SUMMARY :
The use of virtual reality in the treatment of sexual disorders develops –
and at the same time "technologizes" – a therapeutic instrument
which is already known by the name "Image Psychotherapy". Such an evolution
makes the therapy more easily accepted both by the male patient and by the therapist,
since it is more in keeping with the cultural changes brought about by new technologies.
Through
virtual therapy the psychosexual route leading to a clear sexual identity is presented
in a symbolic vein. The patient is immersed, by way of computer and virtual headset,
into a succession of images and sounds marking crucial stages in the male psychosexual
development. By passing through these stages, confirming basic confidence in himself
and in the other
one, the man is allowed to live a mature loving relationship
and a satisfying sex life (erection, penetration and orgasm for both).
We
are confronted with the interesting integration between a technologically advanced
instrument and the indispensable passage rites which our society has, by this
stage, completely done away with.Indeed, image-based symbolism (the childhood
home, sword and forest) brings us back to the hurdles that firstly the child and
then the boy had to overcome in order to become, and to be considered, an adult.
The ability to supress one’s own fear was a fundamental element in such tests
; both fear of a powerful enemy and doubts as to one’s own physical and psychical
abilities. In the same way the patient is symbolically led to overcome his own
interiorized fears and difficulties relating to role and sexual rapport, thus
definitively restructuring his own cognitive sexual map.
Key words :
o
Image
o Symbolism
o Rites of passage
o Sexual Identity
o Virtual Therapy