What is human sexuality?  As the source of life why is it also often the cause of so much suffering? 

The renowned psychotherapist Professor Dr Franz Ruppert shows in this book how sexual traumas come about, from the perspective of the victim and the perpetrator, with profound consequences for individuals, families and entire societies. 

With his development of Identity-Oriented Psychotrauma Therapy (IOPT) it becomes possible to raise awareness of sexual psychotrauma using The Intention Method, and to resolve it psychologically and emotionally. Sexuality can then again be experienced as a creative force that gives pleasure and helps to achieve a healthy identity.

This book completes Professor Ruppert's exploration and development of what he calls the Traumabiography. The earliest traumas that occur in many people's lives have a trajectory that start with the trauma of being unwanted as a child, followed inevitably by the infant's trauma of not being able to establish a loving connection with the mother. These two traumas, the Trauma of Identity and the Trauma of Love, go hand in hand: a child who is not wanted cannot be loved.

Through his explorations over the past 30 years Ruppert has developed a new perspective on the issue of trauma, seeing the pre-disposing conditions for later experiences of trauma as already in place from the earliest moment of the person's life. Trauma can, and often does, happen very early, even in the womb, as the developing infant exists within the emotional psychological environment that is his mother's psyche. These pre-conditions of not being wanted, being unloved and therefore improperly cared for also set an environment where the child is likely to be unsafe.

At the other end of the scale, we live in a society where sexuality and our sexual lives are frequently the arena of traumatisation, and of intense confusion as to what sexuality really is and more importantly what healthy sexuality is. Ruppert makes a detailed exploration of all of these personal and social perspectives in a very readable and understandable way.

Vivian Broughton, Editor, IoPT Practitioner