More often than not, couples have intimacy and sexual issues because they don’t talk about sex. Talking about sex is healthy! When you have tried to bring up sex and intimacy, your partner becomes upset and walks away from you. Maybe, your partner seems numb or bored when you are having sex. And, you want to have a more passionate, present, and emotionally invested experience of sex. As well, if you are feeling like you can’t talk to your partner about sex and intimacy, there is no way for your sex life to improve. Working with a couples therapist who specializes in sex and intimacy can help you start to feel comfortable talking about sex. Wisdom Within Counseling is a group of marriage, sex, and intimacy specialists.
Also, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable talking about sex when you are not told that sex is a positive or healthy when growing up. Your parents may have handled the birds and the bees conversation in all of three minutes. As well, your parents may have handed you a book and told you to read it to learn all you needed to know about your future sexual experiences. Or, parents often instill fear-based and anxiety-based messages that lead to misinformation around sex. At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida helps couples gain proper sexual health education.
Couples therapy with a focus on sex and intimacy can be your place to gain the sex education you never got. As well, we grow up with lots of sexual shame and guilt. Through a strict, religious upbringing, you learned that sex is only for procreation. Another negative message may be that sex is not to be something enjoyed.
Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help sex become a fun, recreational activity. Couples therapy with a focus on sex intimacy is a process of increasing your playfulness, comfort together, and intimacy. This means learning to love and accept yourself.
To begin, book a consult below to work with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida helps couples build a passionate, erotic sex life.
No matter your race, ethnicity, gender, age, or the size of your body, you deserve to have an incredibly pleasurable sex life. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help improve the depth of intimacy in your relationship. As well, sex and intimacy maybe conflictual topics that you need to sort through in marital counseling. Past instances of sexual trauma or sexual abuse can cause fears and anxieties. Marital therapy can help couples talk about past sexual trauma and the impact on their current intimacy issues.
Emotional intimacy is a foundation for passionate intimacy and sexual energy
Many times, couples don’t realize how emotional intimacy is important building block for sexual passion and romantic intimacy. If you and your partner are getting into high conflict fights, this blocks sexual energy. As well, if you are yelling at each other or criticizing one another, this hinders sexual passion. Notably, aggressive communication is never productive for building a healthy sex life.
When you and your partner are slamming doors, you are damaging the emotional bond that is required for a healthy sex life.
As well, if you both are walking out of the room while the other person is talking, this can lead to disconnection. To note, if you are hanging up the phone on each other without a clear explanation, this prevents closeness. Emotional intimacy is a foundational element for sexual passion. If you or your partner feeling belittled or less than, working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help.
Learn positive communication skills for a more satisfying sex life in couples counseling
Overall, if you and your spouse speak to each other in a condescending ways, this blocks intimacy. Instead of using negative communication tactics, working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you learn positive ones. Using negative communication only leads more loneliness and distance. By learning healthy communication tools, you can improve the emotional and sexual intimacy. At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida can help you speak to each other kindly, even about intense subjects.
To begin, book a consult below to improve your sex life, build passion, and emotional closeness in couples therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Instead of blaming your partner, you can learn to divide household responsibilities. You can learn to be collaborative and a team. Rather than pointing out all the things your partner is doing wrong and what you don’t like, your couples therapist can help you express appreciation. You can help you partner feel loved by verbalizing things that you do love about them. Building a sense of appreciation and gratitude for each other is key in having a better sex life. To note, the more healthy communication, the closer couples can become emotionally.
Low sexual desire and low libido issues are great topics for intimacy counseling
Additionally, it is a common myth that getting older means that you should have a lower libido. This is not true. Working with a sex and intimacy specialist can help understand the emotional, physical, and mental aspects to low sexual desire.
Just because you are aging does not mean you have to have a low sex drive. Plenty of mature adults have a high sex drive. When looking at a low sex drive and low libido issues, these can be side effects from medication. Variety of medications dampen sexual desire and cause low libido issues. At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida can help you understand how the side effects of medication impact your sex life. You can also learn positive ways to stay sexually playful and in tune with each other.
However, even with the side effects of medication lowering libido, couples therapy can offer different tools to keep you sex life alive. And, couples can learn techniques to increase sexual playfulness. At Wisdom Within Counseling, you can learn skills to increase playfulness in your bedroom. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you overcome low libido issues.
Additionally, drugs and alcohol can have a huge influence on low sexual desire. Alcoholism can lead to low sex interest and low libido issues. Consuming alcohol can make orgasming more difficult.
Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you learn skills for building sexual arousal and sexual excitement
Stress and anxiety can also dampen person’s sex drive. If you are running on empty and living on sugar and caffeine, you may suffer from a low sex drive. And, if you are not eating balanced meals, this is a recipe for a low sex drive.
To begin, book a consult below to meet with the marriage, sex, and intimacy therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Our brain functions in a primal state. Your body will always prioritize stress and anxiety over your sex drive and reproduction. What this means is that you need to be relaxed in order to be able to become sexually aroused. If you are worried about the bills, couples therapy can provide anxiety reduction strategies. As well, working 50+ hour weeks and suffering from adrenal fatigue means you physically won’t be able to become sexually aroused. You may have a low sexual desire and low libido issues because you are in a high stress state.
Anxiety can lead to a low sex drive
Additionally, if you are highly anxious, your body may struggle to become sexually aroused and excited. All of your body’s hormones are going towards your stress regulation system. There is nothing left at the end of the day to support your sexual hormone system. Leanring to navigate anxiety and reduce it are parts of intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida.
Learning to manage stress and anxiety are essential parts of couples therapy. The sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you learn mindfulness practices. Your therapist can support mindfulness meditation practices as a couple.
Art, painting, yoga, mindfulness meditation, and positive coping strategies can help you manage and reduce anxiety. In addition to transitional talk therapy, couples can use mindfulness mediation to self-soothe. At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida helps couples manage anxiety together.
Improve communication regarding sex and intimacy between you and your partner
So often, couples may have a sexual experience and never talk about it afterwards. You don’t know what your partner really enjoyed. As well, your partner may not feel comfortable giving you feedback or asking you to change something. You can talk about pressure, areas of your body like touched, lengthening foreplay, and even incorporating sex toys in counseling. Couples do not talk about what they liked and what they disliked.
To begin, book a consult below to meet with the marriage, sex, and intimacy therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Many times, couples get stuck doing the same, boring routine sexually.
Sex may occur on the same day of the week, and there are rigid boundaries around sex. You and your partner may find yourself having sex in the same room, or stuck in the same position. Couples therapy with a focus on sex and intimacy can help create sexual diversity. This makes sex more fun and pleasurable. You might want to have sex in your kitchen or have sex on your living room floor. Diversifying the environment where you were having sex can improve playfulness in your marriage. Many times, couples need encouragement to have diverse sexual experiences by working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Overcome limiting beliefs that you have to give up your own pleasure to please your partner
As well, it is really common for a female partner to go into sexual experiences feeling that she has to please her partner.
Female may feel like it is her duty or obligation to have sex with her partner. Females tend to forfeit their own pleasure in an effort to please their partner. Commonly, females fake orgasms. Even though a female might not be satisfied at all sexually, she will often fake an orgasm. Females often fake orgasms in an effort to prevent their partner’s feelings from being hurt.
A female may not have been taught that it is okay to speak up and say what she likes or doesn’t like. Part of couples therapy with a focus on sex and intimacy is re-balancing this dynamic. A female partner may need encouragement to prioritize her own pleasure. And saying, “Can you do more of this?” or “Less of that?” is healthy. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help females gain a sexual voice.
To begin, book a consult below to meet with the marriage, sex, and intimacy therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Your couples therapist can help you advocate for yourself during a sexual experience.
When you are having sex, this might mean asking to change sex positions. Or, you therapist can help you ask for it to be less deep, slower, or faster. When a female partner gets stuck in an overly giving role, sex may become not much fun. At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida you can talk about have fun during sex. Sex should be fun and enjoyable!
Giving too much sexually can lead to marital resentment. Because she doesn’t have a voice, due to cultural and societal shame, she may feel neglected sexually. A female partner may not even understand or know that she is feeling sexually neglected, because she is silent.
Learning to communicate about sex is really important.
Couples therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling can be the time set aside to talk about your sexual experiences.
For instance, a female might feel like she has to have vaginal sex and can’t say, “No,” to her partner. A female partner may want to have a clitoral orgasm or a nipple orgasm before vaginal penetration.
Also, a female partner may want to have her partner provide oral sex for a longer period of time than they do currently. Or, a female partner may be experiencing pain and discomfort while having sex. But, she doesn’t know how to speak up about this sexual pain. Having a couples therapist who is comfortable talking about sex and intimacy can help you and your partner become comfortable talking about sex and intimacy too.
Infertility, trying to have a baby, and your sex life
On top of that, couples also face of variety of different societal and social pressures around sex. When is struggling to have a baby and get pregnant, sexual activities can become very monotonous. If you are trying to have a child, sex can feel robotic.
To add, there can be a lot of pressure on sexual activities that takes the fun out of them. When you are struggling with infertility, you might not be having sex for pleasure anymore. You may be having sex with a goal of having a baby. At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida you can find a healthy balance between procreational and recreational sex.
Couples therapy can help you take the pressure off having a child. Instead, you can learn to enjoy each other’s sexual presence and sexual pleasure again. Learning to take the goals and obligations off sex is key for sexual pleasure. Being playful sexually is a key part and having healthy sex life. When you feel pressure or obligation, having sex can be very difficult. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you experience sexual pleasure again.
To begin, book a consult below to work with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Dealing with societal pressure around sex
Additionally, you might see different photos on social media that show your friends and family in a happy marriage. When you think about your own marriage, you feel defeated, lonely, and sad. As well, you might even feel jealousy or envious when you look at friends on social media. Remember, comparing yourself and your marriage to someone else’s is not healthy.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida supports emotional expression and connection
Couples therapy with a focus on sex and intimacy can allow you space to share these feelings of jealousy, anxiety, and envy.
It might feel like you have to have sex to prove to your partner that you are still into them. There might be a lot of different emotional challenges around sexual activities. You might have listened to a comedy show where the comedian joked that if you aren’t having sex with your partner, your marriage is doomed to fail. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you talk comfortably about sex.
Your couples therapist can help you work through how social media influences your view of your marriage. If you are always comparing yourself to your friends and family, you are actually preventing yourself from truly enjoying your marriage.
Each couple has their own chemistry. If you feel that you have lost your sexual passion, the team at Wisdom Within Counseling would love to help.
Healing after sexual trauma
When you are a survivor of sexual trauma, molestation, rape, or incest, these experiences impact your sex life. As a child, you may have had a trusted adult sexually violate your body. In college, you may have been raped. When your body has been touched in an unwanted and sexually abusive way, these experiences leave a lasting impact.
Sexual trauma experiences can also include non-contact sexual abuse.
This means that someone doesn’t have to touch your body in order for you to experience sexual abuse. For instance, non-contact sexual abuse can include having a naked photo that you sent to someone in confidence emailed to people or used as blackmail.
If a high schooler sends a naked photo to their partner, and they share it with all of their friends, this is non contact sexual trauma. Additionally, non-contact sexual trauma can include exposure to violent pornography at a young age. Or, watching or hearing adults having sex.
Non-contact sexual trauma can include being forced to view sexual activities that you did not consent to.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, intimacy and marriage therapy in Tampa, Florida teaches couples about sexual trauma. You can learn to identify if you are a victim of sexual abuse and sexual trauma. As well, you and your partner can gain positive coping strategies for sexual trauma symptoms too.
To begin, book a consult below to improve your sex life, build passion, and emotional closeness in couples therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Meeting with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help with PTSD coping tools
Even if your current partner, who you love and trust, touches your body, you may experience a PTSD flashback. The slightest touch can retrigger negative feelings related to sexual trauma. When your partner is touching your body, you may find yourself crying. It is very common for survivors of sexual abuse and sexual trauma to begin crying with a safe trusted partner. You may find yourself numb or disassociating.
Post-traumatic stress disorder coping strategies can be helpful to utilize when feeling triggered. You might feel a negative flashback coming into your mind.
The coping tools that your Tampa, Florida couples therapist teaches you can help you calm yourself down in that moment. Rather than going into a full-blown anxiety attack, you can learn to self-regulate. Plus, positive coping strategies allow you to take back your power over your sexual trauma.
Various positive coping tools can help you feel grounded in the present moment after sexual trauma.
As well, positive coping strategies for sexual trauma can include repeating positive statements to yourself. Instead of listening to the inner critic or negative beliefs in your mind, you can learn to repeat positive statements to yourself.
Additionally, another positive strategy for sexual trauma can be counting. Some people like to count their breaths to feel calmer.
Music and playlists can also be supportive after sexual trauma. Your couples therapist might help you create a playlist that allows you to feel calm and relaxed during sexual experiences. You can play this compilation of music to feel safe in a sexual experience with your partner.
There may also be certain smells that are soothing after sexual trauma. You might like to use extra-virgin coconut oil for a back massage. Extra-virgin coconut oil can be a natural lubricant as well. The smell of extra-virgin coconut oil can be calming and support positive coping strategies after trauma. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you develop a trauma coping toolbox.
Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help when you have a hyperactive sex drive due to trauma
As well, survivors of sexual trauma may have a hyperactive sex drive and crave a lot of sex for connection. If you have a hyperactive sex drive due to sexual trauma, and your partner does not want to have sex, you might feel a severe sense of abandonment.
Some survivors of sexual trauma feel that having sex brings them closer to their partner. Any form of mild sexual rejection can be incredibly devastating.
To begin, book a consult below to work with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Sexual trauma experiences can cause a disinterest or avoidance of sex
Or, survivors of sexual trauma may have a hypoactive sex drive, and not want to have sex ever again. If you have a hypo active sex drive due to sexual trauma, you may be sexually rejecting your partner. Your partner may have no idea why you are continually sexually rejecting them if you have not shared your experiences of sexual trauma.
Couples therapy in Tampa, Florida with a focus on sex and intimacy can help you in a partner talk about sexual trauma experiences. There may be experiences in your partner’s past related to sexual trauma that they may not have shared with you either. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help after surviving sexual trauma.
Understand intimacy issues due to pornography addiction behaviors
Having a pornography addiction can hinder intimacy. From a young age, you may have become addicted to pornography use. Pornography can lead to issues in connecting with your partner. From watching pornography compulsively, you may no longer find your partner’s body attractive. You may be compelled to watch pornography at various hours of the day. There may be a history of childhood trauma or emotional neglect that lies underneath your pornography addiction. If you are addicted to pornography, you may crave watching pornography to calm yourself down.
If you go a certain amount of time without watching pornography, you may become moody and irritable.
To begin, book a consult below to improve your sex life, build passion, and emotional closeness in couples therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Pornography addiction can be a major issue when it comes to building a satisfying sex life with your partner.
In couples therapy, you can talk about your emotional dependence on pornography. As well, you can talk about how long you have felt addicted to pornography. Pornography use may be causing problems in other areas of your life. When you are at work, you might feel distracted and a craving to watch pornography. As well, you may need to talk about shame and guilt related to your upbringing.
Your parents may have never talked with you about sex. Or, you had a parents hyper sexualized you and your developing body. As well, you may have had a parent that normalized watching pornography or had a pornography addiction themselves. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you identify if you are suffering from a pornography addiction.
When you are addicted to pornography, you have an unhealthy relationship with porn. You may ignore other responsibilities and watch pornography over caring for your children. When your spouse tries to initiate sex, you would much rather watch porn by yourself then have sex with them.
Also, when you are addicted to pornography, you may find yourself spending large sums of money on subscription websites. You require more and more pornography in order to feel the same sense of contentment. As well, overtime you may find yourself going down the rabbit hole and watching pornography for hours on end.
You might watch pornography in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep. As a result of your pornography addiction, you may struggle with talking to your spouse about the severity of your pornography issues. You might be afraid that your spouse will reject you if you come clean about your pornography use. Additionally, you might feel like you can’t stop watching pornography even though it hurts your marriage. Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you gain coping skills for recovering from pornography addiction.
To begin, book a consult below to build sexual playfulness, intimacy, and create a more satisfying sex life.
Working with the sex and intimacy specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you build a satisfying, meaningful, and playful sex life.
Wisdom Within Counseling helps families, children, teens, couples, and adults. Our couples and intimacy counseling speciality is available in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansa, Louisiana, Tennessee North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Hampshire, and Maine, and Connecticut.
Where in Connecticut does the Wisdom Within Counseling help children, teens, couples, and adults?
In Connecticut, the Wisdom Within Counseling therapists helps children, teens, and adults in Bridgeport, East Lyme, Niantic, Mystic, Stonington, Colchester, Hartford, Glastonbury, Fairfield, Preston, Ridgefield, Westport, Danbury, Sterling, Norwalk, Darien, Wilton, Stamford, Middlebury, Bloomfield, Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Southport, Waterbury, Milford, Bristol, Hamden, East Hampton, Chester, Clinton, Madison, New Haven, Springfield, New Canaan, Avon, Weatogue, Wallingford, New London, Groton, Southington, Newington, Meriden, and Manchester.
Where in Florida does Wisdom Within Counseling help couples?
Tallahassee, Tampa, Ocala, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Sarasota, Pensacola, Naples, Kissimmee, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Melbourne, Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Titusville, Siesta Key, Englewood, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Boca Grande, Longboat Key, Bradenton, Clearwater, Crystal River, Lakeland, Winter Haven, St. Cloud, Hudson, New Port Richey, Alligator Point, St. George Island, Miramar Beach, St. Augustine, Palm Coast, Port Orange, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Hialeah, Key Biscayne, Key Largo, Key West, Marathon, Duck Key, Islamorada, Layton, Big Pine Key, Tavernier, Marco Island, Delray Beach, Pahokee, Stuart, Jupiter, Vero Beach, St. Johns County, Florida.
Intimacy therapy in Tampa, Florida at Wisdom Within Counseling helps couples address sexual issues in a playful, safe setting.
Sexual issues can be physical, emotional, and mental. Stress from other areas of life can lead to sex and intimacy problems. As well, negative communication, name calling, and criticism hurts your sex life.
Couples can talk in counseling about sexual experience, sexual desire, and sexual fantasies. Past sexual trauma experiences can also lead to marital and sexual issues. Furthermore, intimacy and marriage counseling in Tampa, Florida gives couples in distress a confidential space to heal together. Couples can develop a greater level of sexual function, increases in sexual passion, and satisfaction from marraige therapy.
