Libido in a long-term relationship

<p>Introducing Naomi Hutchings, a clinical sexologist currently working in Brisbane, Queensland. </p> <p><strong>What is a sexologist?</strong> A sexologist is someone who has extensively studied, at a university level, the field of human sexuality in all aspects.  There are presently three fields of professional practice in sexology: research, sexual education, and clinical practice.</p> <p><strong>I want to want sex!</strong></p> <p>“People have unrealistic expectations which gets them down”.</p> <p>“There is a lot of grief and they think there is something wrong or they're broken is usually another word they'll say because they don't want sex”.</p> <p>We talk a lot about what that means and why they're so concerned about that.</p> <p><strong>How do you begin to unpack that and support people through this?</strong></p> <p>I talk about what they were taught about sex. Were they in a house where sex was not talked about, was it silent? So even though there wasn't anything negative being said as such, it's the silence.</p> <p>Naomi sees a lot of people who are in different religions where you can't have sex until marriage. “So I see a lot of them who have got together and then waited and then they're in all sorts of bother”.</p> <p>People are taught sex was not okay from a young age.</p> <p>Unpacking the messages around sex and how you were raised is a place to begin looking at the relationship you have with sex.</p> <p>“Even in Australia, whilst we might be ahead in the sense of being more open than some countries, we still have a long way to go” explains Naomi.</p> <p>Changing those stories that you have around sex and being able to talk about it. Some people find it really difficult to talk about, normalising sex is so important.</p>