{"podcast":{"title":"Sex For Couples with Heather Shannon","slug":"sex-for-couples-with-heather-shannon-5845078","podcast_index_feed_id":5845078,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/ask-a-sex-therapist-with-heather-shannon/","website_url":"https://heathershannon.co/podcast/","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/dcbb0239-9ee5-409e-8b0d-71903234ff7d/Sex-For-Couples-Podcast-Tile-2k-Square-Pixels.jpg","author":"Heather Shannon","episode_count":184,"summary":"Sex For Couples is a podcast for committed couples who feel stressed, guilty, or frustrated about their sex life—and want to feel excited, close, and playful again. New episodes are released every Monday. Hosted by Heather Shannon, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist with 19 years of experience as a counselor and coach, the show breaks down the emotional and psychological reasons intimacy fades and what actually helps couples reconnect. Heather has been featured on BloomTV and quoted in Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, SELF, Glamour, and more. She is a Gottman-trained couples counselor, an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist and has spent 13 years as a practicing Buddhist. Through both solo and guest episodes, Sex For Couples offers approachable advice, open conversations, and helpful tools so couples can communicate better about sex, reduce shame and stigma, and enjoy rediscovering each other. This podcast isn’t about performance or perfection—it’s about helping couples stop overthinking sex and start having fun with it again. For more on Heather's work, visit HeatherShannnon.co. NOTE: This show was formerly called \"Ask A Sex Therapist with Heather Shannon\" and was renamed on Vale…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-13T10:20:21.504059+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sex-for-couples-with-heather-shannon-5845078"},"episode":{"title":"Why Sex Starts Feeling Like Another Chore","slug":"why-sex-starts-feeling-like-another-chore","published_at":"2026-05-11T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sex-for-couples-with-heather-shannon-5845078/why-sex-starts-feeling-like-another-chore","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sex-for-couples-with-heather-shannon-5845078","url":"https://heathershannon.co/podcast/","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/episodes.captivate.fm/episode/bf2631cf-7407-42e7-8a4a-451a24fe9fba.mp3","summary":"If sex has started feeling like one more thing you're supposed to do in your relationship . . . this episode is for you. Maybe you still love your partner… but sex feels heavy, pressured, awkward, or emotionally draining. You want to want it — but instead you find yourself avoiding initiation, feeling disconnected, or wondering why intimacy feels so different than it used to. In this episode, Heather talks with sex and intimacy coach Xanet Pailet about the emotional patterns that quietly turn passionate relationships into roommate dynamics — including resentment, emotional disconnection, unresolved conflict, and feeling emotionally unsafe with your partner. They also discuss: Why couples stop wanting sex over time The emotional roots of sexless marriages Why unresolved resentment kills intimacy How emotional safety impacts desire Why many couples feel lonely even when they “never fight” The hidden patterns underneath low desire Why sex can start feeling like another chore How couples rebuild emotional and sexual connection Xanet also shares her personal story of surviving a 26-year sexless marriage, healing sexual shame and vaginismus, and eventually becoming a sex and intimacy coach helping couples reconnect emotionally and physically. If you’ve been feeling emotionally disconnected, stuck in resentment, or struggling to understand why attraction has faded in your relationship, this conversation will help you understand what’s really happening underneath the surface. 🎧 Listen now to understand why sex changes in long-term relationships — and what actually helps couples feel close again. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp","meta_description":"If sex has started feeling like one more thing you're supposed to do in your relationship . . . this episode is for you. Maybe you still love your partner…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2724,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sex-for-couples-with-heather-shannon-5845078/episodes/why-sex-starts-feeling-like-another-chore/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sex-for-couples-with-heather-shannon-5845078/why-sex-starts-feeling-like-another-chore.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}