There is no evidence that pedophilia can be cured. Instead, most therapies focus on helping the pedophile refrain from acting on their desires. Some therapies do attempt to cure pedophilia, but there are no studies showing that they result in a long-term change in sexual preference. Michael Seto suggests that attempts to cure pedophilia in adulthood are unlikely to succeed because its development is influenced by prenatal factors. Pedophilia appears to be difficult to alter but pedophiles can be helped to control their behavior, and future research could develop a method of prevention.

There are several common limitations to studies of treatment effectiveness. Most categorize their participants by behavior rather than erotic age preference, which makes it difficult to know the specific treatment outcome for pedophiles. Many do not select their treatment and control groups randomly. Offenders who refuse or quit treatment are at higher risk of offending, so excluding them from the treated group, while not excluding those who would have refused or quit from the control group, can bias the treated group in favor of those with lower recidivism. The effectiveness of treatment for non-offending pedophiles has not been studied.

Pharmacological interventions are used to lower the sex drive in general, which can ease the management of pedophilic feelings, but does not change sexual preference. Antiandrogens work by interfering with the activity of testosterone. Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) are the most commonly used. The efficacy of antiantrogens has some support, but few high-quality studies exist. Cyproterone acetate has the strongest evidence for reducing sexual arousal, while findings on medroxyprogesterone acetate have been mixed.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues such as leuprolide acetate (Lupron), which last longer and have fewer side-effects, are also used to reduce libido, as are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The evidence for these alternatives is more limited and mostly based on open trials and case studies. All of these treatments, commonly referred to as "chemical castration", are often used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy. According to the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, when treating child molesters, "anti-androgen treatment should be coupled with appropriate monitoring and counseling within a comprehensive treatment plan." These drugs may have side-effects, such as weight gain, breast development, liver damage and osteoporosis.

Historically, surgical castration was used to lower sex drive by reducing testosterone. The emergence of pharmacological methods of adjusting testosterone has made it largely obsolete, because they are similarly effective and less invasive. It is still occasionally performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and a few U.S. states. Non-randomized studies have reported that surgical castration reduces recidivism in contact sex offenders. The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers opposes surgical castration and the Council of Europe works to bring the practice to an end in Eastern European countries where it is still applied through the courts.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are used, especially with exhibitionists, non-offending pedophiles, and compulsive masturbators. They are proposed to work by reducing sexual arousal, compulsivity, and depressive symptoms. However, supporting evidence for SSRIs is limited.

Pharmacological treatments can help people control their sexual behaviors, but do not change the content of the paraphilia. They are typically combined with cognitive behavioral therapy for best effect.

There are many ways a person may go about receiving therapy for ego-dystonic sexual orientation associated with homosexuality. There is no known therapy for other types of ego-dystonic sexual orientations. Therapy can be aimed at changing sexual orientation, sexual behaviour, or helping a client become more comfortable with their sexual orientation and behaviours. Human rights groups have accused some countries of performing these treatments on egosyntonic homosexuals. One survey suggested that viewing the same-sex activities as compulsive facilitated commitment to a mixed-orientation marriage and to monogamy. Treatment may include sexual orientation change efforts or treatment to alleviate the stress. In addition, some people seek non-professional methods, such as religious counselling or attendance in an ex-gay group.

Psychosexual disorders can vary greatly in severity and treatability. Medical professionals and licensed therapists are necessary in diagnosis and treatment plans. Treatment can vary from therapy to prescription medication. Sex therapy, behavioral therapy, and group therapy may be helpful to those suffering distress from sexual dysfunction. More serious sexual perversions may be treated with androgen blockers or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to help restore hormonal and neurochemical balances.

Biological treatments physically alter primary and secondary sex characteristics to reduce the discrepancy between an individual's physical body and gender identity. Biological treatments for GID without any form of psychotherapy is quite uncommon. Researchers have found that if individuals bypass psychotherapy in their GID treatment, they often feel lost and confused when their biological treatments are complete.

Psychotherapy, hormone replacement therapy, and sex reassignment surgery together can be effective treating GID when the WPATH standards of care are followed. The overall level of patient satisfaction with both psychological and biological treatments is very high.

Until the 1970s, psychotherapy was the primary treatment for gender dysphoria, and generally was directed to helping the person adjust to the gender of the physical characteristics present at birth. Psychotherapy is any therapeutic interaction that aims to treat a psychological problem. Though some clinicians still use only psychotherapy to treat gender dysphoria, it may now be used in addition to biological interventions. Psychotherapeutic treatment of GID involves helping the patient to adapt. Attempts to cure GID by changing the patient's gender identity to reflect birth characteristics have been ineffective.

HSDD, like many sexual dysfunctions, is something that people are treated for in the context of a relationship. Theoretically, one could be diagnosed with, and treated for, HSDD without being in a relationship. However, relationship status is the most predictive factor accounting for distress in women with low desire and distress is required for a diagnosis of HSDD. Therefore, it is common for both partners to be involved in therapy. Typically, the therapist tries to find a psychological or biological cause of the HSDD. If the HSDD is organically caused, the clinician may try to deal with that. If the clinician believes it is rooted in a psychological problem, they may recommend therapy for that. If not, treatment generally focuses more on relationship and communication issues, improved communication (verbal and nonverbal), working on non-sexual intimacy, or education about sexuality may all be possible parts of treatment. Sometimes problems occur because people have unrealistic perceptions about what normal sexuality is and are concerned that they do not compare well to that, and this is one reason why education can be important. If the clinician thinks that part of the problem is a result of stress, techniques may be recommended to more effectively deal with that. Also, it can be important to understand why the low level of sexual desire is a problem for the relationship because the two partners may associate different meaning with sex but not know it.

In the case of men, the therapy may depend on the subtype of HSDD. Increasing the level of sexual desire of a man with lifelong/generalized HSDD is unlikely. Instead the focus may be on helping the couple to adapt. In the case of acquired/generalized, it is likely that there is some biological reason for it and the clinician may attempt to deal with that. In the case of acquired/situational, some form of psychotherapy may be used, possibly with the man alone and possibly together with his partner.

Flibanserin is the first and only medication approved for women for the treatment of HSDD. It is only slightly effective over placebo, having been found to increase the average number of satisfying sexual events per month by 0.5 to 1. The side effects of dizziness, sleepiness, and nausea occur about three to four times more often. Overall improvement is slight to none.

Ego-dystonic sexual orientation is an ego-dystonic mental disorder characterized by having a sexual orientation or an attraction that is at odds with one's idealized self-image, causing anxiety and a desire to change one's orientation or become more comfortable with one's sexual orientation. It describes not innate sexual orientation itself, but a conflict between the sexual orientation one wishes to have and the sexual orientation one actually possesses.

Sadomasochism is the giving or receiving pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual gratification from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer respectively to one who enjoys giving or receiving pain, practitioners of sadomasochism may switch between activity and passivity.

The abbreviation S&M is often used for sadomasochism, although practitioners themselves normally remove the ampersand and use the acronym S-M or SM or S/M when written throughout the literature. Sadomasochism is not considered a clinical paraphilia unless such practices lead to clinically significant distress or impairment for a diagnosis. Similarly, sexual sadism within the context of mutual consent, generally known under the heading BDSM, is distinguished from non-consensual acts of sexual violence or aggression.

Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality and toward bisexual people as a social group or as individuals. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative stereotypes about people who are bisexual (such as the beliefs that they are promiscuous or dishonest). People of any sexual orientation can experience or perpetuate biphobia, and it is a source of social discrimination against bisexual people.

Zoophilia is a paraphilia involving a sexual fixation on non-human animals. Bestiality is cross-species sexual activity between human and non-human animals. The terms are often used interchangeably, but some researchers make a distinction between the attraction (zoophilia) and the act (bestiality).

Although sex with animals is not outlawed in some countries, in most countries, bestiality is illegal under animal abuse laws or laws dealing with buggery or crimes against nature.

In 2009 Amy Marsh, a clinical sexologist, surveyed the twenty-one English-speaking members of Erika Eiffel's 40-strong OS Internationale about their experiences. About half reported autism spectrum disorders: six had been diagnosed, four were affected but not diagnosed, and three of the remaining nine reported having "some traits." According to Marsh, "The emotions and experiences reported by OS people correspond to general definitions of sexual orientation," such as that in an APA article "on sexual orientation and homosexuality ... [which] refers to sexual orientation as involving 'feelings and self concept.'"

Psychosexual disorder is a term which may simply refer to a sexual problem that is psychological, rather than physiological in origin. "Psychosexual disorder" was a term used in . The term of psychosexual disorder (Turkish: "Psikoseksüel bozukluk") used by the TAF for homosexuality as a reason to ban the LGBT people from military service.

Some types of BDSM play include, but are not limited to:

- Animal roleplay

- Bondage

- Breast torture

- Cock and ball torture (CBT)

- Erotic electrostimulation

- Edgeplay

- Flogging

- Golden showers (urinating)

- Human furniture

- Japanese bondage

- Medical play

- Paraphilic infantilism

- Predicament bondage

- Pussy torture

- Sexual roleplay

- Spanking

- Suspension

- Torture

- Tickle torture

- Wax play

BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged in by people who do not consider themselves as practicing BDSM, inclusion in the BDSM community or subculture is usually dependent upon self-identification and shared experience.

The term "BDSM" is first recorded in a Usenet posting from 1991, and is interpreted as a combination of the abbreviations B/D (Bondage and Discipline), D/s (Dominance and submission), and S/M (Sadism and Masochism). BDSM is now used as a catch-all phrase covering a wide range of activities, forms of interpersonal relationships, and distinct subcultures. BDSM communities generally welcome anyone with a non-normative streak who identifies with the community; this may include cross-dressers, body modification enthusiasts, animal roleplayers, rubber fetishists, and others.

Activities and relationships within a BDSM context are often characterized by the participants taking on complementary, but unequal roles; thus, the idea of informed consent of both the partners is essential. The terms "submissive" and "dominant" are often used to distinguish these roles: the dominant partner ("dom") takes psychological control over the submissive ("sub"). The terms "top" and "bottom" are also used: the top is the instigator of an action while the bottom is the receiver of the action. The two sets of terms are subtly different: for example, someone may choose to act as bottom to another person, for example, by being whipped, purely recreationally, without any implication of being psychologically dominated by them, or a submissive may be ordered to massage their dominant partner. Despite the bottom performing the action and the top receiving they have not necessarily switched roles.

The abbreviations "sub" and "dom" are frequently used instead of "submissive" and "dominant". Sometimes the female-specific terms "mistress", "domme" or "dominatrix" are used to describe a dominant woman, instead of the gender-neutral term "dom". Individuals who can change between top/dominant and bottom/submissive roles—whether from relationship to relationship or within a given relationship—are known as "switches". The precise definition of roles and self-identification is a common subject of debate within the community.

Transmisogyny (sometimes trans-misogyny) is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny. Transphobia is defined as "the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against transgender or transsexual people". Misogyny is defined as "a hatred of women". Therefore, transmisogyny includes negative attitudes, hate, and discrimination of transgender or transsexual individuals who fall on the feminine side of the gender spectrum, particularly transgender women. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book "Whipping Girl" and used to describe the unique discrimination faced by trans women because of "the assumption that femaleness and femininity are inferior to, and exist primarily for the benefit of, maleness and masculinity", and the way that transphobia intensifies the misogyny faced by trans women (and vice versa). It is said many trans women experience an additional layer of misogyny in the form of fetishization; Serano talks about how society views trans women in certain ways that sexualize them, such as them transitioning for sexual reasons, or ways where they’re seen as sexually promiscuous.Transmisogyny is a central concept in transfeminism and is commonly referenced in intersectional feminist theory. That trans women's femaleness (rather than only their femininity) is a source of transmisogyny is denied by certain radical feminists, who claim that trans women are not female.

Although macrophilia literally translates to simply a "lover of large," in the context of a sexual fantasy, it is used to mean someone who is attracted to beings larger than themselves. Generally, the interest differs between people, and depends on gender and sexual orientation. They often enjoy feeling small and being abused, degraded, dominated, or eaten, and they may also view female giants as being powerful and dominating.

Commenting on why there are not as many female macrophiles, psychologist Helen Friedman theorized that because women in most societies already view men as dominant and powerful, there is no need for them to fantasize about it. Women that take on the roles of the giantess within this fetish often find the practice to be empowering and enjoy being worshipped.

The roots of macrophilia may lie in sexual arousal in childhood and early adolescence which is accidentally associated with giants, according to Dr. Mark Griffiths's speculation.

Object sexuality or objectophilia is a form of sexuality focused on particular inanimate objects. Those individuals with this expressed preference may feel strong feelings of attraction, love, and commitment to certain items or structures of their fixation. For some, sexual or even close emotional relationships with humans are incomprehensible. Some object-sexual individuals also often believe in animism, and sense reciprocation based on the belief that objects have souls, intelligence, and feelings, and are able to communicate.

Lesbophobia (sometimes lesbiphobia) comprises various forms of negativity towards lesbians as individuals, as couples, or as a social group. Based on the categories of sex, sexual orientation, lesbian identity, and gender expression, this negativity encompasses prejudice, discrimination, and abuse, in addition to attitudes and feelings ranging from disdain to hostility. As such, lesbophobia is sexism against women that intersects with homophobia and vice versa.

"Sex reassignment therapy" (SRT) is an umbrella term for all medical treatments related to sex reassignment of both transgender and intersex people.

Individuals make different choices regarding sex reassignment therapy, which may include female-to-male or male-to-female hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to modify secondary sex characteristics, sex reassignment surgery (such as orchiectomy) to alter primary sex characteristics, chest surgery such as top surgery or breast augmentation, or, in the case of trans women, a trachea shave, facial feminization surgery or permanent hair removal.

To obtain sex reassignment therapy, transsexual people are generally required to undergo a psychological evaluation and receive a diagnosis of gender identity disorder in accordance with the Standards of Care (SOC) as published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. This assessment is usually accompanied by counseling on issues of adjustment to the desired gender role, effects and risks of medical treatments, and sometimes also by psychological therapy. The SOC are intended as guidelines, not inflexible rules, and are intended to ensure that clients are properly informed and in sound psychological health, and to discourage people from transitioning based on unrealistic expectations.

Macrophilia is a fascination with or a sexual fantasy involving giants, more commonly expressed as giantesses (female giants). It is typically a male fantasy, with the male playing the "smaller" part—entering, being dominated, or being eaten by the larger woman. Others involve partners who naturally have a significant difference in size.

Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with, or not culturally associated with, their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including hormone replacement therapy and other sex reassignment therapies) to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.

"Transsexual" is generally considered a subset of "transgender", but some transsexual people reject the label of "transgender". A medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria can be made if a person expresses a desire to live and be accepted as a member of their identified sex, and if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as a result of their gender identity.