Eros Pioneers In The Field- Masters And Johnson

0:00Okay, so furthering our discussion about pioneers in the field of clinical sexology and sex

0:09research are none other than Masters and Johnson.

0:12Most people have probably had some recognition of their name if they've had a Psych 101 course

0:17that talked about sex at all, but we want to talk more about Virginia Johnson and William

0:23Masters because they added to the field of sexual science and are pioneers in terms of

0:33things that we still use and things that are still being studied and researched today that

0:38kind of prove what they had talked about at the time.

0:42So their way of going about research was through not only collection of scientific data using

0:49various devices to measure sexual response and throughout the entire body, but they also

0:56used observational data, which if you think back to Kinsey's discussion was also pretty

1:02taboo at the time.

1:04Although we are talking about the 1960s, so we are talking more free love.

1:10So maybe it was slightly less, they were not ostracized from the field.

1:14Although some people do criticize their work as well, as with all researchers saying that

1:20their work was predominantly done with heterosexual couples and that the population of heterosexual

1:29couples they offered research or did research on was restricted.

1:35So keeping that in mind, we are going to talk a little bit more about their contributions

1:40and what they really have added to the field and how that happened.

1:44So the importance of psychological factors in sex and sexual functioning was one of the

1:51main contributions that Masters and Johnson made to the field.

1:56They essentially saw, studied, and had data and collection around before, during, and

2:06after what would have been like therapy sessions or different types of techniques or therapeutic

2:13applications that actually showed things getting better over time.

2:17So they really provided the research needed to say that there was a psychological foundation

2:23in sexual functioning and satisfaction, but also that that kind of treatment would be

2:27sufficient for certain kinds of sexual dysfunction.

2:33They also aided in the discovery of what we know today as performance anxiety, but essentially

2:41the onset of performance anxiety and other forms of sexual dysfunction, as well as what

2:46maintains those, what makes them worse and what can help make them better outside of

2:51just medical intervention.

2:54So they gathered all of this psychological and physiological data.

2:59If you want more information on how that was done, you can read their books on human sexual

3:05response and human sexual inadequacy, as well as look at some of the research being today

3:11done today that will refer back to them and the foundation of what they did.

3:18So they gathered all of this physiological data to support various functions during sexual

3:27activity, parasexual activity, and the physiological and psychological dysfunction compared to

3:37what would be maybe considered an anatomical dysfunction.

3:41So we're talking psychological versus physiological dysfunction, and that sometimes they can present

3:47in the same way.

3:49So they did have some terms that they coined during this process.

3:55One is the sexual response cycle.

3:59Another is something you may have heard called the refractory period, and one of the hallmarks

4:04of any kind of sexual dysfunction, intimacy enhancement that we use in sex therapy, the

4:10hallmark sensate focus.

4:14So what is the sexual response cycle?

4:19The sexual response cycle was made up of four distinct phases, and they were able to show

4:27each one of these with physiological data, and they were able to describe more adequately

4:33dysfunction and where it may have occurred.

4:35So the first stage is excitement.

4:38We would know this as arousal, but what happens in your body during the excitement phase?

4:46Your blood pressure increases, your heart rate increases, your breathing rate increases.

4:57So all of those things indicate excitement.

5:00The things you may not think of are that muscle tension rises.

5:04Well, why does this happen?

5:07In order for some of these subsequent phases to happen, muscle tension must occur in order

5:12for that flutter or orgasm to happen later on.

5:17So if there are problems during this phase, then it lets us know there's a problem with

5:23arousal.

5:24And the other thing that happens here is that blood flow increases to the general area.

5:31So for men, an erection will occur, and women, lubrication will occur, and that is all in

5:37preparation of sexual activity or partnered activity.

5:43The plateau phase is actual intercourse, if that's something that you're looking at doing

5:48or something that is typical for you.

5:51But arousal has intensified to a point just before climax or just before peak experience.

5:58And so this is the part where you and your partner or you solo are doing your thing and

6:04everything starts kind of tensing.

6:06We call it a plateau phase because not a lot happens in terms of physiology besides

6:12things just kind of tightening until orgasm.

6:16And that is the third phase.

6:21So orgasm, or what we would call the peak experience, happens when the sudden, during

6:30a sudden release of muscle tension.

6:32So all of this has been building up one to the excitement phase into the plateau phase.

6:41Everything has been building muscle tension and orgasm is the rhythmic release of those

6:46muscles.

6:47It's also the shortest phase of the entire process.

6:51And it brings a sudden release of that muscle tension and those rhythmic muscle contractions

6:58in the pelvic region are actually what we consider orgasm.

7:02Now that's all we consider orgasm.

7:04So if you're thinking that ejaculation or any kind of subsequent body function also

7:11goes with that, although they can happen together, that is actually a completely separate function.

7:18So sometimes there is an issue or a dysfunction with orgasm specifically.

7:24One of the things that we know is that the more aggressively you pursue orgasm, the more

7:31elusive it becomes.

7:32So sometimes there is no physiological data that would support there's an issue or a dysfunction.

7:41It's more psychological.

7:43It is more that performance based, performance seeking type of behavior.

7:50The last phase is resolution.

7:53And resolution is when the body slowly returns to its normal state.

8:01So this is maybe when you're kind of basking right before any kind of like subsequent activity,

8:09everything returns to its resting state, including heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure.

8:14This is the time where couples or partnered pairs may choose to do some aftercare.

8:21It's where they may choose to kind of snuggle up, catch your breath, whatever it might be.

8:26Now, one of the subsequent findings of Masters and Johnson is that after this resolution

8:32phase, men or biological males will experience something they termed the refractory period.

8:39Although this may have been reported, a self-report before this time, this actually provided some

8:45sort of scientific evidence or data around the fact that they do not or cannot immediately

8:54get another erection or immediately climax again.

8:58So the way that they characterize the refractory period was that it develops as the last irregular

9:05non-expulsive contractions occur and is maintained until sexual tension in the male has been

9:11reduced to low excitement phase levels of response.

9:17So those levels occur, even though arousal may occur, the subsequent physiological function

9:24does not, meaning we are not getting an erection.

9:27We are not immediately climaxing again, whereas women are more susceptible or more likely

9:34to be able to have multiple orgasms, not all, but some.

9:41This is important because when we look at the expectations of men societally, it's very

9:50heavily performance driven.

9:52So if we're looking at it from the mental health perspective and we have the scientific

9:56data saying like, okay, this is what happens in the male body.

10:01It's not about arousal.

10:03It's not about attraction.

10:05It's not about prowess that our body does not allow this to happen.

10:10Those conflict with each other, right?

10:12And that's where we get some social conditioning and stigma around sexual prowess, masculinity,

10:17and those types of things.

10:19The last thing we're going to talk about with Masters and Johnson is the concept of sensate

10:26focus.

10:27Now we're going to go way more in depth on this in the relationships module, but sensate

10:33focus is a way to facilitate intimacy between partners in order to treat various forms of

10:43dysfunction, to increase intimacy, to increase self-awareness if it's a solo activity, and

10:52to not associate any kind of touch with sexual initiation.

11:00It can be so incredibly healing to facilitate touch in a non-sexual way or in a sexual or

11:09sensual way that doesn't necessarily mean initiation of sex.

11:13It is used very, very widely and broadly to treat a lot of different kinds of dysfunction,

11:20but also in different stages of relationships.

11:23And it is really a hallmark application of treatment in the sex therapy community because

11:29it is so widely researched and it works.

11:33It's also one of the things that I think couples don't tend to want to make time for.

11:39And unfortunately that translates into feeling connected.

11:42And so we're going to get a little bit more in depth into the steps of sensate focus,

11:47how you can apply that if you feel like it's something that you could benefit from or your

11:52relationship could benefit from.

11:54But also some of the nuances with that and not actually, the nuances with things like

12:04sexual assault and not actually following step-by-step when there are certain things

12:10or certain criteria that you should really look at and know about your partner before

12:14you would initiate this.

12:15So a lot of things around communication.

12:19I hope you got a little bit more information and knowledge on Masters and Johnson through

12:26the last few minutes.

12:28If you have questions, I would be happy to answer them now, but also look them up.

12:35They are everywhere.

12:36You do have some references in your PowerPoint, but you also have some suggestions of readings

12:47and other ways to get more of their research and information.

12:51If you have any additional questions.