Some sex problems are due to ignorance or misinformation and
often clear up readily in the light of truth. Others are more complicated. If
you need information which we have not provided, or if you have any worries
about yourself, your spouse, or any aspect of your marriage, is sure to talk
things over with a trained person. We suggest that you talk to your physician
first if that is possible. Not all physicians are expert in sexual and marital
matters, but more and more today are taking an interest and attending special
postgraduate courses in this area.
Sometimes, the physician may be able to provide guidance and
advice that will be enough to help you settle a problem with the aid of your
spouse. When your physician feels that specialized knowledge and experience are
required, he can direct you to the proper person-a psychiatrist or a marriage
counselor. Marriage counselors are relatively new. They concern themselves with
every aspect of marital and premarital problems.
There are a bewildering number
of professional counseling services in most communities. If your own physician
is unable to advise you on finding the right specialist, the heads of
departments of psychiatry and gynecology at any medical school usually can make
informed local referrals. To find a qualified marriage counselor, you can write
to the national referral service of the American Association of Marriage
Counselors, which is directed by Dr. Edward Rydman.
The Family Service Association of America at 44 East 23rd
Street, New York, N.Y. 10010, can direct you to social workers throughout the
country who do marital and sex counseling. There are many kinds of troubled marriages and
many sources of help. Help is worth seeking. Not every marriage in trouble can
be saved; not everyone should be. But even some of those which seem most likely
to founder, to be most hopeless, can be saved with almost surprising ease once
an expert sits down with a couple, helps them explore their problems on a
realistic basis they may not have been able to find on their own, and helps
them set up channels of communication between them which may well be all they
need to be able to work out a solution.
If yours is a sex
problem, don't be ashamed to ask for help. It isn't easy, nor may it even be
necessary, to solve every problem that can be involved in achieving sexual
fulfillment in marriage. You may find that you have been worrying unduly about
a problem so minor that it has assumed significance only because of your worry.
You may find that you have difficulties that can be solved with relative ease
before they congeal and perhaps lead to further difficulties. But even when a
sex problem is not one that can be solved easily, it is worth solving.
