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Chapter 12 - Intimacy, Desire, and Sex in the African American Relationships

from Part IV - Sex and Intimacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

By
Jeshana Avent-Johnson
Edited by
Yamonte Cooper  and
Erica Holmes
Yamonte Cooper
Affiliation:
El Camino College, Torrance, California
Erica Holmes
Affiliation:
Antioch University, Los Angeles
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Summary

Intimacy, sex, and desire are important elements to personal and relational well-being and are some of the top reasons couples seek therapy. For Black couples, there is a unique challenge that can hamper the development of these elements given the historical backdrop of oppression that contributes to significant stressors on these couples. Helping Black couples to understand how they make meaning of sex, intimacy, and interactions with their partner, while maintaining a clear sense of self in the context of their physical and emotional closeness, has been positively associated with sexual desire, intimacy, and couple satisfaction. This chapter looks at the role of differentiation, the impact it has on a Black couple’s intimate life, and how clinicians can help facilitate the process of increasing the couple’s levels of differentiation, thus breathing life into the relationship.

Keywords

sexintimacydesiredifferentiationcouplesrelationshipsAfrican Americanstereotypessexuality
Type
Chapter
Information
Black Couples Therapy
Clinical Theory and Practice
 , pp. 273 - 292
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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