Are you recently or not so recently divorced and out there in the dating world for the first time in, well, what feels like forever? Getting to the part of a new relationship where you take off your clothes can be challenging, or even downright intimidating. Many people assume that relationship and sex therapists only focus on people in committed relationships, but many of my single or newly single! And as women get older, anxiety around dating goes up. Still, there are many reasons why dating gets better with age. But let's say you're over 40—libido and sexual pleasure go down with the years, right?

14 Tips for Dating After Divorce



Is Dating During Separation Adultery?
If you've undergone a painful divorce, I bet you've composed a list of things you tolerated with your former spouse, but no longer want to do with a new partner. For example, under sex, maybe it's a position like "doggie-style" or a sex act you don't like. So tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: After going through divorce after 20 or 30 years of marriage, you've started dating again and have found someone intriguing. Now it's your third date and you feel the sexual tension building.


Is Dating During Separation Adultery?
To illustrate how much the timeframe can vary, we talked to nine women about how long it took them to take that scary leap of faith. It ended up being a total disaster—the guy was criticizing how I ate pizza—so I had to cut that nightmare short and have a friend come pick me up. It gave me more time to get to a better place mentally and emotionally and sort through and address the feelings I was having.



In our interview, Kathleen details the messages she received about sex and gender roles as a newly wed at her ultra-conservative Seattle church. Listen as she unfolds the consequences of being taught that her body belonged to her husband. And hear how she found bodily agency, and the strength to leave her abusive marriage through the support of her faith community. In episode two, I interview Annie.