Better Sex

Welcome to Better Sex. Today we are covering an important and pervasive topic. We're going to talk about female sexual pain, a woman's sexual pain. Way too many people struggle with painful conditions and most of them don't know what to do about it. Some people don't realize that sex should never hurt and other people, even though they realize sex should hurt, just have nowhere to go. The doctors...

Today’s episode features Brodie Welch, a Chinese Medicine expert who helps us to recognize that from a Chinese medicine perspective, everything is energy, and sexual energy is an important subset of our total sum of energy reserves. We cover how to apply all areas of the Chinese medicinal branches, the original body/mind/spirit medicine, into our lives and daily choices, "talking" and working with...

Today’s personal story features Jenn, a 47-year-old woman who has undergone more than her fair share of stressful events during her life. From being molested as a child and losing her virginity to date rape, to facing repeated infertility issues, miscarriages and finally a hysterectomy. We cover how all these events affected her relationship with herself, as well as her intimate relationships with...

Correction: I misspoke in my introduction to the episode. Melissa is not yet certified as a sex therapist. I apologize for any confusion. Sexual Fragmentation - what is it and how does it show up in sex therapy? Tune in today to learn about how Melissa defines fragmentation as it applies to sex therapy work, as she talks about the competing needs we all have within us. How do we get fragmented? Me...

Amanda’s interest in menstrual health began as early as her childhood. Today she passionately shares her wisdom about how women should have knowledge of how their bodies work and, with this, feel empowered to talk about menstruation and sex without feeling ashamed. Menstrual problems and Sex Join us as we discuss the main issues around periods and sex. Problems such as not feeling sexy when your p...

What is self-care? Tune in to hear Stacy’s definition of self-care: what it looks like and how it relates to all areas of life, not only with regards to physical health but mental and emotional health as well. Stacy reveals what percentage of health care issues come back to self-care, and talks about its relevance to everything from dental care and medical care to therapy. The Eight Dimensions of...

What is pelvic floor physical therapy? Dr. Fiacco kicks off by telling us exactly what pelvic floor physical therapy is; explaining about the basic musculature of the pelvic area and what kind of health issues can stem from this region, including some unexpected areas of the body that may present with problems that actually arise from the pelvis. Training and certification Going on to talk about w...

Sex in the elder years In today's episode, we look at sex and sexuality in the elderly. It is a common misconception that people are no longer sexually active as they grow older and Dr. Flores will be sharing her thoughts on this with us so enjoy the insights! Is sex (and sexuality) common in the elderly? Dr. Flores shares her findings that elderly people are still sexually active after 75. She re...

Frank was raised in a conservative home that placed a noose of fear and shame around sex. After a decade of fantasizing about sex, Frank married in his late 20’s and recalls the awkwardness about it. Sexuality was a very taboo topic in Frank's life and this carried into both his marriages. Nancy had issues of her own as well. Being a victim of sexual abuse from the age of 5, Nancy felt dirty and a...

Social Media is making sex obsolete. Dr. Stephen Snyder shares a shocking statistic that reveals the drop in the sexual interaction between people. He unpacks his very interesting theory on why this is. In this episode, you will hear about why people have sex and the influence of social media and technology on their motivation to engage sexually. He talks about ‘Healthy Narcissism” as children and...

How do you talk to kids about sex? In today’s episode, Robin LaCross and I discuss talking about sex to kids. Robin shares the childhood experiences that drew her to her purpose. She reveals the impact of a book about natural family planning, that raised many questions for her. Her curiosity led her to find out more about fertility and the female body. Robin tells us about how she shared this info...

How important is passion? The place of Love across cultures In this episode of Better Sex, Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh unwraps her theory of love in two categories: submergent and emergent. She describes the difference between the two and how cultures have different expectations about love and passion. She dissects each journey and love cycle as people typically experience it. She shares an interesting f...

Men's sexual health concerns often stem from the pressure of expectations In today’s episode, Jessa and Jennifer Valli talk about men’s sexual health concerns and dysfunctions ( men being defined as people who have been raised male and who have a penis) and approaches to make sex easier and stress-free. Reasons Men go to Sex Therapy Jennifer discusses the most common reasons that men go to sex the...

Vino & Vulvas - A community conversation about sex Today I am delighted to have Heather Edwards, who has been a pelvic physical therapist for 14 years and is currently completing the University of Michigan’s Certificate Program in Sex Counseling and Education. In 2015 she founded Vino & Vulvas, an inclusive, public, monthly event that connects sexual health providers with community members...

Triumph after sexual trauma This is the first in a new series of episodes where I will be talking to real people sharing real stories. On this episode, I am joined by Alli, a recovering overachiever who has learned to let go of society's expectations and step into alignment with her true self. Her passion is helping others to do the same through her podcast and her one-on-one coaching programs. In...

Out of control sexual behavior or sex addiction Are you concerned about your own sexual behavior in relation to your values? Do you wonder if your sexual behavior is out of control? Are you or someone you love worried that you have a sex addiction? You cannot afford to miss this episode with guest Marc Gilmartin. Marc is a Certified Sex Therapist and Licensed Mental Health Counselor who unpacks ho...

I'm excited about the topic for this episode. We're going to be talking about both Masculine and Feminine Energy. I'm talking about this because it's relevant to sex and to our lives in general. We all have masculine and feminine energy, it's not about whether you're male or female bodied. It doesn't matter what kind of physical form you're in. Each of us has both types of energy, and it's importa...

I'm revisiting a topic that we talked about in a previous episode, which is menopause This time it's not so much from the medical standpoint or a provider's standpoint. It's more about the invisibility that tends to happen in that time of life: the lack of information, the lack of support, the lack of understanding and how isolated and alone women can feel as they're getting into their midlife. Wo...

Well, the last episode of my podcast was about pregnancy and sexuality, and it seemed to make sense to go right into the next obvious topic, which is postpartum sexuality. Talk about a lot of change to adjust to! You've got not only the physical impact of carrying and birthing a baby, but you've got the emotional, the psychological, and the relational impacts as well. Life is not the same once you...

Today's topic is pregnancy and sexuality. It's just not talked about very often, and if you have been pregnant or if you have been a partner with somebody that's pregnant, you may have noticed that the doctors often don't ask or talk about sex. It's uncommon for medical providers to inquire about any sort of sexual changes that you're having, the state of your relationship with your partner, or ho...

I give a lot of thought to what makes a great sex life. What makes us sex life healthy, what makes it enjoyable for people, what makes it fulfilling? When I consider the kinds of things that matter, I think about the ability to slow down and be present in the moment. I think about the ability to tune into your body and to know what you want in that moment. Not just abstractly, like if I asked you...

I often hear from clients about how much they struggle when they're different from each other. In the beginning, we were attracted to this other way of being. We were interested because this person was so different from us. But what intrigued us in the beginning is what often drives us nuts later in the relationship. So even though opposites attract, they can run into misunderstanding and frustrat...

As I was putting the podcast together, I put out a little survey to my subscribers asking what kinds of topics people wanted me to cover. While it is not the most frequent presenting concern in my practice, the most frequent request I got in terms of what to talk about on the show was menopause. I see people in my practice who are dealing with menopause when it is problematic in some way. People r...

So why is today's show about sex therapy? Well, because I'm a certified sex therapist and I know that a lot of people listening don't know what that means. There is confusion about what sex therapy is and what a sex therapist does. And there's confusion or lack of knowledge about what it takes to become certified as a sex therapist. As you're going to hear in the interview today, calling yourself...

It can be extremely hard to get out of your own head. People get distracted by their to-do list, by stresses of life, what they must do for work. They're distracted by concerns that are keeping them up at 4:00 in the morning. A lot of people, even if they aren't distracted, are so used to thinking and analyzing, it's called being up in your head instead of in your body. And the ability to drop int...