Demystifying Love Plain Talk for the Mental Health Professional

Intended primarily for mental health professionals, Demystifying Love deals plainly with topics rarely written about for clinicians. As the book shows, love is the logical point of departure for a clinical understanding of sexuality and its problems. It is the most conventional framework for understanding sexual behaviors, the one that is broadly endorsed across many cultures, often as the ideal context for sexual expression. The book integrates an analysis of love in patients dealing with intimacy, sexual desire, infidelity, forgiveness and reconciliation. Detailed with compelling case studies, the author?s skill as a therapist comes through in the discussion of these topics?many of which are at the heart of numerous couple problems.

Preface. The Nouns of Love. The Verbs of Love. Professional Humility and the Erotic Transference. The Path to Love: Psychological Intimacy. Sexual Desire: Simplicity and Complexity. Infidelity: Vital Background Concepts. Infidelity: The Work of the Therapist. Love is Connection-Disconnection-Reconnection. Index.

Stephen B. Levine, M.D.,