Lisa's Cure for Vaginismus - The Thrive Programme

Most women who come to see me for a cure for vaginismus feel hopeless and desperate and often can't quite believe that there is an effective cure for the condition... There really is!

The Thrive Programme helps women to understand exactly how they are creating the vaginismus with their beliefs, mindset and responses in a way that no other therapy or intervention available today does. Many of my vaginismus clients come to me convinced that their problem is a purely physical one, when really, it is psychological: the problem is created above the neck rather than below the waist!nHowever, with the right treatment - VAGINISMUS CAN BE CURED - but don't just take my word for it.

My Thrive Programme client Lisa successfully went through the Thrive Programme. She had primary vaginismus, meaning that she had never been able to have penetrative sex, or use a tampon. She kindly agreed to answer a number of questions from me, describing her experience of the Thrive Programme. I hope that her candid and honest responses will help to encourage and advise other vaginismus sufferers currently going through the programme, or contemplating doing so...

How did the vaginismus affect you?

It affected all my relationships, in that it stopped them from progressing. It affected my ability to open up, my confidence and self esteem.

What other treatments had you previously tried to get over the vaginismus? Were they of any help to you?

I found a product on the internet called the vagiwave which is a silicone tampon sized object that you put inside your vagina while you're sleeping every night for a month which claims to then cure you once you've completed the month. However it doesn't address any of the phycological issues so when the month was over I was obviously still having problems and felt such a sense of failure and despair. However I do think this product was helpful in the routine of putting something inside, as it helped me locate my vagina properly and become more familiar with my body as I reckon before I got this product I didn't actually know where my vagina was, which is crazy!

I also started working with a sexual psychotherapist just a few weeks before I started working with Cara. This was unhelpful because she pin pointed the cause of my problem to my childhood. I now realise that she had very little understanding of vaginismus and if I kept seeing her would have probably caused more damage. Thankfully I met Cara who steered me in the right direction and advised that I stop seeing the psychotherapist which I am now so unbelievably thankful that I did.

Did you believe it was a physical problem, rather than psychological?

It definitely felt like a physical problem at the time and even after researching the proper term and having the intellectual understanding that it was in fact a psychological problem, it was still hard to properly acknowledge because the physical reaction felt so real.

What are the main differences in how you feel after completing the programme?

Realising how simple it is to overcome vaginismus, it really is so simple. Before I started working with Cara and during the programme it felt like the most craziest complex problem to overcome and I now know how simple and logical it is to overcome and can apply the same process to anything I want to achieve in life and that fills me with confidence.

What advice would you give to vaginismus sufferers who are contemplating doing the programme?

Just do it! This is one of the best decisions I have ever made. If you want to overcome vaginismus in a simple logical way this is the way.

What advice would you give to vaginismus sufferers who are currently going through the programme, to make it as successful as possible?

- Get some KY jelly and start using it right away. Before Cara recommended this product to me I had been using regular water based lubes which hadn't been doing the trick, after getting the KY I moved forward a great deal. Put it on everything tampons, dilators, vibrators, when you have sex. And now I can use any old lube.

- Educate yourself about your body. I didn't know where my vagina was which I now find so crazy! I also didn't know how to make myself orgasm until recently so believed that I wasn't capable of orgasming at all, which is equally crazy. How can you feel relaxed sexually with another person if you don't even feel relaxed by yourself. Get to know your body, where things are and what feels good: this is so important.

- Educate yourself about sex and understand that things like virginity are outdated social constructs that are not real, watching things like this is good way to educate yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qFojO8WkpA

-Get some dilators, for me these were really helpful. It just broke things down into small steps. This is where I felt most of my progress came from as when I started the programme the idea of dilators filled me with horror. I remember googling them and thinking as if I was going to use some weird, scary, medical looking instrument. So the process of buying them and using them was a massive challenge to my belief system. As all it was really was a bit of plastic that enabled me to get used to the feeling of having something in my vagina and allowing my mind and my body to relax.

Looking back I would definitely have started using these earlier along with the KY jelly. It was definitely a challenge moving up the sizes and I remember the frustration I felt when I had managed to get a size in and then the next day couldn't get it back in. I got over this by calming myself down and just going back to the smaller size until I felt completely relaxed and tried the next size up again. When I first started using the biggest size there was a feeling of discomfort which I got over just by tolerating in stages, doing this daily until there was no discomfort. Then when I had sex a couple weeks later it was completely pain free, it felt really good and I was even able to orgasm.

-If you experience any blips during the programme and even after you've completed do not worry, just keep going you will get there. My understanding is that everyone overcomes it in their own time. For me, I had completed the programme and was still not having sex. I was working my way through the dilators and was still having blips, I remember thinking will I ever get there. It was maybe a month after I had completed the programme that everything I had learned just kind of clicked and fell in to place and suddenly everything that I had been putting effort into making a habit just became a natural instinct. I completed the programme about 3 months ago and am now having really amazing, enjoyable sex. So whatever level of progress you find yourself in during the course or after it - keep going you will get there no matter how far off it feels it will gradually just happen!