coital alignment technique

{{short description|Sex position designed to maximize clitoral stimulation}}

File:Vaginal intercourse - Rocking 1.png

The coital alignment technique sex position is used primarily as a variant of the missionary position and is designed to maximize clitoral stimulation during sexual intercourse. This is achieved by combining the "riding high" variation of the missionary position with pressure-counterpressure movements performed by each partner in rhythm with coitus.{{cite journal |last1=Eichel |first1=Edward W. |last2=De Simone Eichel |first2=Joanne |last3=Kule |first3=Sheldon |title=The technique of coital alignment and its relation to female orgasmic response and simultaneous orgasm |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |date=June 1988 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=129–141 |doi=10.1080/00926238808403913 |pmid=3204637}}

Technique

When used as a variant of the missionary position, the male lies above the female but moves upward along the woman's body, until his erection, which would otherwise point "up," is pointing "down", with the dorsal side of the penis pressing against the clitoris.{{cite book|author=Nilamadhab Kar|author2=Gopal Chandra Kar|title=Comprehensive Textbook of Sexual Medicine|publisher= Jaypee Brothers Publishers|pages=108|isbn=8180614050|year=2005|accessdate=February 10, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxcjMPbGHQIC&pg=PA108}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} By adopting this ‘pelvic-override’ position, the male achieves a fundamental genital 'circuitry': vaginal penetration in coitus with constant direct contact between the base of the penis and the clitoris.{{cite journal |last1=Pierce |first1=Aaron Paul |title=The Coital Alignment Technique (CAT): An Overview of Studies |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |date=July 2000 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=257–268 |doi=10.1080/00926230050084650 |pmid=10929574|s2cid=45546508 }}

The partners then maintain their genital contact by coordinating their sexual movement. Instead of engaging in the familiar 'in and out' motion of coital thrusting, the partners hold their penile-clitoral connection together by simultaneously exerting genital pressure and counterpressure in a rocking or grinding motion. As opposed to the missionary position, the male's body moves downward (relative to the female's) during the inward stroke, and upward for the outward stroke. Sexual movement is focused in the pelvises, without leverage from the arms or legs.

The male leads the downward stroke and the female the upward stroke, with the partner who is moving the pelvis backward exerting a slight but firm counterpressure. The female may also wrap her legs around the male. The rocking downward and upward sexual movement builds arousal that the partners let develop and peak naturally.

The woman on top variant is known as the reverse coital alignment technique.{{cite book|last1=Harper|first1=Dawn|title=The Sex Deck Playful Positions to Spice Up Your Love Life.|date=2006|publisher=Chronicle Books Llc|isbn=0811853578|pages=16}}

History of studies

The technique for coital alignment was first defined by American psychotherapist Edward Eichel, and the original study was published by Eichel, De Simone Eichel, and Kule in 1988 in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy.

Since then, the topic has been studied several times in the same journal. A 1992 report by Kaplan and her sex therapist trainees described the team's cursory trial of the coital alignment technique (CAT), acknowledging that they may have resorted to old routines after only a few attempts out of fear of disappointing their partners.{{cite journal |last1=Kaplan |first1=Helen Singer |author1-link=Helen Singer Kaplan |title=Does the CAT Technique Enhance Female Orgasm? |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |date=December 1992 |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=285–291 |doi=10.1080/00926239208412853 |pmid=1291699}} Their call for other sex therapists to give the technique more rigorous testing instigated a series of controlled studies by Hurlbert and colleagues reporting statistically significant results in the treatment of female hypoactive sexual desire.{{cite journal |last1=Hurlbert |first1=David Farley |last2=Apt |first2=Carol |title=The coital alignment technique and directed masturbation: A comparative study on female orgasm |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |date=1 March 1995 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=21–29 |doi=10.1080/00926239508405968 |pmid=7608994}}

In 2005, Eichel asserted that "the three classic problems of sexual 'dysfunction' have been redefined as interdependent parts of ONE behavioral syndrome - the problems are NOT 'diseases'[…] [t]he 'cure' is a fundamental change in sexual technique". In his concluding paragraph, Eichel wrote that "[t]he CAT model provides a fundamental matrix for the analysis of classic sex problems and other subtle, but widespread, sex-related health problems."{{cite journal |last1=Eichel |first1=Edward W. |title=Coital alignment - The Bleeping Cure for FSD? |journal=BMJ |date=20 January 2005 |volume=330 |issue=7484 |pages=192–194 |doi=10.1136/bmj.330.7484.192 |pmid=15661785 |pmc=545000 |url=https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/coital-alignment-bleeping-cure-fsd |access-date=1 April 2023 |language=en}}

coital alignment technique

Technique

History of studies

References

Further reading