At The Fitzroy Practice, we recognise how cultural and religious values can shape and sometimes silence a person’s relationship to sex and intimacy.

Many individuals and couples come to therapy having received limited sex education, internalised messages about marriage, purity, or gender roles, and carrying guilt, fear, or confusion around their desires. These unspoken influences can impact everything from arousal and pleasure to a couple’s ability to connect physically or emotionally.

For some, these dynamics show up as an inability to have penetrative sex without understanding why. Vaginismus often goes undiagnosed for years, leaving both partners feeling isolated and ashamed. And even after treatment, it’s not uncommon for difficulties to shift, so that one partner may begin to experience premature ejaculation, often rooted in anxiety, pressure, or long-standing avoidance of sexual intimacy.