How and why does sexual attraction happen? This book is an exploration of the universal yet highly individualized experience of being sexually attracted to another person. Incorporating interviews, research findings, and excerpts from romantic and erotic literature, lyrics, and film, Sexual Attraction: The Psychology of Allure explores a subject that is central to the human experience and highly relevant in not only personal, intimate interactions but also other relationships. Although the causes and effects of sexual attraction have been studied, sexual attraction itself-how we experience others in terms of their sexual attractiveness-remains a neglected, rarely researched topic. James Giles presents jargon-free information that is accessible and fascinating to the general reader as well as highly useful and informative to students and researchers in social psychology, sexology, sex and marital therapy, and relationship counseling. The book explores subjects such as how sexual attraction is fundamentally different from other forms of interpersonal attraction and how at the heart of sexual attraction lies the experience of allure-something that makes one feel helplessly drawn toward an intimate physical joining with the sexually attractive person. The allure of strangers, cross-sex friends, sexual friends ("friends with benefits"), and romantic partners are all addressed, revealing the often subtle heterosexual attraction that typically exists between men and women in all their relationships, including between those who are ostensibly "just friends."

Sexual Attraction in Therapy presents new findings from multiple perspectives into the complex phenomenon of sexual attraction in therapy. Detailed clinical examples and strategies from expert contributors demonstrate how therapists can engage with sexual attraction, when it arises, in positive ways that facilitate client progress and ensure appropriate professional conduct. Challenges practitioners to think about sexual attraction as a normal dynamic developing through the unique intimacy of the therapy encounter Presents new findings from research to enrich understanding of the lived experience of therapists and how they confront, avoid, make use of the process of sexual attraction Provides clinical examples to highlight common challenges faced by practitioners, the strategies they use to overcome them and how they normalize the ‘taboo’ of sexual attraction to make positive use of it in therapy Makes an important contribution to current literature on professional practice, an area of increasing importance as more emphasis is placed on issues of ethics, ongoing supervision and appropriate professional conduct Expert contributors include Doris McIlwain, Michael Worrell, John Sommers-Flanagan and Martin Milton

The Evolution of Human Pair-Bonding, Friendship, and Sexual Attraction presents an evolutionary history of romantic love, male-female pair-bonding, same-sex friendship, and sexual attraction, drawing on sexuality research, gay and lesbian studies, history, literature, anthropology, and evolutionary science. Employing evolutionary theory as a framework, close same-sex friendship is examined as an adaptive trait that has harnessed love, affection, and sexual pleasure to navigate same-sex environments for both men and women, ultimately benefiting their reproductive success and promoting the inheritance of traits for friendship. Chapters consider the desire to form close same-sex friendships and ask if this is embedded in our biology, concluding that most humans have the capacity to form loving, meaningful, and sexual relationships with men and women. This book takes on a unique interdisciplinary approach and is essential reading for those studying and working in sexuality research, anthropology, sociology, evolutionary psychology, and gay and lesbian studies. It will also be of interest to marriage and family therapists as well as sex therapists.

Working with Sexual Attraction in Psychotherapy Practice and Supervision addresses some of the challenges associated with sexual attraction in psychotherapy practice and supervision, as well as within services, and helps therapists, supervisors, and managers to navigate them with openness and self-reflection. The book focuses on practical and applied issues, using a relational humanistic-integrative theoretical approach as a backdrop for understanding. Split into three parts, it deals with issues related to clinical practice, supervision and ethical issues. Chapters support in-depth exploration in all three arenas of practice and are completed by editors providing a reflective summary. Enriched with case examples and research written by senior relational practitioners, the book will be beneficial to therapists, supervisors, and service managers in the field of psychotherapy.

Paedophiles exist and we must develop ways of living with this fact whilst ensuring that children are kept safe. This ground-breaking book demystifies the field of adult sexual attraction to children, countering the emotionality surrounding the topic of paedophilia in the popular media by careful presentation of research data and interview material. Addressing how we can work together to reduce sexual offending in this population, this text bridges the gulf in understanding between those who want to protect children and those who feel sexual attraction to children – and recognises that they are sometimes the same people. Sarah D. Goode provides an overview of the topic by defining the term 'paedophile' and discussing how many adults there may be in the general population who find themselves sexually attracted to children. She looks at how the Internet has acted as an enabler, with an explosion of child pornography and 'pro-paedophile' websites. Drawing on data from a sample of fifty-six self-defined paedophiles living in the community, she explores themes including self-identity, the place of fantasy and the forms of support available to paedophiles. Her research highlights the scale of debate within the 'online paedophile community' about issues such as the morality of sexual contact with children and encouragement to maintain a law-abiding lifestyle. Throughout, she draws careful distinctions between sexual attraction to children and sexual contact with children. The book concludes with a valuable discussion on how adult sexual contact harms children and examples of a range of initiatives which work to protect children and prevent offending. Suitable for all professionals who work with children or sexual offenders, this book gives clear guidance on what one needs to know and do to ensure children are kept safe. It will also be of interest to students studying child protection, paedophilia and child sexual abuse within other social science disciplines.

Sexual Attraction is a very interesting and creative study on how humans get attracted to their opposite sex, presenting scientific basis of sexual attraction among humans. This book begins by elaborating on sexual arousal in humans, which is followed by a discussion on what is sexually desirable for a person. This discussion examines physical appearance of humans that contributes to sexual attraction. The two subsequent chapters are devoted to examining sexual behaviors, particularly the interesting topic of "love at first sight and the concept of love. This book then explains how attraction can lead to marriage, explaining how two persons sexually attracted to each other successfully prolong the attraction and have a lasting relationship. This book ends by explaining the responses of other people who believe their unattractive appearance is the cause of their dull social and sexual lives. This book will surely be of interest to anyone interested in exploring sexual attraction. Because this book is science-based, it is helpful as well to those in the field of psychology and counseling.

The loss or lack of interest in sex is a common complaint in sex therapy. Organized around in-depth case presentations, this book showcases effective treatment approaches for individuals and couples. The contributors are highly skilled therapists who explore the complexity of sexual desire problems and offer detailed descriptions of clinical techniques. The book illuminates the complex interplay of biological, psychological, interpersonal, contextual, and cultural factors that need to be considered in assessment and intervention. Concise chapter introductions by editor Sandra R. Leiblum summarize key themes and provide a context for understanding each author's approach.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary origins of same-sex attraction, evaluating multiple existing evolutionary theories. It combines empirical findings with theoretical arguments in order to review evidence on the prevalence rates of same-sex attraction and determine its genetic and environmental basis. Among the topics addressed: Attitudes towards same-sex attraction across human history Assessing the weak selection pressures hypothesis of attraction Assessing the male choice hypothesis of attraction Evolution of same-sex attraction in men versus women The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction will be of interest to academics and students of evolutionary and psychological sciences, filling a gap in literature on the origins of specifically same-sex attraction.