1. By Danielle Smith

2.  The purpose of this paper was to find out how aroma is used in Sex Therapy. I interviewed 5 different Sex Therapists, both male and female to see how or if they use aroma as a practice in Sex Therapy. I, as the researcher asked 3 questions to answer the question of “How is aroma used in Sex Therapy and can it increase sexual feelings?” In conclusion, my participants agreed that aroma is a great way to increase sexual feelings but none of them have used the technique in their sessions, other than suggesting hygiene. Showing that the world of sex therapy is in need of a big change!

3.  The purpose of my research project is because I want to bring something new into the world of Sex Therapy; which is the incorporation of aroma in Sex Therapy sessions. After reading literature via refereed journals, I have concluded and formed my hypothesis: Aroma is not used in sex therapy sessions but can help influence sexual feelings.

4.  My first approach was to have an gathering of about 10 people 5 men 5 females and get them together for a get together, and then after about an hour, I would gather them together one at a time and then ask them who they were most attracted to and who they werent attracted to at all. Then whomever they decided they werent attracted to, I would spray some cologne or perfume on them and see if there connection got better.

5.  That was not the best idea in the world! There were to many problems with this research approach. A lot of biases.  What if every girl or guy likes the same person. Then the idea would not be affective.  Because Im asking for 5 girls and 5 guys Im not acknowledging the fact that homosexuals experience sexual attraction too. Which would make it seem like I only want heterosexuals.I don’t want to exclude any gender or sex from my study.  Time consuming  Picking the participants  I would only be using college students who are single, excluding the main population.  There was so many things that can go wrong with this study it would be difficult to analyze my data.

6.  This is where I went through my road of trials. I had no more ideas that would make my research stand out from what other researchers did. Although my specific topic wasn’t done before talking about the incorporation of aroma and sex in Sex Therapy, there were people who talked about how sex is a major part of a relationship and how sex wasn’t an topic in couples therapy. Timm (2009) wrote a book giving tips to couple therapist about how to safely incorporate sex into therapy.  Buslow (2009) agreed with Timm and did an longitudinal study with Debby and Lenny and incorporated sex therapy into their couples therapy sessions and it helped better there relationship.  But what makes you interested in your mate?

7.  The question is what makes people attracted to other people?  “When one feels that sudden rush of desire, the quickening of pulse, one’s mind racing with possibilities, one is feeling attraction.”(Jason.2009)  What about other factors, even those that are not that obvious.  Laura Berman during an interview the “Oprah” show (2009) said that “Unexpected factors -- like biochemical odors, face shape and voice pitch -- just might have more to do with your choice of mate than anyone ever expected.”

8.  Yes there is evidence that connects the two together.  Researcher Svoboda in 2008, made a bold statement about how aroma can be a missing factor in sexual attraction  Some researchers think scent could be the hidden cosmological constant in the sexual universe, the missing factor that explains who we end up with. It may even explain why we feel “chemistry”—or “sparks” or “electricity”—with one person and not with another(Svoboda. 2008).

9.  Aroma is a great factor in sexual attraction.  Stamelman (2002) stated  “The use of scents on someone's body makes them sexually attractive, especially a woman.  Psychologist Ephraim Gonchangco also said, as cited in Stamelman’s article,  “ Sexual role playing can be a healthy way of putting the spark back into a couples love life, Aroma helps you role play and imagine your partner as someone else, Aroma makes your wife seem like your mistress.”

10.  My Methodology approach was to give an open ended questionnaire to about 5 sex therapists asking them 3 questions about the relationship about sex and aroma.  How do you feel about aroma as an way to increase sexual feelings?  Have you ever thought about using aroma as an aphrodisiac in your sessions?  Do you think that there is room for improvement in sex therapy?

11.  All of my participants agreed that aroma is a great way to increase sexual feelings, but none of them used it in their sex therapy sessions.  They did note that they encourage their clients to use hygiene and cleanliness but never the sense of aroma.  They also agreed that sex therapy can use an improvement.

12.  Money  Transportation  Reliability of the participants  Time  Lack of experience Suggestions  Bigger sample area  Take more time out  Maybe do something like Buslow and try to give tips of how to incorporate it without making your participants feel uncomfortable