Mormon therapist declares it's okay to masturbate

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Mormon therapist declares it’s okay to masturbate

Well I’m glad that’s off my conscious. BRB, therapy.

So here goes my position: Masturbation is not sinful behavior in of itself nor is it a transgression. God has created us as emotional, spiritual, intellectual and sexual beings. He has created these capacities in the context of both relational purpose and self-suffiiciency. Meaning we are social creatures – meant to thrive in relationship with others. At the same time, we are also individual creatures – and when not able to be in relationship have capacity to meet our own needs for certain periods of time depending on age and developmental stage.

Through the studies of pediatrics and human sexuality we now know that stimulating our genitalia is something we start doing in the womb. Males experience erections and females experience vaginal lubrication as fetuses. Taking our LDS position on children being innocent, and yet having the capacity for sexual feeling and exploration – we are challenged to look at some of our ideas about sin in regards to masturbation.

We know we are born and die sexual beings. The capacity for marital sexuality only occurs through a set period of adult life – if it happens at all. Therefore, isn’t it wonderful that God would create a self-regulatory system where we can count on ourselves to experience the benefits of sexual release when it is not appropriate for us to be in sexual relationship with another person? Isn’t it wonderful that we would have a natural drive to self-explore – getting to know ourselves – as we prepare to share a sexual life with another person? If approached within this context, masturbation can be used to help our teens and single adults keep the law of chastity in ways that empower themselves regarding knowing and controlling their sexual drives/cycles and owning their sexuality in non-shaming and normative ways. Orgasm has been shown to help with relieving stress, aiding with pain (especially helpful for menstrual cramping), regulation of hormones and prevention of certain cancers. For our single adults who are not married, masturbation provides this release and its healthy ramifications. It can help with loneliness when single and it can help nonorgasmic women find their sexual capacity. It can help married couples manage libido differences and add variety to sexual monogamy. These are just some of the positive results that come from the healthy use of masturbation.