Javier Gómez Zapiain

ATTACHMENT AND SEXUALITY: CONTRIBUTIONS TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN SEXUALITY

SUMMARY

Love and erotic desire are two dimensions that should not be confused. On the one hand, love is the need to have people who exercise attachment figures, being their functions: unconditional support, accessibility and time permanence. They must be constructed in a strong base, which contributes to the emotional stability. It is a fact that, in adulthood, relationships should be symmetric and reciprocal. On the other hand, sexual desire drives people to meet erotic needs, which are usually represented in our mind, expressing themselves, sometimes, in explicit sexual behaviors.

Erotic desire and love are two different dimensions, who have a different origin and seek different objectives. To understand them, one have to separate them. However, both dimensions interact together, in a way that they are greatly enhanced, or they severely interfere each other. That results in issues, alterations and/or psychosexual disorders, such as sexual dysfunctions or some paraphilias. In this dynamic, some keys could be found, in order to understand violence and sexual aggressions. Without any doubt, it can be concluded that these alterations are produced by the interferences that insecure attachment profiles cause in the affective-sexual experience. These statements are backed by an accumulation of empirical evidence reflected in the scientific literature.

The erotic experience quality is closely related to the socio-affective history quality. Attachment security activates mental representations, which also generate security. By that reason, sensitive, warm and empathic relationship models are activated. On the contrary, insecurity generates mental representation, which evoke insecurity, anxiety and lack of protection. It activates relationship models, which are insensitive, cold and distant. In this workshop, the contributions of the attachment theory to interventions in the human sexuality field will be analyzed: Sex education, counseling, and sexual psychotherapy.

BIOGRAPHY

Javier Gómez Zapiain has been professor of Sexuality Psychology at the Basque Country University and researcher in the human sexuality field. His research is focused on the interactions study between attachment and sexuality in partner’s relationships, as well as the study of affective mediators associated with inherent sexual behavior risks in adolescents and young people. He has written several papers and monographs. He worked ten years as a founding psychologist of the public family planning center of Lasarte (Basque Country), working as a sexual therapist. He was responsible for the Applied Psychology Service at the Basque Country University. Author of the Sexual Education programs, Uhin Bare (2000) and Sexumuxu (2013) for the Basque Country Government and Ente moceda (2005) for the Asturias Regional Government.

Nowadays he contributes to professionals training as a collaborator in different postgraduate courses and other training courses.