Vaginismus and Fear: How Your Nervous System Creates the Pain Cycle - and How to Break It

Fear is one of our most powerful instincts - and it often plays a central role in vaginismus. In this episode, psychologist Dr. Seth Senecal explains how fear overrides logic, shapes our nervous system, and keeps our pelvic floor muscles from relaxing.Whether it’s a tiger chasing us or worrying that someone we love might leave, the body responds as if survival is on the line - and that signal can often be hard to mute.Together with host Mathilde, he unpacks why safety is as crucial as arousal, why using dilators alone without addressing emotional factors often fall short, and how shame and anger can be transformed into tools for healing.Listeners will learn how the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems work during sex, why anxiety is a “mood killer,” and what it means to approach vaginismus with curiosity and softness instead of force. Dr. Seth Senecal is a U.S.-based clinical psychologist who works with trauma, anxiety, and chronic pain.For speaking engagements or to connect with Dr. Seth Senecal, reach out at [email protected] Connect with MathildeIG: @theworldstightestcommunity or [email protected]