Therapists risk scandal in dealing with bedroom issues

By Lin Meilian Source:Global Times Published: 2013-5-20 20:23:00

 

A client receives his sex therapy session at SungFul Sexual Health Center in Taipei. Photo: Courtesy of SungFul Sexual Health Center
A client receives his sex therapy session at SungFul Sexual Health Center in Taipei. Photo: Courtesy of SungFul Sexual Health Center

It came as a shock to Tung Sungchen when the 70-year-old man accused her in March of being a fraud after she refused to have sex with him. He apparently had very different expectations of what a "sex therapist" did from Tung, 38, a certified therapist who runs the SungFul Sexual Health Center in Taiwan.

The elderly man said that he'd previously been able to overcome erectile dysfunction thanks to a "sex therapy session" in the US 40 years ago. But now, after having difficulty sustaining an erection with his new girlfriend, 30 years younger than him, he wanted help again.

"This is not a brothel, this is a hospital. We will never offer him what he wants," said Tung. "He must have mistaken sex therapy for sexual surrogacy. We will never have sex with our clients," she told the Global Times, adding "People come to us to cure their sexual problems, not for sex."

As sex is still a taboo subject among many Chinese people, the profession of sex therapist is often met with misunderstanding and skepticism.

Sex therapists talk to clients who are suffering sexual problems and give them advice on how to confront them and improve their sex lives, while sexual surrogacy can involve actual sex with patients. The latter was popularized by the movie The Sessions, which recounts the story of a disabled poet who looks to shed himself of his virginity at 38.

Many sex therapists and psychologists who provide sex therapy said the movie brought the "booming industry" out of the shadows, but has also caused them trouble.

Salacious rumors

Earlier in April, Tung opened her first office in Wuhan Boda Hospital, a hospital specializing in male health in Hubei Province. It soon attracted great attention and was the subject of many rumors as to what exactly went on in treatment.

After graduating from the Graduate School of Human Sexuality of Shu-Te University in 2006 in Taiwan, Tung went abroad to further study human sexuality. She has been certified by the American College of Sexologist and by a Tantric workshop in Germany. Tantra is an ancient Hindu and Buddhist form of meditative practice, today largely associated with sexual rites and used as a catch-all for slow sex and delayed gratification.

Since the invention of Viagra, erectile dysfunction is often treated with easy chemical solutions. But the root of most sexual problems is the mind, not the body, said Tung.

"Many of their sexual problems are not just physical. We help them to identify the problem and then improve their sex lives through better understanding of their body," Tung said.

The biggest difference between sex therapy and treatment provided by existing male health departments in hospitals on the Chinese mainland is that sex therapy does not use medication, according to Tung.

Tung charges around 7,000 yuan ($1,140)for six sessions, which includes talking therapy, genital massage and advice about relaxation techniques. If the problem affects the client's partner, both are invited to attend the sessions. She said up to 80 percent of sexual problems can be partially or completely solved.

One of her clients in China, a 30-year-old man who had problems getting an erection with his wife, turned to Tung for help. Tung invited his wife to attend one session and examined her husband's erection in front of her. Both of them were physically fine. She found it was the painful memory of a miscarriage that caused his problem.

Now Tung sees about eight clients a week in Taiwan, mainly men aged from 23 to 70 and women aged from 35 to 40. She comes to her office in Wuhan once a month.

Different backgrounds

Sexual healing is becoming a profession in many countries, but the backgrounds involved are very varied, from medicine to social work, and there are different senses of professional ethics.

There are no official figures for the number of sexual healers in China and many of them consider themselves trained psychotherapists.

Han Meiling, 40, a Beijing-based self-trained psychotherapist, is one of them. She charges 1,500 yuan for a 50-minute session, which focuses on psychological consultation, not physical therapy.

Han, who previously worked as a saleswoman and reporter, developed her interest in psychology and started work in late 1999. Over the years, she discovered most of her clients' psychological problems were related to sex.

"Sexual problems cause a lot of distress at work and unhappiness in life," Han told the Global Times. "It is mostly because they misunderstand sex."

She uses ideas of Chinese traditional life-cultivation to give advice on client's sex lives.

"The reason for their sexual problems is because they focus too much on having an orgasm," Han said. "I tell them that according to Taoism, the purpose of sex is reproduction, followed by health and orgasm."

One of her most shocking cases was in 2004 when a 25-year-old man turned to her to cure his eroticism. The man said his wife was pregnant and he could not keep himself from being sexually aroused whenever he saw a woman, even his mother-in-law, mother and sister.

He was sexually aroused when he saw Han in her office and asked if he could masturbate in front of her. Han was shocked. However, instead of asking him to leave, she asked him to take off his clothes, stand naked and read a book. With hesitation, he did as she asked.

Her old office was on the second floor of an office building where the windows of the consulting room faced the main street.

"He looked uncomfortable, embarrassed and confused," Han recalls. "A few minutes later he put on his clothes and left. Later he called me to tell me he felt cured."

Han said the biggest problem facing the profession on the Chinese mainland is that there is no place to get formal training, and no governmental body to issue certificates. As a result, people who claim to be sex therapists have to do it on their own steam.

Sleeping with husbands

Others worldwide take a very different approach. Mare Simone, 58, a certificated Tantric educator and sex surrogate in the UK, said she has given lessons in love to more than 10,000 clients over the past almost three decades.

"I earn my living by sleeping with other women's husbands or boyfriends. But I am in no way a prostitute as sex surrogacy is legal, as long as it is done in a therapeutic and healing atmosphere," Simone was quoted by the Sun as saying.

However, the profession is not yet recognized in China and some working in the field have been charged with prostitution. Therapists report harassment from clients and some complain the misunderstanding of the profession has ruined their personal reputation.

The profession is even a sensitive word within the China Sexology Association (CSA), said Xu Zhenlei, secretary-general of the organization.

In 2007, in an event jointly held by Peking University's health science center and the sex therapy unit of an American university, CSA held the country's first training course for sex therapists.

"The training is provided for doctors who need to give advice on how to overcome patients' sexual problems," Xu told the Global Times.

He said there have been 100 doctors nationwide who have received the training, but the organization has never issued any certification.

The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, requires 90 hours of graduate-level coursework and supervised clinical hours. In Hong Kong, certification requires at least 120 hours of coursework and 20 hours of supervised clinical experience.

But in China, the profession is largely unregulated.

"It is becoming a new profession and needs to have a code of ethics and standards," Han said. She attended some training sessions provided by psychologists and educated herself through wide reading.

But many believe there is a long way to go in the country. "We see an increasing number of clients in the mainland, but we are cautious when expanding our business," Tung said.


Posted in: In-Depth

blog comments powered by Disqus