As a therapist I sometimes ask a patient where in their body they feel an emotion. By identifying the feeling in one’s body we can sometimes get more connected to ourselves. The experience can be both grounding and validating. Several studies have come out recently proving that there is some universality as to how and …
Continue ReadingThe dark side of Oxytocin.
Oxytocin has typically been considered the love hormone. Historically, It has been thought to promote connection and social bonding. However in a new study done at Northwestern University, a new side of Oxytocin was discovered. “Oxytocin appears to be the reason social situations, perhaps being bullied at school or tormented by a boss, reverberate long …
Continue ReadingA funny thing happened at the airport…
Last Wednesday I was heading off to Chicago to speak at a sex therapy and research conference. Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as sex therapy and research conferences (for the record, many of them are not nearly as much fun as they sound, or as they could be, so don’t go Googling and …
Continue ReadingPGAD (Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder).
We recently had a PGAD patient in her 80’s. The PGAD (or PGAS) started a few months ago after a head trauma and a broken hip. Her symptoms were classic: constant genital engorgement (she described it as heat and a feeling of fullness) and a burning feeling that was always present and was driving her …
Continue ReadingAsexuality.
The concept of asexuality first came to my attention a few months ago when I began to see a young woman who was struggling with the fact that she felt no desire to be sexual. As a teenager she felt ostracized from having no interest in sex of any kind. Her girlfriends were all talking …
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