“Swoon” Show Notes: Episode #115 Body Image, Connection, and Intimacy

Jeff Guenther, LPC on May 30, 2021 in Swoon

Today Julie and Gina break down many of the ways body image impacts relationships with ourselves and with others.

If you have a question you want to be addressed on a future episode, leave us a voicemail at 971-202-0969.

This episode covers:

  • You can't have a body without having received complex and critical messages about your body.
  • Where body shame and self-criticism comes from.
  • How challenges about our body image impact our connection and passion in relationships.
  • What are the most common body image hang-ups?
  • How to create non-judgmental body space in relationships
  • How to overcome body image issues




                                  Memorable quotes

                                  “We get all kinds of loaded messages about our bodies being good enough and not enough."

                                  "The most normal thing is aging and changing."

                                  "You can't have a body without having received complex and critical messages about your body."

                                  "We often become adults and view our bodies similar to the ways our parents feel about their bodies."

                                  "There is not a body part that doesn't have someone somewhere fixating on it."

                                  "Hearing people gossip about others makes us wonder how they're judging our body too."

                                  "Do you want to still fit into your eighteen-year-old brain?"

                                  "Judgment so easily fuels shame and shame is isolating. So we can't do judgment and connection."

                                  Resources from the Podcast

                                  Swoon Episode #6 - You Body is a Wonderland: Staying Present During Sex

                                  Swoon Episode #18 - Feelin MySelf: Masturbation as Self Care

                                  Be Nourished (online and in Portland, Oregon) Body Trust programs

                                  The Body is Not An Apology, Sonya Renee Taylor

                                  Pleasure Activism, adrienne marie brown

                                  Health At Every Size Community

                                  Why I Practice Weight Neutrality, A Pinch of Healthy


                                  Action Steps

                                  Practice body gratitude and write a love letter to your body.

                                  Ask yourself why specific bodies are attractive to you? What do they mean for and to you?

                                  Leave your body-related question on our voicemail so we can address it on a future show: 971-202-0969!

                                  Hire a therapist or a coach

                                  Looking for professional relationship support? Connect with Gina

                                  Looking for a therapist in Oregon? Connect with Julie

                                  Get support

                                  Join Julie and Gina for the Best Sex of Your Life in 2021

                                  Love More Fight Less: A Relationship Workbook, Gina Senarighi

                                  Your Swoon hosts

                                  Gina Senarighi, MS, MA, CPC is a sexuality counselor and communication consultant specializing in healthy boundaries, passionate relationships, jealousy, and infidelity. She supports non-traditional couples all over the world as a retreat leader and certified relationship coach.
                                  Connect with Gina

                                  Julie Jeske, LPC is a sex and relationship counselor. She has a private practice where she helps clients increase intimacy, ignite passion and deepen their connection to themselves and others. Julie especially loves to help women discover who they are sexually. Through counseling, online classes, or in-person retreats; her clients learn how to talk about their sexual and relationship desires, and explore ways to make them a reality.
                                  Connect with Julie

                                  Jeff Guenther is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

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