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Dr Natasha Langan, a chartered clinical psychologist and accredited psychosexual therapist, explores how childhood sexual abuse impacts intimacy, and how ADHD in women can increase vulnerability to traumatic relationships and sexual exploitation.

• Women with ADHD face higher rates of sexual victimization, unplanned pregnancies, and relationship dissatisfaction
• Trauma includes both major events (sexual assault) and smaller experiences that accumulate over time (public humiliation, feeling "different")
• Shame plays a central role in both ADHD and sexual trauma, creating beliefs that "something is wrong with me"
• Compassion-focused therapy helps address shame by understanding our "tricky brains" that evolved for survival, not happiness
• Vaginismus involves involuntary pelvic floor muscle spasms making penetration painful or impossible
• Women's pain has historically been dismissed by healthcare providers, creating barriers to proper treatment
• Sexual healing requires broadening ideas about what constitutes sex beyond penetration
• A multidisciplinary approach combining physiotherapy, psychology, and sometimes medical care is most effective
• Sexual health is a fundamental human right that includes pleasure, not just prevention of STIs or pregnancy

Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.

Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.

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