All About the Fear of Sexual Intercourse & How To Overcome it with CBT, Therapy & Counselling in Wolverhampton & West Midlands

About the Fear of Sexual Intercourse

The fear of Sexual Intercourse is also known as Genophobia and is a relatively common fear, especially in younger populations who may be sexually inexperienced and who worry about ‘getting it right’.

Sexual intercourse between two consenting individuals (adults) is a completely normal and healthy activity and there really is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way of going about it.

Much of the fear is created by social norms and expectations as well as the type of environment in which people grew up. Some religious ideologies, for example, argue that sex for pleasure is ‘sinful’ which might lead to anxiety about sex in later years.

Fear of sexual intercourse may also be fear of sex (in general), Erotophobia.

Fear is the emotional experience that we have when we perceive there to be some sort of threat in our immediate location or context, or even that a threat may present itself in the future (anticipatory anxiety) and this is certainly true for somebody who has a fear of Sexual Intercourse.

The important thing to be aware of is that we only need to perceive (believe) that something is a threat in order to trigger the fear reaction and just as importantly, what one person perceives to be a threat may not be regarded as threatening to somebody else.

In other words, the fear of Sexual Intercourse is a highly individual experience based on the subjective belief that Sexual Intercourse represents a threat to that individual.

We are fully aware of the subjective nature of individual fears and will treat you and your Fear of Sexual Intercourse seriously when you consult us for help.

Fear of Sexual Intercourse Symptoms

The symptoms associated with the fear of Sexual Intercourse have much in common with other fears and phobias and may include:

• Anger problems
• Generalised Anxiety
• Social anxiety
• Control issues
• Feelings of depression
• Insomnia & sleeping problems
• Low Self-Esteem
• Low Self-Confidence
• Panic attacks
• Overthinking things
• Paranoia
• Stress

Often the symptoms of Genophobia can seem to occur without the object of fear even being present indicating that the fear of Sexual Intercourse has become normalised into everyday life.

This normalisation process often results in the development and use of safety behaviours in an attempt to prevent exposure to triggering events which, paradoxically, may cause the problem to get worse.

In other words, safety behaviours tend to reinforce the fear of Sexual Intercourse rather than diminish it!

Genophobia may be the result of earlier traumatic experiences that can be directly (or indirectly) linked to a specific object or situation, but this is not always the case because fears can also be inherited as learned behaviours from the social context in which a person is brought up.

The good news is that the majority of people who suffer with a fear of Sexual Intercourse will find a course of psychotherapy highly beneficial.

You can read more about the different types of psychological therapy for the fear of Sexual Intercourse below.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for the Fear of Sexual Intercourse

If you’re determined to overcome your fear of Sexual Intercourse then we highly recommend following our 10 session Tranceformental CBT programme with Paul.

T-CBT is a clinically proven psychotherapy course that will teach you everything you need to know to understand your problem, identify any limiting beliefs and unhelpful thinking styles that you might have developed in order to cope, and then provide guidance on how to make changes to your thinking and behaviours to irradicate the problems.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has an excellent track-record with problems based on anxiety and fearful cognitions (thoughts) which are key factors in the fear of Sexual Intercourse.

Alternative Psychotherapies for Genophobia

Although we generally recommend CBT for Genophobia, we also offer alternative psychotherapies for people preferring a different approach.

These include:

Psychodynamic therapy which focuses on understanding why the problem has arisen and relies on the therapy relationship to bring about change.

Counselling which is less formally structured than CBT but still provides a safe and non-judgmental environment in which to discuss issues. Talking problems through with a skilled counsellor is often therapeutic in its own right.

Hypnotherapy is an alternative form of psychotherapy that can be applied to a very wide range of problems and is available with Joan.

Free Initial Consultations for the Fear of Sexual Intercourse

We offer all prospective clients FREE initial consultations to discuss your Genophobia problems prior to commencing any psychotherapy programmes.

The consultation and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various solutions that are available to you and make a considered recommendation based on your individual personal circumstances.

Initial consultations are also available online.

We recognise the importance of the therapy relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so it is important to meet (either face-to-face or online) before deciding to follow a course of psychotherapy.

Our policy is to help people make a fully balanced & considered decision about undertaking work with us, including both the financial and personal implications.