Cite as (APA style): Tyshchenko, M. (2026). Between communication and avoidance: Sexuality as an actual capacity and a domain of professional resistance among psychotherapists. The Global Psychotherapist, 6(2), 27-39 http://doi.org/10.52982/lkj311
Abstract: This study investigates sexual communication as an actual capacity in Positive Psychotherapy (PPT after Peseschkian, since 1977) and its correlation to professional resistance, avoidance, and psychological well-being in psychotherapists. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between sexual communication, internalized family shame, avoidance as a behavioral manifestation of resistance, and indices of sexual and general psychological well-being.
The study was conducted on a sample of N = 195 female mental health professionals (including 94 practitioners of Positive Psychotherapy), after excluding 4 respondents with missing data and 6 male participants due to their small numbers in the initial sample. The results showed that sexual communication was negatively correlated with avoidance (ρ = −.361, p < .001) and positively correlated with both general psychological well-being (WHO-5; ρ = .313, p < .001) and sexual well-being. Internalized family shame and silence around sexuality (RES12) were associated with higher levels of avoidance and lower levels of both sexual and psychological well-being.
The findings are discussed in the context of Positive Psychotherapy and psychodynamic theory as expressions of professional resistance related to shame, countertransference reactions, and unresolved traumatic experience. Sexuality is understood as a real capacity that has an integrating role in the personality and also as a sphere in which internal tensions are triggered.
The results underline the relevance of sexual communication as a key professional ability and stress the need for the inclusion of sexuality-related issues in psychotherapy training, supervision, and personal therapy.
Keywords: sexuality, sexual communication, resistance, Positive Psychotherapy, psychotherapist, well-being