Sex Smart: How Your Childhood Shaped Your Sexual Life and What to Do about It [Paperback]

Aline P. Zoldbrod Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1998

Vivid clinical vignettes demonstrate how childhood family dynamics shape and influence our sexual selves. Detailed self-tests & exercises help readers understand their own sexual issues. Suggests strategies for counteracting troublesome emotional patterns learned long ago.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. Zoldbrod has produced a thoughtful, informative, and in depth exploration of how childhood shapes one's sexual life in her book "SexSmart." ...Many examples throughout ...via clinical vignettes and thought provoking exercises and assessments ....This is a book and workbook in one....A great resource book to refer to those we work with, especially in the area of childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or family abuse. ...Zoldbrod reminds us of how these events impact individuals and their sexuality, sexual satisfaction, and relational satisfaction. Most importantly, Sex Smart provides hope through information, permission to explore, identifying and reframing beliefs, and assessments to improve sexuality." --Contemporary Sexuality, American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, reviewed by Sally Valentine, Ph.D. , Contemporary Sexuality, Vol. 39, No.11, November, 2005

"... Wonderful.....Refreshing." --Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 2005, reviewed by Ursula Ofman, Psy.D.

"A valuable resource for anyone who wants to understand and explore the root causes of adult sexual intimacy concerns." --Wendy Maltz, M.S.W., author of The Porn Trap and The Sexual Healing Journey

"SexSmart is an outstanding and extremely useful book for patients, therapists and the general public." --Leonore Tiefer, Ph.D., author of Sex is Not a Natural Act, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

"Dr. Zoldbrod's model of sexual development is the best one of its kind I've ever seen. This book will be useful not only as a self-help manual, but also as an informative guide for therapists and teachers." --Janet Shibley Hyde Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Evjue-Bascom Professor of Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; author of Understanding Human Sexuality

From the Author

My goal is to help you transform your sexuality. SexSmart will show you how.

Award winner, ForeWord Books, Best Self Help Book Category, 1998.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; First Edition edition (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572241098
• ISBN-13: 978-1572241091
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Health

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adult Sexual Difficulties Begin Early On, February 8, 2001

By 

Aimee Doctor (Rowayton, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sex Smart: How Your Childhood Shaped Your Sexual Life and What to Do about It (Paperback)

SexSmart is a gift to readers who have grown tired, bored and even annoyed by the many "how to" sex books on the market. Dr. Zoldbrod is one of the few professionals who explains where sexual problems begin rather than merely focusing on how to fix them. Sexual problems exist within the context of a relationship and a whole life -- they are not only about bodies and bedrooms.

As a Sex and Marital Therapist I can tell you that it is one of the most popular books in my waiting room. Even better, men read it. SexSmart provides information in digestible doses with great graphics and simple exercises that highlight the material. It's a great job!

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sex Smart Highly Recommended by Certified Sex Therapist, January 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Sex Smart: How Your Childhood Shaped Your Sexual Life and What to Do about It (Paperback)

Zoldbrod's *Sex Smart* Reviewed By Kathleen Logan Prince MSW
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist

For the vast majority of the young--from six months to eighteen years--sexuality is like a huge, unexplored continent. Each of us KNOWS that this mysterious, exciting, scary world is ours,
belongs to us. We know this from earliest times, when our own bodies--that do not lie--tell us, through powerful feelings and reactions, that there is a wonderfully rewarding world that is part of us. Inexplicably, our parents and important others, with their silence and shrouded denial, discourage us from exploration. The existence of sexuality is not exactly denied, it is treated as unlawful and we are reluctantly presented with the tip of the iceberg.

The result of this almost universal attitude is that even many
grown-ups remain uninformed about one of the most influential forces in our lives.

Dr. Aline P. Zoldbrod, an informed researcher and therapist in the world of sexuality, has written a marvelous guide to this unexplored world. She describes and explains all the various facts and practices of sexuality and turns this formerly dark continent into a healthy, known, and useful areas of life.

Dr. Zoldbrod explores nearly every aspect of sexuality and furnishes questionnaires to help the reader get personally specific about his or her own experiences, to clarify and help understand and deal with them.

She explores the spectrum of influences on sexual development from early, loving parenting to neglectful, abusive, and violent behavior. These descriptions are again equipped with detailed questions so the reader can relate to her and his own experience and make use of the suggestions about how to handle the associated feelings.

A few chapter headings suggest the inclusiveness of the book: The Touch of Love, The Foundation of Trust, Feeling Good About Your Body, What You Learned About Gender, Feeling Good About Yourself, The Dynamics of Power, Becoming a Social Person, Masturbation and Fantasy, The Changes of Adolescence, The Effects of Physical Violence on Sexuality.

This is a book you will read, and as you do, you will say to yourself, " I wish my parents had read this when I was young!"

As a couples and sex therapist who sees, every day, the consequences of sexual ignorance, I highly recommend this book.

Kathleen Logan-Prince MSW
Marital and Sex Therapist
Weston, Massachusetts

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! A review by Dr. Marianne Brandon, February 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Sex Smart: How Your Childhood Shaped Your Sexual Life and What to Do about It (Paperback)

Wow! was my first reaction when reading Aline Zoldbrod's SexSmart. I am a clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist always in search of good reading material for my clients. SexSmart is tops on my list. On rare occasions I find a book that speaks the truth, dramatically enhancing a reader's understanding of self. If you buy this book, you are about to have this experience.

SexSmart isn't just another book on sexuality. SexSmart actually guides people through a personal understanding of who they are sexually - what a gift to readers wanting more for themselves and their sexuality. Readers can use this intensive exploration of how parental and social influences impact sexual expression to increase their current level of sexual satisfaction. It is in fact a book best read several times, as it is so full of great information. This is one of only a few books I keep available to my clients in the waiting room. I applaud Dr. Zoldbrod for a job well done!