2008 Winner of SSTAR Health Professional Book Award: Sex, Therapy, and Kids, by Sharon Lamb EdD.

The Committee, by unanimous vote, felt this book to be a pioneering contribution to the health professional library. Dr. Lamb's is a voice from beyond our traditional community that explores a necessary but relatively unexplored element of treatment. She has removed the word "sex" as a modifier and placed it squarely as its own entity in the therapeutic conversation. Although it appears to focus on "kids," it reminds us that children live in families and sexual messages and issues are communicated with regularity. The importance of remaining open and sensitive to these matters and understanding how to intervene is explored with great insight. Dr Lamb writes candidly and easily allowing this book to be read by professionals and recommended to the lay reader.

2008 SSTAR Health Professional Awards Committee
Karen Donahey
Peggy Kleinplatz (Chair)
Joseph LoPiccolo
Dan Watter
Joanna Whitcup

Winner:

Sexual Medicine in Primary Care, by William L. Maurice MD, FRCPC. Congratulations! We felt unanimously that this was the all-star in an impressive line-up of books for health professionals. It is a superb text for medical school use, or for graduate programs in health related programs such as clinical psychology, nursing, and social work. It is already having a most significant impact in reaching out to an audience in need of sex therapy information. It is thorough, well written and fills a great need in the field. It is already being used extensively in teaching and is quickly becoming a classic reference in sex therapists' offices.

Exceptional Merit:
The three books chosen for exceptional merit (in no particular order) are:

Transgender Emergence: Therapeutic Guidelines for Working with Gender-Variant People and Their Families, by Arlene Istar Lev. The book has comprehensive coverage of the topic of transsexuality. It includes sections on current theories about transgenderism; reviews of research on the topic, and very detailed guidance for clinicians. Lev focuses on what seems to be a narrow population but her insights are important for those who study sexuality and gender per se and the treatment of the whole range of sexual problems in therapy.

The Handbook of Clinical Sexuality for Mental Health Professionals, Edited by Stephen B. Levine, Candace B. Risen and Stanley E. Althof. A very broad range of sexual problems is covered. The material presents a strong overview of each particular problem, and usually also includes case examples and specific instructions on how to deal with each problem. This book is very helpful, deeply insightful, reassuring, and "friendly" for the non-sex therapist mental health clinician.

and

The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships, Edited by John H. Harvey, Amy Wenzel and Susan Sprecher. This book covers sexuality in relation to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and so forth. Rather than focusing only on relationship issues in sexuality, the book covers clinical applications. The reviews of research and the framing of studies in terms of sexuality "in close relationships" mark an important shift in re-orienting and broadening our thinking.

2006 SSTAR Health Professional Awards Committee
Karen Donahey
Peggy Kleinplatz (Chair)
Joseph LoPiccolo
Sharon Nathan
Dan Watter