In time-limited sex therapy, termination of treatment occurs after a predetermined period of time. Thus, in the Masters and Johnson model programs, the couple is seen daily for two weeks, after which time treatment ends, regardless of outcome. Presumably, this method is based on the rationale that, if the couple's problem is amenable to sex therapy, they will have responded after 14 sessions; if they have not, extending the treatment will not help. When a more individual and flexible treatment format is employed, such as the one described here, termination becomes a matter for clinical judgment. Clinicians vary somewhat in the criteria they employ to decide when treatment should be ended. So far no one has devised an ideal set of criteria. Different points of view have their advantages and disadvantages. Different considerations govern termination when treatment is successful and when patients fail to respond to sexual therapy.

TERMINATION: SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME

A case is closed when:

1) The symptom has been cured; 2) the immediate causes of the symptom have been modified and the patient and/or couple has attained insight into these immediate causes; 3) the patient and the couple have integrated the new sexual behavior. If these criteria are met, a reasonably good probability exists that the cure will be stable.

Cure of the Symptom

Expectations regarding symptom cure will vary with the syndrome, and with the patient's own goals and capacities.

Premature ejaculators can expect normal voluntary control over ejaculation in the majority of cases. However, at the end of treatment, some men still need to "slow," i.e., decrease the velocity and force of their thrusting when they become highly aroused. In such cases therapy may be interrupted, while the patient and/or couple work to improve the man's control on their own, following the principles they have learned during therapy. They are then seen again in four to six weeks to reevaluate their status. In most cases ejaculatory control is by this time satisfactory. If control remains only fair or the symptom has relapsed, the couple may need more therapy sessions before the case can be successfully terminated. Premature ejaculation has such an excellent prognosis that it is worthwhile to persist in treatment beyond the standard 14 sessions if necessary; termination without cure is the exception when this attitude is adopted

With retarded ejaculation, one can expect the patient to learn to ejaculate inside the vagina, but the prognosis is not as favorable as for premature ejaculation. Even in successful cases it is not unusual for patients to continue to experience some orgastic delay or some unevenness in intravaginal ejaculation at the termination of therapy. Only in mild cases is the goal of completely uninhibited ejaculation usually reached with brief therapy.

About The Author
David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Before And After Male Enhancement Results company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2011 David Crawford of Male Enhancement Reports This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.