intimacy and sex

“We love each other. We have a good relationship. But there’s not much happening in the bedroom.”

Childhood experiences greatly influence our adult relationships, choices, and habits. Some experiences children face, though, are far more detrimental than others. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is an atrocity that causes a great deal of pain and suffering for adult survivors, and researchers have continued to study the long-term effects of CSA on adults.

Machines that seem to care? Psychologist Sherry Turkle is referring to robots designed to function as companions. But she might as well be referring to Facebook and email and text messaging — all the ways we experience ourselves, via our devices, as the target of other people’s interest. The ding announces an email received and our heart speeds up: someone cares, someone is interested. Ditto when the sweet chime announces a text message, or new entries appear on our Facebook page.

Money. Power. Sex. Three of the trickiest topics for couples to discuss. Sex, in particular, can stir feelings of embarrassment and shame, leaving us tongue-tied. For instance, a great many women experience physical pain during intercourse — and find it tough to talk about.

Research on adolescent romantic relationships is a burgeoning field. It has only been in the past twenty years that researchers have started to investigate normative development in these early, often fleeting, relationships. Teens are often excited to experiment with romantic love and dating. Parents, on the other hand, often find themselves anxious about what to expect, worried about how to manage their teen’s increasing sense of independence without being overprotective and uncertain about how to manage their teen’s increasing distance from the family as he or she spends more time focused on dating relationships.