Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire

University of British Columbia researcher and clinical psychologist Brotto’s first book written for a non-academic audience provides a career’s worth of advice on how the “15 to 31 percent of women experiencing lasting and distressing sexual complaints”—including low desire, satisfaction, and genital pain—can “explore [how] to make sex fabulous and fulfilling again.” She begins with a brief history of the diagnosis and treatment of sexual dysfunction in women, including an overview of the different therapies typically used to treat sexual dysfunction (such as cognitive behavioral therapy and medical interventions). Case histories illustrate the mindfulness-based interventions employed by Brotto’s team to help women overcome sexual dysfunction related to factors such as depression, stress, and the negative effects of habitual multitasking. Based on the premise that a satisfying sexual response is not a reflex and that two-way communication between brain and body is essential for sexual response, this guide provides several mindfulness exercises that “have been tested, critiqued, revised, tweaked, and tested again in hundreds of women,” as well as a list of resources. Although the book starts slowly, it is a practical and useful reference for readers interested in testing out Brotto’s approach of cultivating mindfulness as a therapy for sexual dysfunction. (Apr.)