All About Vaginismus & How To Overcome it with CBT, Therapy & Counselling

What is Vaginismus?

Vaginismus is a fairly common problem in which the muscles at the entrance to the vagina tighten-up and make penetration almost impossible and certainly painful.

Medical Research records that it is almost always (but not in ALL cases, there are physical causes too) due to psychological issues, often occurring after some sort of relationship distress.

It is not uncommon for women to be affected for many years as sexual problems often tend not to be dealt with due to the embarrassment of talking about it with somebody.

Vaginismus is most commonly found in females in their late teens to early thirties and can have a seriously debilitating effect on relationships and create low self esteem.

What can cause Vaginismus?

For most sufferers of Vaginismus the cause is psychological, often this can be negative childhood experiences, such as the attitude to sex by parents, sometimes it can be due to a difficult child birthing experience.

Despite the psychological cause, the vagina muscles tightening making penetration almost impossible can become an unconscious reflex that sufferers can do little about.

Sometimes the first sexual encounter can be painful or very negative and can result in this “defensive” reflex.

Often it can be caused by nothing more than just negative talk or messages that go around in early youth and it is not uncommon to find that problems within a relationship can also give rise to Vaginismus.

Can Vaginismus be treated?

Vaginismus is principally a psychological problem rather than a physiological one but not exclusively.

If you are suffering from this problem is is very important to visit your GP or health-care specialist who can confirm or rule-out any biological problems prior to consulting for psychological therapy.

Therapy & Counselling for Vaginismus

Tranceform offer a range of psychological therapy and counselling solutions for Vaginismus which you can read about below.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Vaginismus

If you’re committed to overcoming your Vaginismus problems then we highly recommend following our Tranceformental CBT 10 session programme.

The Tranceformental programme is a highly successful & pragmatic course of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) run over 10 sessions, that will teach you everything you need to know to understand the psychological aspects of your problem.

It can also help you to identify any unhelpful thinking styles or limiting beliefs that might be reinforcing the issue.

The programme is also available as an online self-help CBT programme. if you prefer not to consult a therapist directly.

CBT is an empirically supported approach used by mental health practitioners around the World.

Alternative Therapy Options for Vaginismus

Although our preferred form of psychotherapy for Vaginismus is Tranceformental CBT we also offer alternative psychotherapies for those who might prefer a different approach.

These include:

• Psychodynamic therapy which focuses more on emotional problems and relies on the Therapeutic Relationship to bring about change. Available with Paul.
• General Counselling which is less structured but still provides a safe and non-judgmental environment to discuss issues which is therapeutic in its own right.
• Hypnotherapy is an alternative form of therapy that can be applied to a very wide range of problems and is available with Joan.

Free Initial Consultations for Vaginismus

We offer all prospective clients an initial consultation to discuss your Vaginismus prior to commencing any treatment plans.

The consultation is free and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various options that are available to you and make a considered recommendation based on your individual personal circumstances.

Initial consultations are also available as part of our online therapy service.

At TranceForm Psychology we recognise the importance of the therapeutic relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so its important to be able to ‘meet’ to discuss our change programmes BEFORE proceeding.

Our policy is to help people make a fully balanced & considered decision about undertaking work with us, including both the financial and personal implications.