Laurie and George define secrets as issues, fantasies or alliances that block connection. We certainly have a right to privacy and sometimes our private erotic thoughts makes our world sexier and makes us more available to our partner. Certainly some people choose and open marriage but they do it with… openness. we think talking about your fantasies or actual affairs with your a partner while incredibly difficult makes it possible for YOU not to be carrying the guilt of a secret that you find un...
Jul 14, 2025•30 min
Today we're celebrating our 500th episode of Foreplay Sex Therapy! Join our hosts, Laurie and George as they look back on their favorite episodes so far, how their professional journey began and what they have learned from each other over the years. We are thrilled that our listeners are learning how to have healthy conversations around sex and reducing the stigma and shame around something that everyone does! Share with us your favorite episodes or key things you've learned over on our instagra...
Jul 11, 2025•35 min
She needs more foreplay and he doesn’t wanna lose his erection. Women need a slow patter of arousal to reach the best climax. Men when they’re on sildenafil (viagra, etc.) need to use their erection - soon. This is a familiar dilemma for couples in their 50s. George and Laurie role-play a couple who learns how to talk about this problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 07, 2025•34 min
Does introducing sexual novelty spice things up or turn things sour? Join us today for a conversation on how and when to introduce bringing something new into the bedroom? Research suggests that novelty in long-term relationships is key to keeping them alive but in the sexual relationship it has the potential to create a rift. George and Laurie breakdown the best way to structure this conversation to increase chances of successful communication, how one partner's gas pedal may trigger another pa...
Jul 04, 2025•37 min•Ep. 499
So many women seem to just give up on sex. Maybe they reach menopause and they’re done with sex. Or maybe well before menopause , she and her partner haven’t gotten through to each other and sex stops. Or if sex continues, she just is unengaged. How can something that feels so good be relegated to such a low/no priority? Here’s why. Females who don’t want to have sex are often stopped in 3 areas:the relationship - especially lack of communication,worry areas – disgust about certain sex acts, poo...
Jun 30, 2025•37 min
In today's episode, we discuss the messages we received about sex and who taught us about it. Join hosts, Laurie and George in this exploration to uncover 'who taught me about sex and what lessons did I receive?' For many, you may have received a one time birds and the bees conversation from your parents or through a mandatory sex ed lesson at school. However, communication about sex is much more than a one time conversation. It is a process through which we exchange thoughtful ideas and opennes...
Jun 27, 2025•35 min•Ep. 498
The million maybe billion-dollar question: how do we increase low sexual desire in women? Laurie and George discuss what is shutting down sexual desire in women. George gets it right by saying women often put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own. And Laurie discusses their disconnection to their own sexual needs. Laurie puts on her therapist hat and the work is pure magic! Sexual withdrawers will feel so validated listening to this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...
Jun 23, 2025•37 min
In today's episode, we discuss freedom in your sex life. Three simple questions to ask of each other: What freedom do you need to explore? What do you need freedom from and where do you need the freedom to say no? Join hosts, George and Laurie in this explorative conversation and learn about what freedom means and looks like to you. These questions pose a good opportunity to explore your sexual blueprint, cultural or societal expectations imprinted on you and how to advocate for your needs. Sit ...
Jun 20, 2025•33 min•Ep. 497
Everyone wants to feel desired certainly. But the research shows that for women - being desired, hearing their partner's verbal admiration and open "want" - is very important to their turn on. When men are dating they instinctively know how telling their partner how sexy they look, sending flirty messages, giving their partner longing looks - tells her she's hot! George and Laurie talk through the shut down to this process and encourage men to go for it again. #couples #eft #sexpodcast #marriage...
Jun 16, 2025•32 min
In today's episode, we discuss the importance of caretaking in intimate relationships. Things can go awry when one partner is looking for affection, nurture or attunement and it's read as blame. We all need to be cared for by one another and this is an important system to tend to. Join our experts, Laurie and George to learn more about the caretaking system in your relationship, your needs that you need responded to and how you can provide everyday care to your partner. So what does this have to...
Jun 13, 2025•37 min
“I’m just not attracted to you anymore.” - OUCH!!!I Sounds like a showstopper doesn’t it? But Laurie and George have hope for you to get it back.We use our favorite acronym BEST SEX Conversations - to explore why people might lose attraction for the partner they’ve committed to and some ideas about getting it back. We go through the primary areas of sexual attachment from a holistic viewpoint to discover what is causing lack of attraction. Then we offer ways you can feel the gas - how to increas...
Jun 09, 2025•33 min
In today's episode we are discussing the "double hard." This is when partners are in the same position in each cycle. When the emotional pursuer is also the sexual pursuer and the emotional withdrawer is also the sexually withdrawer, partners have a doubly hard time accessing the other's internal world. The pursuer gets double rejected and the withdrawer gets double the pressure. These cycles can lead to more polarization, more rigidity and the feeling of speaking different languages. Hosts, Lau...
Jun 06, 2025•35 min•Ep. 495
We’re talking about good-enough responding - responding to our partner in ways that keep us connected even when we disappoint them. Think about when a withdrawer finally comes forward; while their pursuing partner may long for whatever they’re offering, the same pursuer most likely feels doubt and mistrust about the sincerity of their withdrawing partner or the evidence that this is a start of a change pattern. George is so confident that mistrust is going to be present at this stage - he calls ...
Jun 02, 2025•33 min
In today's episode we are defining longings in a relationship. George and Laurie identify two different types of longing. The first seen as a more physical and emotional pain around an unmet need. These are longings that have to do with not being seen, or heard and require comfort and reassurance to restore safety. The second type of longing centers on growth and expansion. It is where we work to express our desire, pleasure and fantasies to one another. When there has been a prolonged negative ...
May 30, 2025•35 min•Ep. 494
There can be so much disappointment even shame when a couple is in a sexlessness marriage. Couple can tune out and shut down their need for flesh on flesh and over time it gets harder and harder to get back. They don’t know how to repair or even talk about normal failure and so they ignore the failures. This doesn’t happen just with aging. It’s people who resign themselves to not talking about it and both withdraw. George and Laurie talk about how to get back in bed! Learn more about your ad cho...
May 26, 2025•33 min
In today's episode, we explore taking sex from a chore to a desired event. It's common for one partner to see sex as a way to please the other but forget about themselves. While individuals do have different levels of sexual desire, physical intimacy is still a need. Laurie and George invite sexual withdrawers to consider themselves, and their needs and wants in the sexual relationship rather than just making their partner happy. Through awareness, mindset shift and fantasy withdrawers will lear...
May 23, 2025•33 min•Ep. 493
Confidence is essential for a great relationship. But how to you grow in confidence if you've lost it or never had much of it? Confidence is the end result of a string of successes. We discuss moves you can make to help yourself -- and your partner -- build their confidence by how you interact, particularly in the difficult conversations. Learn new moves to help you be successful -- and grow your confidence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 19, 2025•32 min
Time to head back to school listeners! In this 'School of Love' episode we are defining attachment styles and how they show up in the bedroom. We focus on secure, anxious and avoidant attachment styles and why partners might fall into patterns based on their sexual attachment. Join hosts George and Laurie in this conversation on how your sexual attachment style affects your love life and what you can do about it. An anxiously attached sexual pursuer might crave connection to soothe themselves, a...
May 16, 2025•35 min•Ep. 488
Oral sex - you like it. You don’t like it. What works. What doesn’t work. Laurie and George talk about it all. They role play a couple who gets stuck in retaliation - if you don’t go down on me; I won’t go down on you. Then, they demo how a couple might talk to help each other work through their difficulties with oral sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 12, 2025•33 min
In today's episode we are joined again by Dr. Ryan Rana, director of the Joshua Center in Arkansas and partners with George in the online EFT school for therapists, 'Success in Vulnerability.' Ryan joins our hosts in an in depth conversation discussing how to be more vulnerable in your sexual relationship. A relationship that centers on logistics and mechanics functions but doesn't access the power of attachment energy. To risk being seen, heard and understood deepens connection and harnesses a ...
May 09, 2025•41 min•Ep. 491
Touch is vital for intimate communication. We learn so much with touch - pleasure, safety, exploration and curiosity! So often we don’t put it into words and then we find ourselves in intimate relationship with a partner without really explaining what we need and want. For instance, tickling may be fun and erotic or triggering. There are lots of ways me might miss each other in the conversation but Laurie and George explore people’s reservations and offer ideas of how to communicate about intima...
May 05, 2025•31 min
In today's episode, George and Laurie welcome fellow EFTer and relationship expert Dr. Ryan Rana. Ryan is the director of the Joshua Center in Arkansas, EFT trainer and co-host of "The Leading Edge" podcast. Ryan joins us today for a great conversation on how beliefs about ourselves become cemented and the damage this can cause to relationships. You may have caught yourself saying before, "I'm just no good with money." and then when your pockets are empty and the bills are due, you've just conso...
May 02, 2025•38 min•Ep. 490
Most of us grew up not talking about sex. But the more detailed you get, the more power you can have to change things. Go play-by-play and have more choice and agency about shaping your experience and connecting with each other. One woman’s grimace during oral sex or another person’s turning of their head during sexual intercourse send messages to their partner that in our example are indeed misinterpreted. Knowing exactly what happens - the detail- helps the couples discover what is really goin...
Apr 28, 2025•33 min
Did you know that most people will have two marriages in their lifetime? Would you believe us if you could have two marriages to the same person? Join us today as we explore the unconscious (first) and conscious (second) marriage. What seems like a crisis and end to a marriage may actually be a great opportunity for both partners. Your original contract may no longer be working and this is a chance to create a new one as who you are now. People evolve and change over time and the marital relatio...
Apr 25, 2025•33 min
Through the three trimesters of pregnancy, a woman's body changes in different ways, but that doesn't mean that sex can't be good. Join author and certified sex therapist Laurie Watson and psychotherapist Dr. Adam Mathews as they talk about the changes in a woman's body at the different stages of pregnancy and how to keep sex alive and hot during pregnancy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 21, 2025•32 min
Inspired by the work of Esther Perel, we are opening up a conversation around women being more narcissistic lovers. What does this even mean? According to experts, women tend to be more focused on their partner's experience in bed and less focused on their own pleasure. The caretaking cycle remains engaged, leaving many women disconnected and disengaged from their own sex lives. Join Laurie and George today for this riveting conversation on healthy ways women can be more selfish, self-focused an...
Apr 18, 2025•34 min•Ep. 488
Some couples are faced at times with relating over a long-distance, whether due to business travel, being in the military, school, etc. Join author and sex therapist Laurie Watson and psychotherapist Laurie Watson talk through how to survive long-distant relationships both sexually and emotionally in a committed relationship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 14, 2025•31 min
In today's episode we are talking about the act and art of touch. Touch is one of our primary attachment needs and we need it from cradle to grave. Touch is often a hot button issue between couples. Distance and disconnection in the relationship can create anxiety and pressure around touch. What stops touch from happening between you and your partner? Ask yourself is there a cycle that comes alive when one of us is seeking touch and what can we learn from it? Laurie and George share more about h...
Apr 11, 2025•34 min
Next to relational distress, a negative body image is the biggest disruptor for derailing sex and desire. While this has traditionally been a woman's struggle, increasingly it is also an isue for men. Join sex therapist Laurie Watson and couples therapist Dr. Adam Mathews as they talk about body image issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 07, 2025•24 min
In today's episode, our hosts interview Dr. Polly Watson. Dr. Watson is an expert on menopause and focuses on holistic treatment methods, creating life changing results for her patients. Join us for this fascinating conversation on the causes and solutions of sexual pain. Did you know that during the transition to menopause 75% of women experience discomfort during sex due to hormonal changes? We discuss all things regarding hormone replacement therapy, pelvic floor therapy and how male partners...
Apr 04, 2025•36 min•Ep. 486
