Welcome Brave Lovers! In today's episode, our hosts interviewed couples therapist and author of the upcoming book 'The Cost of Quiet', Colette Fehr. Colette shares her wisdom and years of experience with us on the true cost of conflict avoidance in a relationship. She defines avoidant behavior as actions that prevent connection from yourself or your partner. Colette bravely shares with us how the end of her first marriage led her to examine her own conflict avoidance and conditioning that quiet ...
Jan 09, 2026•32 min•Ep. 526
With the new year, the podcast gets a new name! Brave Love Great Sex! The same great content, the same great hosts! We're aligning the podcast with our new book that will be out in 2026 from Penguin Random House. Pre order it today. Check out this episode's sponsors (and help the pod!): RexMD.com/foreplay -- Discrete, convenient support for ED. Shipped directly to you. Use the link for up to 95% off your first order. Uberlube.com -- Laurie's all time favorite personal lubricant. If you haven't t...
Jan 02, 2026•32 min•Ep. 525
We invite you into a thoughtful reflection about what is happening in YOUR sex life. Bring your spirit of curiosity and stay with us in the discovery mode as our “client” played by the brave volunteer - George - answers this first set of questions. Pull back the curtain and hear what Laurie thinks about his answers as a sex therapist. Think about these beginning questions, (not easy questions) like… What would you want your partner to know about you sexually? Laurie reflects on how important vul...
Dec 29, 2025•30 min
In today's episode, we are focusing on tending to the 'Ghost of Christmas Present' so the 'Ghost of Christmas Future' can reap the relational benefits! Join our experts, Dr. Laurie and George Faller, hosts of the newly branded Brave Love, Great Sex podcast for this fun episode on resolution and renewal. Our hosts use an example of their role play couple, Joey and Maria to illustrate just what it looks like when the negative cycle is cooled off and they have a better way to move forward. In this ...
Dec 26, 2025•34 min•Ep. 524
With the average Joe and average Jane so different in their approach to sex and the ways and timing of arousal, what can a couple do to close the arousal gap? Join sex therapist and author Dr. Laurie Watson and couples therapist George Faller as they talk about how to negotiate the differences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 22, 2025•29 min
The holiday season is here and in today's episode we are talking about giving and receiving gifts in your relationship. What does this ritual mean to you and which are you more comfortable with? George and Laurie share their thoughts and some of their favorite gifts and memories over the years. Laurie suggests that partners keep a running list of their loved ones' likes so when it comes time to get a gift you already have ideas handy. It's best if gifts are thoughtful and have your partner feel ...
Dec 19, 2025•36 min•Ep. 523
The expectations in relationship and in our culture for what it means to be a man often comes down to a big erection that works every time. The prevalence of porn has communicated unrealistic ideas about sex and sexuality. Join sex therapist and popular author Laurie Watson and couple’s therapist Dr. Adam Mathews as they explore the complexity of male sexuality. Sponsor Visit rexmd.com/FOREPLAY to get started today – that’s rexmd.com/FOREPLAY and you’ll receive up to 95% off this holiday season....
Dec 15, 2025•29 min
We may know what the big turn offs are but there are many small things that kill desire. In today's episode we are discussing invisible turn offs that end up taking sex off the table without you even realizing it. Join our expert hosts, Dr. Laurie Watson and George Faller, LMFT as they review these 'microfractures', signals that you don't know you're sending. Stress, feeling hangry, irritability can all signal to your partner that they aren't important to you. Cell phones, social media and distr...
Dec 12, 2025•32 min•Ep. 522
Recovery from an Affair – The delicate process of recovering from an affair; what works best for restoring the relationship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 08, 2025•28 min
In today's episode we are discussing sex and spirituality. Sex and religion are often clashing ideals that can be shaming, rigid and rule-based. We invite listeners to explore the space between, where sex is an intimate connection between partners. Where people can create their own slice of heaven. Join our hosts, Laurie and George as they peel back the complicated layers between sex and spirituality and cite various views of sex from different religions. Many religious teachings try to show par...
Dec 05, 2025•31 min•Ep. 521
Are you always having what feels like the same fight? Does the negative cycle leave you feeling frustrated and angry? Or misunderstood and like you're failing? Can you see what your partner does clearly but not see how what you do is contributing to the problem? George and Laurie use and acronym T.E.M.P.O. to help organize your thinking so you can be less reactive. Getting to know your feelings, what your body is communicating and how you are making sense of it all can give you emotional intelli...
Dec 01, 2025•36 min
In this episode, Laurie and George explore a pattern they see often in therapy but rarely hear women talk about openly: growing up under-touched—not abused or mistreated, but raised with too little warm, affectionate contact. Many girls learn early to be “little adults,” self-reliant and emotionally contained, with parents who provided care but not soothing. Inside, they adapt by dialing down their need for touch and connection. As adults, these women often struggle with desire, sensuality, and ...
Nov 28, 2025•33 min•Ep. 520
Erectile dysfunction in men 45 and older in a partnered relationship is a problem with solutions. Listen to Laurie and Tony distinguish physiological ED and partnered ED and offer approaches to solve this problem in this podcast spurred by a question from a listener. If you want Laurie and Tony to address a question you are concerned about, email info@foreplayrst.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 24, 2025•26 min
In today's episode, we discuss reinforcing positive cycles. There is a lot of talk about disconnection and negative cycles but what about when things are going well? Join hosts, Laurie and George to learn how to reinforce when it's going well to build out more positive interactions. A building block of attachment is adoration, to be looked at by a caretaker with sunshine in their eyes. This signals, you are good and you matter to me. This need never goes away and it is very important in adult in...
Nov 21, 2025•34 min•Ep. 519
Variety and creativity in sex can both make our sexual relationship sizzling, but it can also be a source of tension. Join Laurie Watson, author of " Wanting Sex Again " and her co-host discuss variety! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 17, 2025•27 min
In today's episode we discuss finding the reframe; your partner's differing perspective that isn't always obvious. Emotions like irritation or frustration are often signs of disconnection in your emotional or sexual cycle. You feel you are lacking and more easily lose patience, create a negative meaning about your partner and get stuck in your move. The reframe helps you see what's happening from a different angle. You'll still be experiencing the disconnect but you'll have a better ability to c...
Nov 14, 2025•33 min•Ep. 518
What to do when your partner shuts down. In the second of Gottman's 'Four Horseman' series, Dr. Adam and Laurie address this destructive behavior and how to get through the seemingly unbreakable barriers of a silent a partner. Like us? Send us some love on Patreon: www.patreon.com/foreplayrst Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 10, 2025•29 min
In today's episode, our hosts answer a listener's mailbag question. If the sex is good, why don't I want it more? Join George and Laurie as they help our listener answer this question and explore possible reasons behind this dilemma. Perhaps it's dissatisfaction, difference in desire, asexuality or emotional and sexual blocks. There are many avenues to consider and we approach the topic with lots of curiosity. We thank our listeners for being brave to send in these important mailbag questions an...
Nov 07, 2025•32 min•Ep. 517
The popular conception is that a larger penis results in better sex. Join author and certified sex therapist Laurie Watson and her co-host psychologist Dr. Adam Mathews as they talk about the real world impact of penis size on sexual satisfaction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 03, 2025•27 min
In today's episode we are discussing receptivity and initiation. Receptivity is about receiving and responding to cues from your partner. Some partners may be sexually receptive or emotionally receptive meaning they need their partner to initiate the cues first and then they can respond. Join our hosts, George and Laurie as they breakdown what this looks like in relationships and the negative trap that it can sometimes create. If you often find that your partner doesn't initiate emotional conver...
Oct 31, 2025•32 min
Sounds pretty discouraging if your partner says she'd be fine never having sex again. Laurie and George discuss how to get to the root of what she's saying. Using an acronym O P L E A S F helps us organize what has obscured her libido. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 27, 2025•29 min
As the saying goes, you can have it all just not all at once. Have you ever brought up a complaint to your partner only to be met with their complaint? This is a common relational trap and leaves partners chasing too many conversations at once and feeling more defeated. Join George and Laurie today as they offer guidance on how to slow this pattern down and focus on one conversation at a time. Caregiving needs, emotional needs and sexual needs are all important but we need to stick to one at a t...
Oct 24, 2025•33 min
Join us for a sample conversation with "Eleanor" who is always anxious about sex, preoccupied with whether or not she is pleasing her husband, but unable to be present for her own experience. She doesn’t want to risk hurting her husband even if it would make the sexual moment better for her. Her husband thinks she's not into it, but hear how she worries and actually thinks about it constantly without ever knowing if her husband is happy with her. We have heard hundreds of similar stories about t...
Oct 20, 2025•33 min
In today's episode, we are discussing life and relationships after an affair. Most often people think that relationships are over after an affair. However, that is not always the case and many couples can successfully repair their partnerships after this betrayal. Join George and Laurie today as they breakdown affair recovery steps and what the betrayed partner and the partner that had the affair need to heal. We discuss the different types of affairs and the motives of pursuers and withdrawers ...
Oct 17, 2025•35 min
Why and how does the frequency of sex decrease in a marriage to the point where it rarely happens? Join sex therapist and author Laurie Watson and couples therapist Dr. Adam Mathews as they dissect the genesis of a sexless marriage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 13, 2025•31 min
In today's episode, we are talking about desire based on the work of sex therapist, Dr. Emily Jamea. Dr. Jamea shares that your partner can contribute to your desire but they can't create it. Join Laurie and George in an engaging conversation on who is responsible for the creation of desire in a relationship and how this affects pursuers and withdrawers alike. Their dialogue addresses the effect of how caretaking duties affect sexual desire and how each individual partner can work to create inte...
Oct 10, 2025•29 min•Ep. 511
In early dating years our partner’s face lights up at the thought of sex, they tell us with their eyes that we make them hot. The gleam in their eyes hits our body, hits our center, hits our being. Feeling that we light up their world is a turn-on! Secure attachment begins with the loving gaze of our mother or parent – cradled in the crook of their elbow – they smile and coo because we are theirs. Later in childhood we know we belong and make our parents proud when we see it in their eyes… not s...
Oct 06, 2025•29 min
Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four? The Beatles addressed this important topic on their Sgt. Pepper album in 1967 and in today's episode Laurie and George are giving listeners the answers. Join us as we answer the burning questions related to sex and older age; what to expect and how to talk about it. Aging is an inevitable fact of life and while often associated with problems, it can actually bring a lot of opportunity for healthy change in your relationship. De...
Oct 03, 2025•31 min•Ep. 512
Mailbag!! George and Laurie answer questions from the Foreplay Fam in this week’s episode! They’re talking all about unrequited fantasies, compromise, and vulnerability. Sexual fantasies are extremely common; in fact only 4% of men and 14% of women report NOT having fantasies. A listener talks about a fantasy of an old lover and not being able to get it out of her head. While this one may be a block to emotional connection, fantasies can also be mined for good information about what turns us on....
Sep 29, 2025•32 min
In today's episode, our hosts are tackling an important and uncomfortable conversation. This episode does contain content regarding sexual trauma and we advise all our listeners to be aware. Sexual trauma doesn't stay in our past, it follows us in the bedroom. It is common for couples that feel safe and committed to one another to experience heightened reactions around sex if sexual trauma is part of the personal history. However, this can be confusing, frustrating and cause stress on a couple t...
Sep 26, 2025•33 min•Ep. 511
