Outpatient Clinic for Sexual Health and Transgender Care

Heads

Dr. med. Dr. rer. biol. hum. Daniel Turner

Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Retz

Contact

 Daniel.turner@unimedizin-mainz.de

Office hours

By arrangement

Background, responsibilities, and aims

Human sexuality is of crucial importance for general well-being and quality of life, and in this context it is highly dependent on the personal attitudes, values and beliefs of the individual as well as on his or her cultural and social context. In recent decades, attitudes towards sexuality and gender experience have become increasingly liberalised, which has contributed to an incipient destigmatisation and depathologisation of variants of sexuality. In the ICD-11, too, there is an attempt to increasingly depathologise sexual behaviour and gender experience, which we also welcome and support.

For people with sexual problems or insecurities or a gender incongruence, our outpatient clinic is intended to provide a first point of contact to receive a professional assessment and advice on therapy options in a protected setting. Please note that there is currently no possibility of psychotherapeutic treatment.

Unusual sexual desires or inclinations

Human sexuality is subject to a wide range of sexual preferences, behaviours and fantasies, so that sexual desires that do not correspond to the "so-called norm" do not initially have any disease value. However, if a person suffers from his or her unusual sexual preferences, or if these lead to relationship conflicts, or if the individual sexual inclinations contribute to the person endangering himself or herself or others, the unusual sexual desires or inclinations can reach pathological value. This can be the case, for example, in connection with certain forms of fetishism or also in the context of sadomasochistic sexual practices.

People with a sexual interest in children who have not previously committed a criminal offence are treated in the "Don’t Offend" outpatient clinic. People who have already been convicted of a sexual offence are treated in our Forensic Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic.

Increased sexual behaviour (hypersexuality)

For people who can hardly control their sexual behaviour and who suffer from this, or if the increased sexual behaviour leads to recurring relationship conflicts, it is possible that treatment may become necessary. In this case, the increased sexual behaviour can manifest itself, for example, in frequent masturbation, frequent pornography consumption or in sexual behaviour in a partnership. Ultimately, however, increased sexual behaviour can manifest itself in any behaviour that leads to sexual arousal and is carried out with the aim of experiencing an orgasm. The outpatient clinic works in close cooperation with the Outpatient Clinic for Psychotherapy of Online Sex Addiction of the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy.

Gender incongruence

For people with gender incongruence, the self-experienced gender does not match the physical characteristics. In this context, we offer initial counselling and education about possible therapy options.

Under certain conditions (e.g. psychotherapeutic treatment that has already taken place, longer-term connection to our outpatient clinic), we also prepare psychiatric letters of indication for hormonal and/or further gender reassignment measures. We can also provide expert opinions on changes of person and name according to the TSG, but this is only carried out on the instructions of a local court. Please note that the places for psychotherapeutic care accompanying everyday life are very limited and are currently all occupied.