Enhancing Pleasure for Gay Men: A Clinical Guide for Healing and Acceptance Through Better Sex

This book aims to help therapists understand the challenges gay men face in their sex lives, providing professionals and gay men with evidence-based interventions and clinical tools to help them heal and live overall healthier lives.

Gay men have unique and debilitating issues that can get in the way of them having pleasurable sex. Instead of sex being a space to learn about themselves, heal, release, and receive joy, for many sex is fraught with shame, anxiety, self-hate, and feeling isolated. Written for both professionals and the clients they treat, this book aims to heal sex-related wounds through sex and, in turn, improve every aspect of gay men’s mental health. The book begins by exploring what is special about gay men and sex before looking at assessing and presenting medical issues impacting sexual functioning, such as childhood trauma, attachment styles, body issues, anxiety, depression, long-term relationships and parenting, and hookup apps. It then moves onto clinical interventions to address these issues, with intake questionnaires and information on how to adapt sensate focus exercises, neuroscience, narrative, CBT, and somatic modalities to provide sex therapy interventions specific to gay men.

With special focus on marginalized communities within the LGBTQIA+ community, such as trans men, BIPOC, aging, disabled, and chronically ill voices, this book is essential reading for sex therapists and mental health professionals working with gay men, as well as gay men themselves looking to live authentically and happily in their sexual lives.

Israel Martinez (he/him) has his doctorate in clinical sexology and is a psychotherapist, lecturer, and supervisor. He has been working with gay men clinically for over 15 years and is the author of Helping Gay Men Find Love.