Sexual Response Cycle Chart
Masters and Johnson Human Sexual Response Cycle
Kaplan 3 Stages of Sexual Response
Detailed Description of Phases:
Excitement phase – This phase is caused by a sexual stimulus that results in physical changes in both men and women. These include an increase in muscle tension, blood pressure, and heart rate. Transudation and vasocongestion also occur in this phase.
Plateau phase – Excitement becomes enhanced in this phase, which is characterized by faster breathing, increased muscle tension, increased blood pressure, and faster heart rate.
Orgasm phase – This phase consists of two stages, the emission stage and the expulsion stage (Greenberg, Bruess & Conklin, 2010). The emission phase is characterized by the muscular contractions of the prostate gland, the seminal vesicles, and the vas deferens (Greenberg, Bruess & Conklin, 2010), which creates a buildup of semen at the urethral bulb. During the expulsion stage, semen is expelled from the urethral opening. For women, the orgasm phase also consists of intense sensations and muscular contractions.
Resolution phase – In this phase, the body returns to its unaroused state.
Detailed Description of Phases:
Sexual desire – This phase makes the physiological functions involved in the sexual activity possible. This can hinder or facilitate the sexual activity as sexual desire can be blocked by things such as past sexual abuse, medications, fear, pain, and depression (Carroll, 2012).
Excitement – This phase involves vasocongestion.
Orgasm –This phase involves muscle contractions around the genital area.
Similarities:
They both have the Excitement and Orgasm phases.
Similarities:
They both have the Excitement and Orgasm phases.
Differences:
This model does not include the Sexual desire phase and does not address the psychological response to sex.
Differences:
This model does not include the Plateau and the Resolution phases.
1) Describe which model you feel would be most useful to use as a therapist. Explain why.
I think Kaplan’s model would be more useful as it’s more holistic than Masters and Johnson’s in that Kaplan’s model covers the psychological aspect of sexual response. In addition, the phases in Kaplan’s model are easier to understand. In particular, it can be quite difficult to identify when the Plateau phase of Masters and Johnson’s model occurs.
References
Carroll, J. L. (2012). Embracing diversity. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Greenberg, J. S., Bruess, C. E. & Conklin, S. C. (2010). Exploring the dimensions of human
sexuality. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
