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What is love anyway?

Stephen B Levine1

  • 1Case School of Medicine, Center for Marital and Sexual Health, Beachwood, Ohio, USA. sbl2@case.edu

Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy
|April 30, 2005
PubMed
Summary

This essay explores seven meanings of love, offering insights for clinicians to understand patients' sexual lives. Understanding these complex love meanings can improve therapeutic approaches.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Philosophy

Background:

  • The term "love" is frequently used but poorly defined in everyday language.
  • Lack of explicit definitions hinders understanding in therapeutic contexts, particularly concerning sexual life.
  • Cultural and individual factors often resist a thorough examination of love's meaning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore and synthesize seven interlocking meanings of the term "love."
  • To provide clinicians with a framework for understanding the basic context of a person's sexual life.
  • To encourage a more explicit discussion of love within psychotherapy.

Main Methods:

  • The author's synthesis of observations from years of clinical practice and study.
  • Analysis of common, yet often implicit, understandings of "love."
  • Identification of recurring themes and interpretations of love in human interaction.

Main Results:

  • Love is presented as a complex emotion, not a single feeling.
  • Identified meanings include love as an ambition, moral commitment, private dynamic struggle, a deal, and a "stop sign" to further psychological inquiry.
  • Seven distinct, interconnected meanings of love were synthesized.

Conclusions:

  • A nuanced understanding of love's multifaceted nature is crucial for psychological and sexual health.
  • Clinicians can utilize these synthesized meanings to enhance patient comprehension and therapeutic outcomes.
  • Further exploration into the cultural and individual resistance to defining love is warranted.

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