Sex Smart: How Your Childhood Shaped Your Sexual Life and What to Do About It (Paperback)

by Aline P. Zoldbrod Ph.D. (Author) "What is sexuality?..." (more)
Key Phrases: sexual socialization, objectifying women, sex therapy, Sex Smart, United States, Happened Happened (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Dr. Zoldbrod demonstrates how family dynamics in childhood underlie adult sexual problems, from sexual aversion to sexual addiction. Case studies, "body maps", and exercises allow readers to work through sexual issues.

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications (June 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: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #529,766 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 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

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!

35 of 37 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

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

24 of 24 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

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!