What You’ll Learn (And Why You Need to Listen):
If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your body—or wondered if you’d ever feel desire again after trauma, emotional pain, or childbirth trauma—this episode is for you. Inside, we unpack how:
- Sexual trauma recovery is possible even after years of shutdown
- Episiotomy trauma can create long-term tension and avoidance in your body
- High-achieving women can unconsciously suppress desire and pleasure
- Reclaiming sensuality starts with nervous system healing and embodied safety
- The Bring Him Closer method works when therapy has plateaued
If you're tired of pushing through intimacy, tired of feeling "off," or secretly worried you’ll never fully enjoy sex again... hit play.
Have you ever wondered why your body resists intimacy even when your heart craves connection? Or questioned if you’d ever feel true desire again after trauma, childbirth, or emotional disconnect? If you’ve felt the heartbreak of sexual shutdown, you’re far from alone.
In this heartfelt and eye-opening episode, I sit down with Marianne Van Katwijk—a sex therapist, hypnotherapist, and mother—who courageously shares her story of physical trauma after childbirth and the journey it sparked: from pain, numbness, and emotional withdrawal to embodied pleasure, trust, and a new relationship with her feminine self.
That’s just one of the reasons I knew Marianne’s voice belonged on this podcast. With nearly 10 years of professional experience and a deeply personal understanding of what it means to heal sexually, Marianne is a beacon for women navigating the silent struggles of intimacy. Her insights are not only validating—they’re liberating.
What makes this conversation even more special is that Marianne is not just a guest—she's a client of the Bring Him Closer Academy. After experiencing a profound connection that left her heartbroken and confused, she joined the Academy to heal not just her intimacy, but the relational patterns that kept repeating in her love life.
Inside the academy, we worked together to help her reconnect with her emotional truth, soften her masculine protector energy, and restore trust in her feminine power—without overriding her trauma.
This conversation is your gentle permission slip to stop pushing through, pretending you’re fine, or performing pleasure. It’s your invitation to start feeling again—deeply, safely, fully.
Inside this episode, Marianne shares:
- The truth about episiotomy trauma and how it impacts desire
- Why your body tenses, shuts down, or “goes dry” after emotional pain
- The surprising reason so many high-functioning women feel numb in intimacy
- What self-pleasure can reveal (and heal) in your nervous system
- How the Bring Him Closer method helped her shift emotionally and energetically
This episode is for you if:
- Sex feels like something you endure instead of enjoy
- You’re secretly worried you’re “not normal” for avoiding intimacy
- You’re tired of therapy, but still feel stuck in your body
- You want to rediscover the part of you that used to feel alive, sensual, and open
Wherever you are on your healing journey, this episode offers more than insight—it offers hope.
Guests Resources:
Visit: https://www.mariannevankatwijk.com/about
Connect with Marianne on Instagram
Connect with Marianne on LinkedIn
Click play to hear all of this and:
00:00 – Introduction & Welcoming Marianne
00:45 – Marianne’s Background: From Occupational Therapy to Psychology
02:00 – Getting into University and Becoming a Psychologist
03:00 – Birth Trauma: Episiotomy and Its Impact on Sex
04:00 – Emotional & Physical Shutdown in Intimacy
05:10 – Partner’s Response and Emotional Support
06:00 – Beginning the Healing Journey: Reading, Courses, and Coaches
06:45 – Self-Pleasure Practice and Frustration in Early Attempts
07:30 – The Cheat Code to Reconnecting with Your Body
08:10 – Importance of Felt Sensation and Hypnotherapy
08:50 – Feminine Embodiment and Emotional Connection
09:40 – Spirituality, Sensitivity, and Sexual Expression
10:30 – Shifting from Performance to Embodiment
11:20 – How Emotions Anchor Intimacy and Presence
12:10 – Desire Discrepancy in Long-Term Relationships
13:10 – Creating a List of What You Gain from Sex
14:30 – Responsive vs. Spontaneous Desire
15:30 – Initiating from Self-Connection
16:50 – Tailoring Approaches for Different Feminine Archetypes
18:00 – Letting Go of Old Relationships to Step Forward
19:00 – Healing Through Breakup and New Self-Awareness
21:00 – How the Bring Him Closer Academy Helped Shift Marianne’s Energy
23:00 – Final Reflections: From Brokenness to Empowered Sensuality
