I’m often struck, when first meeting with patients, how much help they get just by talking. During the first appointment, when I get a history I feel like patients relax so much. It’s like they finally had a chance to tell the truth (sometimes for the first time) to someone who doesn’t judge, doesn’t think they are strange and perhaps, for the first time, makes them feel like their concerns, habits, fears, likes and dislikes are “perfectly normal.”
In many cases, the stories patients are sharing with me, (how they masturbate, their preferred means of having sex, their “fetishes,”) are really quite common.
Then there are patients who tell me less usual stories or preferences. Again, they are often so very embarrassed about things which are not harmful and provide a source of pleasure to them.
I hope, as women explore their own sexual health, they come to believe and understand that there is just no “right” way to go about having sex!