Self-help therapies for sexual dysfunction.

Self-help approaches can be relevant for individuals with sexual difficulties who cannot visit a therapist yet have sufficient coping skills and motivation to adhere to the advice and prescriptions included in the self-help method. Self-help can facilitate the transfer of treatment gains to the unassisted situation at home and thus reduce generalization difficulties from therapist setting to the home setting. They may prevent the development of client's codependency on therapist support and can help boost the client's sense of self-efficacy. Several self-help approaches were found to be efficacious, both statistically and clinically, in the treatment of several types of sexual dysfunction. The outcome is qualified by problem type, client characteristics, and delivery format of the self-help. The methods that are offered vary from cookbook-like protocols, which need to be followed in a stepwise and strict fashion, to strategies requiring the user to self-adapt a general problem-solving method to his or her personal situation, thereby enabling the individual to become his or her own therapist.