Magnificent Sex

Winner of the 2021 SSTAR Consumer Book Award! What makes sex magnificent? What are the qualities of extraordinary erotic intimacy and what are the elements that help to bring it about? Is great sex the stuff that people remember nostalgically from the "honeymoon" phase of their relationships, or can sex improve over time? Magnificent Sex is based on the largest, in-depth interview study ever conducted with people who are having extraordinary sex. It gathers the nuggets for remarkable sex from the "experts", distilling them into an attainable blueprint for ordinary lovers who want to make erotic intimacy grow over the course of a lifetime. Looking at factors including individual and relational qualities, empathic communication and the myths and realities of magnificent sex, this book offers accessible and evidence-based guidance for lovers and therapists alike. It is replete with frank and often humorous interviews with straight and LGBTQ individuals and couples, those who are "vanilla" and "kinky", monogamous and consensually non-monogamous and healthy and chronically ill. This illuminating book explores the implications of the findings to develop a model that effectively tackles the common problems of low desire and frequency. The "cure" for low desire is to create desirable sex!

Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D., is Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Director of Sex and Couples Therapy at the University of Ottawa, Canada. She was awarded the Prix d'Excellence in 2000 for her teaching of Human Sexuality. She is a Certified Sex Therapist and Educator. She is Director of the Optimal Sexual Experiences Research Team of the University of Ottawa and has a particular interest in sexual health in the elderly, disabled and marginalized populations. Please see optimalsexualexperiences.com. Kleinplatz has edited four books, notably New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives (2012), winner of the AASECT 2013 Book Award, Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures with Charles Moser, Ph.D., M.D. (2006) and Sexuality and Ageing with Walter Bouman, M.D. (2015). In 2015, Kleinplatz received the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists' Professional Standard of Excellence Award. A. Dana Ménard, Ph.D., is currently a clinical psychologist and adjunct professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario. She earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2013, an M.A. in experimental psychology from Carleton University in 2007 and a B.Sc. in psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2005. She has held previous academic appointments at the University of Western Ontario and at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. As a clinician, Dr. Ménard has worked at Detroit Receiving Hospital, the London Health Sciences Centre, the Royal Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Hospital, among others. Aside from her work on magnificent sex, she has also researched and published in the areas of sexuality in the media, adult survivors of child sexual abuse, student mental health and well-being and academic lab safety.

Part I. Introduction: How Did We Come to be Studying Magnificent Sex? 1. How Did We Set Out to Learn About Magnificent Sex? From the Dismal to the Ordinary to Optimal Sexual Experience Part II. 2. The Components of Magnificent Sex 3. Myths and Realities of Magnificent Sex: From Media Stereotypes and Beyond Part III. What Leads to Magnificent Sex? Contributing Factors 4. Developmental Factors 5. Preparation 6. Enduring Individual Qualities 7. Individual Qualities in-the-moment 8. Skills 9. Qualities of the Relationship 10. Relational Qualities in-the-moment 11. The Meta-Factor: Empathic Communication 12. The Pathways towards Magnificent Sex Part IV 13. Implications and Applications for Lovers and Therapists Who Aspire Higher 14. Conclusions