Sex and the Psyche

This episode features Deb Rubin on creating a sex-positive home, the three things that make kids stop talking to you, and why there is no "talk", just a thousand small moments. Deb Rubin is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and therapeutic parent coach based in Boulder, Colorado, with over twenty years of experience helping parents navigate the transition from childhood to adoles...

No guest this week. Just Jenni and Daniel, two married co-hosts, two therapists, and two people who are very comfortable talking about things most people avoid entirely. The episode starts where it always does for this podcast: with honesty. A scheduling miscommunication left them without a guest, and instead of papering over it, they open with a real conversation about what rejection actually doe...

Brooke Bralove has been doing talk therapy for over twenty years. She's good at it. And she will tell you, clearly and without hesitation, that there are things talk therapy simply cannot do. That's where Accelerated Resolution Therapy comes in. ART is a brief, neuroscience-based treatment modality that uses rapid eye movement, similar to what happens during REM sleep combined with a technique cal...

When Claire Rumore was lifted into a hospital gurney to undergo her first biopsy, she stepped aside to use the restroom first. And while she was there, she heard a quiet internal voice ask her a question: Do you want to go back to the life you had before? Is that what you want? Without hesitation, her answer was no. What followed was one of the most unusual cancer journeys in modern medicine. Clai...

Jeff Abraham didn't set out to build a sexual wellness company. He was a semiconductor engineer from a coal mining town in Pennsylvania who sold his business, retired, and got a call from his neighbor, Dr. Ronald Gilbert, the urologist who invented Promescent's delay spray. One conversation, one product sample, and one phone call later, Jeff was all in. What followed was fifteen years of building...

Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz sit down with Zach and Sally Maxwell, relationship thought leaders, executive coaches, and co-founders of The Art of Conscious Love, for a conversation that will change how you think about romance. Together since they were 18, the Maxwells have built a modern relationship framework around a radical premise: love is not something you fall into. It's something yo...

If Part 1 was about the field of sexual medicine, Part 2 is about the marriage at the center of it. Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz return to their conversation with Dr. Irwin and Sue Goldstein, and this time, the questions get more personal. How do you stay married for fifty years? What does great sex actually look like across the decades? And what happens when a woman who has spent her care...

Dr. Irwin Goldstein didn't set out to become a pioneer of sexual medicine. He was a biomedical engineer turned urology resident who, as he tells it, asked one stupid question during a 1976 surgery: "Could you explain the physiology of erection to me?" The surgeon shrugged. Irwin spent the next decade figuring it out. Along the way, he co-discovered that nitric oxide, the elephant of our air, is wh...

When Susan Bratton talks about intimacy, she doesn't speak in theory. She speaks from 34 years of marriage. From decades of teaching couples how to stay erotically connected through every life stage. From writing 44 books and programs on passionate lovemaking and from her own personal journey. Eleven years into her marriage, she had never had an orgasm from intercourse and was avoiding sex with he...

In this episode, Dr. Jenni and Daniel sit down with Michele Weiner-Davis — internationally renowned marriage therapist, bestselling author, and creator of the Divorce Busting method — for a conversation about what most therapists won't tell you: that many marriages assumed to be over are actually salvageable, and that infidelity, while devastating, is rarely the real ending. Michele sh...

 In this episode, Jenni and Daniel talk with infidelity expert Michelle Weiner-Davisabout how couples can rebuild sex, safety, and emotional connection after an affair. They normalize everything from “hot and heavy” post-discovery sex to long dry spells, and offer practical tools for easing back into touch, managing triggers, and shifting from obligation to genuine desire. Michell...

In this never released short Bonus Episode from The Modern Pleasure Podcast with Dr. Jenni Skyler and Kim Kaplan, Paul Joannides discusses cultural issues surrounding women's sexuality, including the restriction of abortion and birth control, and emphasizes the importance of sex education. Paul shares a story from a college newspaper about young women's negative views on masturbation. Dr.  Sk...

Paul Joannides is an author and sex therapist who discusses the impact of his book on reducing anxiety and shame around sex. In this never before published episode from the Modern Pleasure Podcast which Kim Kaplan and Dr. Jenni Skyler co-hosted together, they discuss the challenges parents face in educating their children about sex and the importance of starting these conversations early. They als...

In this bonus episode, Kim Kaplan, Dr. Jenni Skyler, and Natalie discuss the therapeutic use of psychedelics, particularly MDMA, for healing sexual trauma. They emphasize that different psychedelics are suited to different traumas and that set and setting are crucial. Natalie highlights the importance of a knowledgeable guide and the process of preparation, including obtaining informed consent. Th...

In this lost episode from "The Modern Pleasure Podcast" Kim and Jenni talk to Natalie Cooney who runs the Compass Healing Project about healing trauma with both somatic experiencing and psychedelics. Natalie is an expert on somatic experiencing and how sexual trauma can exist in our body and how to heal that. We dive into sexual disassociation, the power of psychedelics and how to be present with...

Listen to this Bonus Episode where Kim, Jenni and Daniel discuss the hows, when and why talking about sex with your children is an important part of healthy sexual development.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to this past episode from the Modern Pleasure Podcast where Kim talks to Dr. Jenni and her husband, Daniel Lebowitz on the subject of ED.  Daniel explains how ED plagues both the partnership and the man, but how important it is for the penis to be the signal, acting like a lightning rod for your needs, wants, fears and boundaries. Daniel also covers important facts around prostate surg...

This "Listen Again" episode was one of our favorites, and it deserves a re-visit! Dr. Jenni and Kim talk to Dr. Craig Heacock, an adolescent and adult psychiatrist and addiction specialist in Colorado who hosts the psychiatric storytelling podcast “Back from the Abyss.” He is a co-therapist in the Phase 3 trial of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD and has particular interest in the...

Producer Kim Kaplan interviews Jenni and Daniel on their experience hosting the first season of Sex and the Psyche, and take a look back at some of their favorite episodes and what they've learned in the process. They also give a glimpse of what to expect in Season Two.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previously on Sex and the Psyche, Dr. Jenni and Daniel interviewed a male guest named Andy (Episode 5- The Irony of Sexual Selfishness). Andy is back to report on his progress after three months, and brings along his wife for a fun surprise! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Jenni and Daniel learn about how sex toys are chosen and produced at America’s largest sex toy company, Adam and Eve. Guest colleague, Ginger Vickery “sells smiles and pleasure products”. She discusses the company’s best sellers and how to shop whether you are a beginner or advanced user of the pleasure products!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Dr. Jenni and Daniel continue their conversation on the Commodification of Sex in this Bonus Episode that provides suggestions for creating deeper connections within sexual relationships in the Gen Z era.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jenni and Daniel respond to a listener question from a mom with two Gen-Z kids who is wondering why her 20-something children don’t pursue relationships or sex. Jenni and Daniel unpack this conundrum as they explore factors such as screens, social media, cultural narratives, and, how intimacy has become commodified.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jenni and Daniel read 3 listener questions from women who have male partners with low sex drive. Learn what depletes the male drive, even when testosterone is healthy or high.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jenni and Daniel continue the conversation with colleague and friend, Michelle Miscione. They dive deeper into how resentment erodes relationships, and how laughter and personal responsibility are essential antidotes.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.