Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists
You may find that your clinical practice does not allow you the time and/or scope to teach your patients necessary information about sexuality, anatomy including vulvar and penile erectile tissue, desire, pleasure, orgasm, nervous system regulation, consent (internal felt sense), sexual boundaries, and sexual communication skills with partners. If you’ve addressed the structural issues your patient presented with, but they’re still experiencing challenges with their sexuality or sexual function that is beyond your scope of practice, I can help.
There can be a gap between a place of pelvic health and sexual confidence, and it is my professional realm to bridge that gap.
I can help if your patient:
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- would benefit from erotic education.
- is resistant to doing their PT exercises on their own, and needs to work through underlying emotional resistance in an embodied way.
- is withholding important information due to shame or cultural reasons.
- doesn’t know what kind of sexual touch they like, and needs an encouraging low-pressure environment in which to experiment, outside the realm of their partnered relationships.
- would benefit from more time than you can offer for the emotions and trauma stored in adhesions to release.
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You might also have noticed patients with vaginismus, vulvadynia, or painful anal intercourse who are frustrated by a lack of improvement in their experiences with penetration by partners. They might benefit from a visceral understanding that pleasure requires the mind AND body being ready for penetration and practicing communicating with their partners. I’ve found that some people with vaginismus/vulvodynia or painful anal penetration think that by using dilators, they can ignore shame, obligation, and trauma in order to be penetrated. So they override their lack of readiness and consent to activities that are painful. I support people in finding pleasure in their pelvis and genitals and identifying what consent feels like in their body. I create time for them to practice saying no when they are not yet ready for touch or penetration and saying yes when they are.