On the basis of 18 months of cooperation between the psychiatric department and the urological department of the medical hospital of the Lübeck University, a model showing how men with erectile dysfunction can receive improved aid with respect to a multidimensional diagnostic evaluation and therapy, is presented. First, the present state of the somatic-urological examination procedures is outlined, and, in the appendix, summarised in the form of checklists. The possibilities of somatic treatment are the described. In the psychiatric-psychotherapeutic section, sexual counselling and couple psychotherapy are briefly considered under the aspect of intra-psychic and interactional causes. Provided that a cooperative sexual partner is available, it is then urged that invasive treatment methods be replaced by couple therapy, and that treatment of erectile dysfunction should not be considered merely a technical repair job.