interweaves the processes of learning, experiencing, teaching, listening, and interacting. Gina Ogden has more than just authored this workbook, she also stands within the text, mirroring the journey we wish our clients to take: coaching, inviting, challenging readers to better understand themselves, their clients, and the field of sex therapy itself. -Daniel Rosen, LCSW-R, sex therapist, neurofeedback therapist, EMDR practitioner After 20 years of practicing gynecology, I have discovered that introducing women to the 4-Dimensional Wheel makes pelvic exams more informative and empowering. This workbook provides a consistent, reproducible framework to help clinicians communicate efficiently and powerfully about reproductive anatomy, sexual function, and the lifelong effects of a woman's sexual experience. -Debra S. Wickman, MD, FACOG This workbook is filled with vast wisdom about how all kinds of people can regain sexual health and wholeness. It's presented so that even a busy doctor can use it to engage patients in their own healing-physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. -Pebble Kranz, MD, family physician, University of Rochester Medical Center Once again, Dr. Ogden provides a rich resource full of tools and insightful guidance on how to bring the four dimensions alive. I will be providing copies of this workbook for all members of my staff and introducing it to my students. -Elliott Kronenfeld, LICSW, CST, owner of Insight Psychotherapy, Brookline, MA. Award-winning Gina Ogden is recognized by her peers as a thought leader and top expert in sex therapy. -Bill Taverner, editor-in-chief, American Journal of Sexuality Education