Peggy J. Kleinplatz is a Canadian clinical professor, psychologist, and sexologist whose work often concerns optimal sexuality, opposition to the medicalization of human sexuality, and outreach to marginalized groups.
Life and career
Kleinplatz graduated from University of Ottawa with a B.A. (Honours) in Psychology in 1981 and Ph.D. in 1987. She is a full Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, where she was awarded the Prix d'excellence, and is an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University. She has also held the Chair of Ethics and the Chair of Certifications for the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counsellors and Therapists (AASECT).
Kleinplatz and physician Charles Allen Moser argue that paraphilias should be removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Kleinplatz wrote, "[T]he DSM criteria for diagnosis of unusual sexual interests as pathological rests on a series of unproven and more importantly, untested assumptions." Therapists who focus on "functional" versus "dysfunctional" sex, have an approach, she writes that "is, at best, limiting and constraining and, at worst, dehumanising and risks exacerbating rather than alleviating suffering." Kleinplatz criticized sex therapy as being "too performance oriented," and not focusing enough on desire. Her work has been to focus more on ways that partners can please one another by learning to listen to what their partners want. Kleinplatz has shown that "great sex flourishes in relationships that deepen with maturity," according to the Globe and Mail. She has also criticized the concepts premenstrual dysphoric disorder and dyspareunia as medicalizing women's bodies.
Her book, New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives (2001), was considered by the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy to be an important challenge to current models of sex therapy. The book is also a feminist critique of sex therapy and describes modern issues facing the practice. The second edition came out in 2012 and it was updated and expanded. New Directions in Sex Therapy (2nd edition) was a co-winner for an AASECT award in 2013. Her book, Sadomasochism:Powerful Pleasures (2006), examines fifteen in-depth cases of different types of couples who practices sadomasochism.
Books
Kleinplatz PJ, ed. (2001). New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives. Psychology Press, ISBN 978-0-87630-967-4
Moser C, Kleinplatz PJ (2006). Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures. Routledge, ISBN 978-1-56023-639-9
Kleinplatz, PJ; Bouman, WP (2016). Sexuality and Ageing. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138932630.
Publications in peer reviewed journals(<2004)
Kleinplatz, P.J., “Editorial: Sexuality and older people: Doctors should ask patients, regardless of age, about sexuality”, British Medical Journal, 337, 2008, a239
Ménard, A.D., & Kleinplatz, P.J., “Twenty-one moves guaranteed to make his thighs go up in flames: Depictions of great sex in popular magazines”, Sexuality and Culture, 12(1), 2008, 1-20
Kleinplatz, P.J., “Coming out of the sex therapy closet: Using experiential psychotherapy with sexual problems and concerns”, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 61(3), 2007, 333-348
Ribner, D., & Kleinplatz, P.J., “The hole in the sheet and other myths about sexuality and Judaism”, Sex and Relationship Therapy, 22(4), 2007, 445-456
Kleinplatz, P.J., & Ménard, A.D., “Building blocks towards optimal sexuality: Constructing a conceptual model”, The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 15(1), 2007, 72-78
Kleinplatz, P.J., & Moser, C., “SM: Powerful pleasure”, Journal of Homosexuality, 50(2/3), 2006, 1-348
Kleinplatz, P.J., “Learning from extraordinary lovers: Lessons from the edge”, Journal of Homosexuality, 50(2/3), 2006, 325-348
Dancer, P.L., Kleinplatz, P.J., & Moser, C.A., “24/7 SM Slavery”, Journal of Homosexuality, 5(2/3), 2006, 81-102
Moser, C., & Kleinplatz, P.J., “DSM-IV-TR and the paraphilias: An argument for removal”, Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 17(3/4), 2005, 91-109
Kleinplatz, P.J., & Moser, C., “Politics versus science: An addendum and response to Drs. Spitzer and Fink”, Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 17(3/4), 2005, 135-139
Kleinplatz, P.J., & Moser, C., “Is SM pathological?”, Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, 6(3), 2005, 255-260
Moser, C., & Kleinplatz, P.J., “Does heterosexuality belong in the DSM?”, The Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, 6(3), 2005, 261-267
Kleinplatz, P.J., “How to talk to kids about sex”, San Francisco Medicine, 78(2), 2005, 19-21
Kleinplatz, P.J., “Adding insult to injury: The classification of dyspareunia as a sexual dysfunction in the DSM”, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34(1), 2005, 36-38
Moser, C., & Kleinplatz, P.J., “EL DSM y las Parafilias: Un argumeto para su retirada”, Revista de Terapia Sexual y de Pareja, 19, 2004, 31-56
Offman, A., & Kleinplatz, P.J., “Does PMDD belong in the DSM? Challenging the medicalization of women’s bodies”, Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 13(1), 2004, 17-27
Kleinplatz, P.J., & Moser, C., “Towards clinical guidelines for working with BDSM clients”, Contemporary Sexuality, 38(6), 2004, 1-4
Moser, C., Kleinplatz, P.J., Zuccarini, D., & Reiner, W., “Situating unusual child and adolescent sexual behavior in context”, Adolescent Psychiatry Clinics of North America, 13(3), 2004, 569-589
Kleinplatz, P.J., “Beyond sexual mechanics and hydraulics: Humanizing the discourse surrounding erectile dysfunction”, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 44(2), 2004, 215-242
