Processo di assessment in psicoterapia e anamnesi sessuologica

si riserva evidentemente ai casi in cui il quesito clinico sia associato alla presenza di un disturbo sessuologico o di una problematica sessuale più in generale (Veglia, 2006). Allo stesso tempo un'esplorazione dell'area di vita sessuale sistematica risulta importante anche quando il caso non sia squisitamente sessuologico (Cavallo, 2025), essendo una dimensione interconnessa a costrutti identitari, inter-personali, affettivi e sociali: infatti, la salute sessuale risulta una componente essenziale nella realizzazione del benessere biopsicosociale (WHO, 2021). [Testo dell'editore]

Psychological evaluation (assessment) aims to achieve, through appropriate procedures, multiple convergent objectives: the construction of a therapeutic alliance, the formulation of descriptive and functional diagnostic hypotheses, and the organization of a predictably effective treatment plan associated with process and outcome indicators. To these essential domains a transversal and instrumental objective is also added: the biopsychosocial anamnesis necessary both to acquire an extensive and indepth understanding of general health conditions and to formulate a model of personality functioning and of the specific disorder/deficit. International guidelines concerning psychological consultation and assessment (APA, 2020) provide general indications regarding the conduct of a psychosexual anamnesis in psychotherapy framing it as an exploration of the patient's life domains (APA, 2013). Psychosexual assessment, as a structured method of evaluation, is typically reserved for cases in which the clinical question

is associated with the presence of a sexological disorder or, more broadly, with a sexual problem (Veglia, 2006). At the same time, a systematic exploration of the sexual life domain is also important when the case is not strictly sexological (Cavallo, 2025), as it represents a dimension interconnected with identityrelated, interpersonal, affective, and social constructs; indeed, sexual health constitutes an essential component of overall biopsychosocial wellbeing (WHO, 2021). [Publisher's text]