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Dr. Clark shares if women who have been sexually abused are more likely to experience sexual dysfunctions.
Dr. Clark:
Well, usually there’s an extreme. Either they run away from sex. They often gain weight. They make themselves, in some way, not attractive so therefore, there is no approach of a male and then they don’t have to worry about it. Or they fly into it. You know, they have lots of sex with lots of people, often in a very unprotected and unsafe way and so they confuse sex and love.
With a child, the child wants affection and love, emotion, emotional response from an adult or an older person, a teen, and what they get from of course the adult perspective or the perpetrator’s perspective is the perpetrator is providing sex. So the child gets confused and thinks that love and sex are the same thing.
So, they continue to move toward other persons, either as a child seeking out sex with other persons or as an adult they look for love from a sexual, you know, sex is physical. The pleasure is physical. They do not, you know, having looking for love and by going through sex is not, doesn’t answer. If you move toward a sexual encounter with the hope that you will feel loved, you will be disappointed. You will not be satisfied and that’s what they experience, or any person that does that.
About Dr. Mary M. Clark, Ph.D.:
Mary McGinn Clark, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist (PSY17897), Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC17748) and an AASECT Certified Diplomate in Sex Therapy with over 25 years of experience working with people. She addresses sexuality, relationship and intimacy concerns for individuals and couples. She has taught at the University of San Diego, SDSU, MiraCosta and Grossmont Community Colleges and presented material at UCSD and at professional conventions.
Visit Dr. Clark at San Diego Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital