Talking to patients about sexual issues: experiences of Norwegian psychologists

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to explore the extent to which different groups of Norwegian psychologists address sexual topics during therapy and clinical work. What is the relationship between the frequency of discussing various aspects of sexuality with clients and the therapists’ social background, training in sexology and beliefs and attitudes about handling sexual issues in therapy? A random sample of 2352 clinical psychologists was invited by email to participate in an online survey. The response rate was 47%. The psychologists reported that, in therapy, they most frequently discussed topics related to negative sexual experiences, sexual problems, sexual function and sexual orientation with their clients. Psychologists who did not believe that sexuality should be communicated on the initiative of the patient did not feel uncertainty about sexuality as a topic, and those who had talked about sexuality during supervision were more likely to communicate with their clients about any sexual topic. Psychologists who are self-confident and who have received supervision regarding sexuality deal with sexual topics more often during therapy.

Keywords:

• sexuality
• attitudes
• knowledge
• competency
• clinical psychologists
• experience
• education

Notes

Note. Tested for statistically significant differences between the groups by means of Chi-square (χ²).

Notes: * = p <.05; ** = p <.01; *** = p < .001; ns = not statistically significant.