Learning Objectives
Upon completing the course you’ll be able to:
- Recount a woman’s sexual odyssey from childhood through puberty and adolescence to adulthood.
- Discuss the feelings experienced by an adolescent girl during the first sexual experience.
- Contrast the sexual feelings and experience of young adult women with those of males.
- Describe how sexuality in adolescence and continuing into adulthood is influenced by cultural attitudes, biological development, peer influence, sexual experience, and relationships.
- Explain how sexual experiences are defined by choices we make in life.
- List various choices women make in search of sexuality.
- Identify 5 experiences where being sexual could leave a lasting scar on a woman’s psyche.
- Discuss how a woman’s sexuality is affected by marriage and by the arrival of a baby.
- Describe the challenges faced by a woman to maintain and enhance her sexuality as she ages beyond 40.
- Formulate questions that a woman should ask to explore her sexual feelings during or after an affair, life after divorce or widowhood, after remarriage and during periods of single hood.
- Answer questions of a woman that may help her understand her body in the context of sexuality.
- Identify the visible parts of female genitalia and name their functions.
- Identify various internal reproductive sexual organs and their functions.
- Explain sexual response in terms of a triphasic model comprising of desire, arousal, and orgasm.
- Describe the physiological changes occurring during female sexual arousal.
- Answer questions of a client concerning sexual activity during and after pregnancy.
- Outline measures a woman can take to lessen the effect of premenstrual syndrome.
- Identify eight issues that a woman must consider when considering contraception.
- Discuss various methods of contraception and evaluate their relative effectiveness in preventing pregnancy and STDs.
- Describe the challenges of sexual activity after pregnancy taking into account body changes.
- Explain menopausal terminology and describe the physical changes associated with menopause.
- Discuss the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy with a client.
- Discuss how our society and culture help or hinder a woman from forming a good body image.
- List 4 sexual benefits to regular exercise.
- Identify 4 steps a woman can take to help her let go of negative thoughts about her body.
- Discuss with a client how illness and disability can affect a woman’s feelings toward sex.
- Describe how a woman can overcome sexual response problems associated with an illness.
- Respond appropriately to the sexuality issues presented by a mentally retarded woman.
- Identify factors or sources that cause or aggravate pain during sex.
- List 10 things you can try to decrease the vulvar discomfort and pain during sexual activity with your partner.
- Describe the treatment of pelvic muscle pain involving physical therapy, biofeedback, and Kegel exercises.
- Summarize 11 of the most common STDs, listing symptoms, means of transmission, possible complications, and available treatments.
- Identify common sexual concerns of a woman who discovers she has an STD and describe ways of dealing with these concerns.
- Describe the impact of trauma on a woman’s sexuality and discuss ways of coping with its aftereffects.
- Predict and modify reactions to sex when a person is feeling dissociative in sexual situations.
- Answer some common questions relating to male sexuality and dispel myths and conceptions that are barriers to good sexual relations.
- Identify various parts of male sexual anatomy and describe their physical and biological functions.
- Describe the male sexual response by dividing it into phases of desire, arousal, and orgasm.
- Discuss the normal sexual changes that occur as men grow older.
- Identify and discuss various male sexual dysfunctions and methods of dealing with them.
- Discuss two of the most common sexual conflicts-frequency and who initiates-that arise in sexual relationships.
- Describe various positions for intercourse and their relative advantages and disadvantages in achieving perfect coitus.
- Find answers to common questions related to overcoming sexual difficulties.
- Outline general steps that all women should take when they have sexual difficulties.
- Help a woman do a self-assessment of her sexual functioning when she’s concerned that something might be wrong.
- Describe three steps for overcoming distracting and negative thoughts as a way to help overcome difficulties with sexual desire, arousal and/or orgasm.
- Quantify sexual desire by asking questions of a client.
- List medical conditions and drugs that may help decrease sexual desire.
- Perform and direct exercises for overcoming low sexual desire.
- List medical conditions and drugs that may decrease sexual arousal.
- Perform and direct exercises to increase sexual arousal.
- Perform and direct exercises for learning to orgasm.
Evaluation of Individual Objectives
To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.