Humanities Homework Help

Based on the week’s readings (see attached), comment on an aspect of the topic that was interesting or important to you. Be as reflective as possible in your remark, from both a scholarly and personal perspective. Include your own personal reactions in addition to an academically based (bio-, psycho- and/or social) perspective.

In addition to your comment on the reading, provide a reference and brief discussion of either:

1. A current news story related to sexuality (reproduction, gender, sexual orientation, sexual politics etc.)—because this topic is based on the week’s news, it does not have to be directly relevant to the class topic for the week …or…
2. A resource (website, article, book, film, video, etc.) that IS related to something in this week’s topic/readings, with brief discussion that is clinically useful/relevant.

Please respond to two peers:

1. One of my goals as a professional is to work with children. While I have thought about possible topics that may come up in therapy such as anxiety, stress over transitions, family issues and so on, sex was not a topic that had occurred to me as being an important issue in working with children. However, Buehler points out that it is important for therapists to help parents become comfortable with having these conversations with their children. For many parents this could be an uncomfortable topic, or they may not really know how to approach the matter because no one ever did it for them. There is also a misconception that if parents talk to their children about sex then they are encouraging them to start having sex, but that is not at all true. Instead being able to talk to a child about sex could potentially make them more comfortable to later ask any concerning questions about their bodies, and later practice safe sex. One of the main things that concerns me though, is if a child asks questions during sessions but the parents are not okay with having that conversation. In that case I wonder what the proper way to address those situations would be.

2. One of the things I learned during this week’s Buehler’s reading is how many couples have the misconception that their partners have to know what they want or like sexually or must want to have sex as frequently as they do or else it means they’re not attuned to them. However, it is important to remember that our partner’s cant read our minds so we must vocalize what we want as everyone has different sexual drives, preferences, and turn-ons. Another thing I found interesting about the reading was the three stages of love: being in love, passionate love, companionate love. This stood out to me because while many couples become disillusioned with their relationships when their love evolves, it is important to remember that this doesn’t mean the relationship isn’t working anymore it just changed. Lastly, while Buehler presented several ways to resolve these sexual issues, such as having couples schedule sex, engaging in novel activities, trying tantric sex, or exploring open or polyamorous relationships, it will be important as future clinicians that we encourage couples to listen to each other as one of the primary cause of these issues can be the lack of communication.