Sexual Health & Pelvic Pain
Sexual pain and dysfunction can look different for everyone. It may be pain with penetration, involuntary tightening of the pelvic muscles, reduced arousal and lubrication, difficulty reaching orgasm, feeling numb or detached during intimacy, or sex that simply doesn’t feel pleasurable.
These challenges may be your body’s way of protecting you.
Because pain is protective.
Together, we can explore what your body is trying to tell you and find ways to move toward comfort, safety and pleasure. Because of my clinical background as an Occupational Therapist, am able to work alongside GPs, Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists, and Gynaecologists to ensure your care is holistic and part of a broader multidisciplinary approach.
How I Can Help
Sexual Concerns:
Pelvic pain
Vaginismus & vulvodynia
Dyspareunia (painful sex)
Sexual changes after injury or treatment
Pelvic floor dysfunction
Dissociation & disconnection from the body
Nervous system dysregulation during sex
Difficulty reaching orgasm
Low libido/low arousal
Mismatched libido/mismatched desires
Reduced genital sensation or numbing
Performance anxiety
Sexual shame
Sexual anxiety
Difficulty with sexual communication & boundaries
Sensory sensitivities, overwhelm or “checking out” during sex
Challenges with sex after illness, childbirth, injury, or surgery
Sexual Disorders and Mental Health
Our sexuality is core to who we are. And yet sexual disorders can carry so much stigma, shame, and embarrassment that people can often suffer in silence for years before ever talking to anyone about it.
That silence has a cost.
The research is clear on this. Women with sexual pain are at increased risk of anxiety, depression, relationship distress, and diminished quality of life and yet many women seeking medical care for sexual pain report feeling that their concerns are invalidated and dismissed. Studies show that clinically significant depressive symptoms are twice as high in women with genital pain, dyspareunia, vulvodynia, and other vulvar complaints compared to the general population. When dyspareunia goes untreated, major depression becomes significantly more prevalent, particularly in younger women.
It's a cycle.
Pain creates anxiety.
Anxiety creates avoidance.
Avoidance creates shame.
And shame keeps people from getting help. When something this fundamental to your sense of self goes unaddressed, dismissed, minimised, or never spoken about, it creates its own layer of anxiety, shame, and depression.
It's what happens when something important gets no air. I'm here to tell you, you're not alone.
My job is to be the person you can open up to without fear of judgment. Because I hold both an Occupational Therapy and Somatic Sexology background, I can work across the dimensions of what you're experiencing; the physical, the psychological, the emotional, and the relational.
When you are ready, I am here to support you.
