Barriers to Seeking Treatment for Sexual Difficulties in Sex Therapy

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of themes and examples identified in participant narratives.

Theme interpreted	Examples of identified narratives
Access and costs	“I don’t know where to go. I would have to Google something, but I also live in a tiny country…” “I wouldn’t immediately know where to find information or to contact someone about that sort of thing” “… one of the main things that puts people off is the very high price of sexual therapists” “I would be able to find places to go… I can search up places if I don’t have one in mind”
Willingness of a partner to engage	“But unfortunately, my partner is not a very open person when it comes to introducing other people into our intimate lives. So, I think it would be a bit of a challenge for them” “I didn’t want my partner to feel like there was something wrong with him. Um I also didn’t want to feel like there was something wrong with me…”
Psychosocial factors	“Yeah, I guess, all of the above stigma around having these kinds of issues…there was a chunk of time where I wanted to [have sex], and he [partner] didn’t and, you know, men are supposed to always want to [have sex]. So, I guess there’s that stigma that if he doesn’t, there’s something wrong with you” “Haven’t felt confident enough to seek help”
Confidence in own abilities	“I keep thinking I can work it out on my own” “It didn’t seem that big a deal. It just seemed something that was easier or would have been easy to solve between us, which was in the end, rather than men thing. That required I guess, professional help. If that makes sense. Yes, it just seems more of a very personal thing or very easy. Go have a personal thing that we can resolve between us rather than having to maybe look for outside help” “I just kind of thought maybe this will pass” “…something that would pass like by itself and I would not really need an expert opinion about it”
Severity of problem	“No, I did not seek help. Just because I figured it was a normal kind of problem” “A sex therapist may be better served helping people with more serious issues” “I haven’t really tried to get any assistance on those because those aren’t really big issues. To me. They’re just like, little bumps in the road. I feel like they’re pretty normal.” “I didn’t think that it was serious enough to seek help. If I did, then I would probably first go to the internet and just Google my problems and see what the sort of internet said. And then if I really felt like it was serious and needed more attention, then I would probably contact a professional.”
Willingness to engage in sex therapy in the future	“For me, I would go right would go now”, “I don’t have anything against going…” and “I would definitely consider going to sex therapy” “…the only reason I would considered actually going is if, you know, my partner thought it was really important”