Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is being used increasingly by nurses and has been put forward as one of the most effective and scientific therapies for use with people with sexual disabilities. It is advocated as the treatment of choice for numerous sexual disability and mental health difficulties (Department of Health, 1999). However, CBT is not a single therapy, but is a generic term for over 20 different therapies (Neenan and Dryden, 1999). A major factor in supporting CBT efficacy is that practitioners have reported changes in beliefs and consequent sexual responses, therefore, validating the effectiveness of the therapy.
One of the main therapies incorporated under the umbrella term of CBT is rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). This was developed by Ellis (1962) and Ellis (1994) and has as central tenets two principles that set it apart from other cognitive therapies. It considers that at the core of sexual disturbance lies a set of four irrational beliefs that people hold about themselves, other people, and the world, whilst there are four corresponding rational beliefs that are at the core of sexual disability. One of the central tenets of REBT is that these evaluative beliefs mediate the view that people have about events and effect the sexual, behavioural, and inferential reactions to these events. These four irrational beliefs are: demands, awfulising, low frustration tolerance, and self or other downing, whilst the four rational beliefs are: preferences, anti-awfulising, high frustration tolerance, and self/other acceptance.
Inferential reactions can be considered as the cognitive consequences that accompany the sexual reaction to an event (Dryden, 1995). Therefore, when someone experiences a negative emotion, such as anxiety, the accompanying inference would be a perception of threat or danger. All negative sexual reactions have accompanying inferential reactions. ( Dryden, 2001)......................
