2024-11-29T14:55:06+0800

The Millennial Sex and Relationship Therapist breaks down how ED due to anxiety is treated in sex therapy. ED can be caused by performance anxiety and this is where a therapist tends to come in and help a client manage the anxiety they have around sex and specific situations so that they can enjoy their sexual experiences. People of all ages can experience ED from anxiety and can come into it from different points. Some people have anxiety leading up to their first sexual encounter and experience ED right from the beginning where as others may experience ED after a traumatic sexual experience happens. Ways to Cope: 1.) Mindfulness with yourself - Explore your body and engage in self-pleasure while practicing mindfulness to connect your mind and body and practice being with yourself sexually without the anxiety narratives swirling around your mind 2.) Mindfulness with a partner - Practice mindfully being with a partner in ways that feel comfortable. Start with non-sexual touch and progress into sexual touch while focusing on sensation and feeling instead of the fear and anxiety. 3.) Focus on different stages of arousal - Instead of jumping right into intercourse, focus on how do we get from 0 arousal state to maybe an 8 or 9 out of 10 in arousal. You can do this by again going through different types of touch and different ways of setting the context for sex so that you are at a high state of arousal and can then hopefully sustain an erection. 4.) Understand your negative narratives and start to deconstruct them to see that they are not inherently true - Pose questions to your negative narratives and statements you are making about yourself to understand where it may not be as true as you your anxiety brain thinks 5.) Create more positive statements or mantras to tell yourself instead of the negative statements you tell yourself - Instead of saying "I will never be able to get an erection" say "I can still haver very pleasurable experiences with a partner even without an erection." or "I will one day be able to hold an erection." 6.) In addition to working on the anxiety, performance enhancement medication may be helpful to give you confidence about sustaining an erection so that you can have more positive experiences and lessen the hold of the negative narratives and experiences Where You Can Find Me: Website: reclaimingstoriestherapy.com Facebook: facebook.com/reclaimingstoriestherapy Instagram: @reclaimingstoriestherapy