Author: Rachel Hercman, LCSW
Like other types of sexual dysfunction, vaginismus can be like an ugly octopus that has multiple legs extending into various areas of a woman’s life. The effects can be pervasive and show up in her confidence, in her relationships, in her body image, in her sexuality, and her overall sense of well-being. Many patients have …
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There’s information you can get from reading history books and then there’s the wisdom you can get from the people who have actually lived it. Dr. Shirley Zussman is 100 years old and has been counseling people for over half a century. She has witnessed tremendous shifts in cultural attitudes around sex and relationships and …
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We have relationships with many different people in our lives; relationships with family members, relationships with friends, relationships with co-workers, relationships with neighbors, etc. A key difference in those relationships is the varying levels of frequency, intensity, and content of communication, and that can shape the level of closeness we feel towards others. But what’s …
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“Yikes, have you seen your vagina lately?” “You have the vagina of a ninety-year old woman.” “Can’t have intercourse? You’d make a great nun!” The above phrases were shared with me by patients and attributed to professionals they had consulted regarding their sexual dysfunction. Needless to say, the endeavors were not only futile in solving …
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By the time many of our patients walk through our door, sex has become a sore subject in their relationships. Feeling sexually distant from a partner can manifest in various ways, and patients have shared descriptions that tend to come down to the same idea: We live in the same place and share so much, …
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Usually my posts explore the experience and impact that sexual dysfunction can have on a woman’s sex life, confidence, and general well-being. In this post, I’d like to shift gears to the experience of the partner, who is often suffering too and may feel stuck. If that’s you, then you may have a whole bunch of …
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Dr. John Gottman is an MIT-trained mathematician and psychologist who has spent decades observing couples and drawing evidence-based conclusions on the common patterns in healthy, loving relationships that last. In his observations of couples and the way they relate during conflict, Dr. Gottman asserts: “The issue isn’t whether you fight with each other, it’s how …
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Most women we see have been struggling with their sexual functioning for a significant amount of time. It’s not uncommon for us to meet women who have spent years — even decades — trying to figure out why they can’t have a normal sex life and what they need to do to fix it. As many patients have …
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Imagine you have a close friend with whom you’ve enjoyed years of good times. Some years were better than others, but you knew that no matter what, when you called on this friend or made plans, she showed up. Then one day you get stood up. She doesn’t call, she doesn’t write. Nada. That’s weird, …
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It’s interesting how in areas of our lives where it is understood that there will be difficulty in functioning, there isn’t a paralyzing stigma to get help. If you had a problem with your iPhone, odds are you wouldn’t wait six months to go to an Apple store to talk to an Apple Genius. Perhaps …
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