THERAPY FOR VAGINISMUS & CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN IN CHICAGO AND THROUGHOUT IL

Heal pain, find pleasure.

 

Sex doesn’t feel the way you thought it would.

Are you dreading brunch with your friends because you feel self-conscious and unable to participate in fun conversations about sex?

Are you sitting on the couch, watching the newest Bridgerton season, and feel strong feelings of shame and guilt whenever a sex scene comes on?

Are you avoiding yet another referral to pelvic therapy or OBGYN appointment because it feels intimidating or violating?

Are you hopes of becoming a parent painfully on pause because you can’t successfully have penetrative sex with your partner?

Struggling with vaginismus and pelvic pain can have deep and painful ripples in the rest of our lives. Maybe you’re seeing that you worry that the lack of intimacy may frustrate your partner and they’ll leave you. Or perhaps you’re seeing it in your romantic life: avoiding dating and physically intimate situations. It could be that you’re noticing an impact in your relationships: you feel shame and don’t share your struggle with your support systems or struggle to empathize with friends about sex or getting pregnant.

However vaginismus and pelvic pain may have impacted your life, it leaves you feeling defeated, hopeless, and full of shame.


 

It doesn’t have to feel like this forever.

What therapy for Vaginismus and chronic pelvic pain looks like

  • Your feelings of inadequacy will no longer stand in the way of participating in fun conversations with friends.

  • You can find your activities in the bedroom to be enjoyable and relaxing.

  • You will be able to pursue romantic relationships without feeling like you are offering your partner someone who is “broken”.

  • You can feel comfortable expressing your needs, confidently set boundaries, readily pursue pleasure, and feel more informed about your body.

My approach to working with Vaginismus and chronic pelvic pain is different than other providers.. While I am well informed of the approaches pelvic physical or occupational or sex therapists may use, I skillfully use this knowledge to integrate those resources in addition to supporting the emotional side of your pelvic pain journey.

In sessions together, we will work to create a safe and nonjudgemental space to understand some of the root causes of your experience of Vaginismus and pelvic pain. We may explore cultural expectations, religious attitudes about sex and intimacy, deep-set relational patterns, attitudes about physical pleasure, patterns of perfectionism, and become curious about ways we can help you achieve a greater sense of safety and control in the bedroom.

We will take a holistic approach and incorporate learnings and challenges from other providers you may be using as supports such as a pelvic physical therapist or your OBGYN. We will thoughtfully incorporate emotional processing, therapeutic skill building, exposure work, chronic pain techniques, and more to help you find the relief you have been looking for.

If this sounds a little intriguing and also very scary, you’re not alone. I am here to walk alongside you in your journey and to take things at your pace. Everyone’s healing journey is unique and deeply personal.

What you’ll gain:

  • Release feelings of shame and guilt

  • Feel confident in yourself and in your relationships 

  • Achieve a sense of safety and empowerment in your body 

  • Manage your pain symptoms

  • Increase your experience of pleasure (inside the bedroom and out!)

FAQS

What others have wondered about counseling for Vaginismus and Chronic Pelvic Pain

 

  • This specific focus in counseling is meant to supplement or enhance the work that you may be doing with pelvic physical therapy. Pelvic therapy is a type of physical therapy that is completed under the supervision of a specially trained physical or occupational therapist that will guide you through external and internal exercises to help minimize the muscular experience of pain. In our work together, we will focus on education, skill building, exposure activities, and emotional processing.

  • You are guiding your experience in therapy and will not ever be pushed to do anything you do not want to. Because pleasure and pain are so interconnected, it can be wonderfully effective to leverage your experiences of pleasure to minimize your experience of pain.

    While I strongly believe sexual health is a very important part of overall health and wellbeing, I am not here to push you to do anything you do not want to. We may gently explore resistance that comes up however it is ultimately your decision how you want to engage in this process.

More questions? Check out my FAQs page.