A
TIRED WOMAN'S
GUIDE TO
passionate
sex
RECLAIM YOUR Desire AND
Reignite YOUR Relationship
LAURIE B. MINTZ, PHD
Copyright 2009 by Laurie B. Mintz, PhD
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any
form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are
made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
Published by
Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN-10: 1-60550-107-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-60550-107-9 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-44050-436-5 (EPUB)
Printed in the United States of America.
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Praise for A Tired Woman's Guide to Passionate Sex
A Tired Woman's Guide to Passionate Sex is optimistic about enlivening sex for women who feel that sex is too much work for not enough return! Mintz gives sympathetic advice and easy-to-do tips. I commend the author and hope women will take advantage of her message. It's never too late to reinvigorate our sexuality.
Pepper Schwartz, PhD
Author of Prime: Adventures and Advice about Sex, Love, and the Sensual Years
Past President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
President of the Centers for Sexualities at San Francisco State University
This groundbreaking book is written for all women (and their partners) who have ever been too tired for sex, and who struggle with guilt, shame, resentment, and the loss of sexual desire! Dr. Mintz provides information and guidance in a conversational tone that is honest, humorous, and straightforward. Without a doubt, I will recommend it to my clients, colleagues, friends and relatives!
Melba Vasquez, PhD, ABPP, Independent Practice, Austin, Texas
Member, American Psychological Association (APA) Board of Directors
Past President, APA Society of Counseling Psychology, APA Society for the Psychology of Women, and Texas Psychological Association
A Tired Woman's Guide to Passionate Sex should be required reading for all tired women who want to rekindle their sexual desire and men who want to support them. Basing her work on the best available science, Mintz uses her years of experience as a sex therapist and as a woman to give detailed and wise advice.
Janet Hyde, PhD
Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin
Past President, Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
Past President, APA Division for the Psychology of Women
Author of Understanding Human Sexuality
Dr. Mintz takes the woman by the hand and guides her through specific exercises to enhance her sensual and sexual experiences with her partner. A good read for all women who are tired and multitasking.
Beverly Whipple, PhD
Professor Emerita, Rutgers University
Coauthor of The Science of Orgasm (2006) and The Orgasm Answer Guide (2009)
For more praise, see www.DrLaurieMintz.com
This book is dedicated to my clients. Thank you for sharing your experiences, thoughts, and feelings with me. Thank you for the honor of being part of your growth and healing.
Acknowledgments
Although I sat at my computer alone, this book was not a solo-act. This book would not have been possible without the support, advice, and assistance of many people. Writing about sex is easy compared to adequately expressing my gratitude to the people who helped make this book possible.
The people who deserve the utmost gratitude are the ones that need to remain nameless: the women who allowed me to use their stories in this book. Thank you for allowing me to use the intimate details of your lives to help change the lives of others.
Special thanks go to Ali Balzer, my research assistant. Your incredible attention to detail assured the accuracy of every study and statistic cited. In addition, our time working together was a pleasure!
Thanks go to my agent, Jack Scovil. You made the publication of this book possible through your enthusiasm and perseverance. Similar gratitude goes to my editors at Adams Media, Paula Munier and Wendy Simard. Your enthusiasm for the topic and your keen vision both made this book possible and improved its appeal and quality.
This book began many years before I had an agent or an editor. Almost ten years ago, Mary Kay Blakely agreed to help me learn how to adapt my academic writing to the popular press and in the process edited a personal essay about my experience with low sex drive. This essay became the foundation for this book. Mary Kay also gave graciously of her time to help me make a videotape when Adams Media was considering signing me on as an author. Thank you, Mary Kay, for helping me at these two critical junctures of when I wanted to learn to write differently and when I wanted to publish this book.
Two other author-friends deserve much gratitude. Thanks go to Mike Stadler for teaching me about what goes into a book proposal and supporting my initial efforts at writing one. Everlasting appreciation goes to Steve Weinberg, who provided tangible and emotional support every step of the way. Steve, you showed me the kindness of a stranger by taking me under your wing in my book writing endeavor and became a cherished friend in the process.
I am lucky to have friends who not only enrich my life by their presence in it, but who supported me in writing this book. To Karen Rivo, thank you for the conversation that convinced me that I had something book-worthy to say. To Eve Adams and Susan Kashubeck-West, thanks for the conversations about sex that added laughter to my life and enhanced my enthusiasm to write this book. To Cathryn Pridal, thanks for all the times you told me I could do this, even when I didn't believe it myself. Thanks also for the many hours you spent talking and reading, in order to allow me to benefit from your deep bank of scientific and clinical knowledge on the topic of sex therapy. To my peer supervision group and dear friends, Shelly Ossana and Debbie Wright, thanks for your patience when I needed to take a several month furlough from our group, your clinical advice, and your help with the final parts of this book. Several treasured friends were willing to read either chapters or the entire draft of this book and give honest feedback; my gratitude goes to Luanne Andes, Judith Goodman, and Anne Jacobson. Thanks also go to Jessica Middle-ton and Holly Smith-Berry, once strangers and now women I look forward to continued connection with, for reading this book in its entirety and giving me enormously helpful feedback.
Two very special people also read every word I wrote (sometimes in multiple drafts) as I was writing and gave extraordinarily helpful feedback along the way. To my sister and best-friend-for-life Sari Mintz, thank you for making time in your very busy schedule to read my drafts. Thanks also for all the intimate talks, throughout our lives, about sex and everything else. My mother, Renee Mintz, has been both my most enthusiastic cheerleader and my most honest critic, making me a better person and this book a finer product. It is an understatement to say this book wouldn't have happened without you. Thank you for the vast time you spent and your wholehearted investment in editing drafts. It was obvious that you cared about this book as much as I did! Even more fundamental, I thank you for raising me to believe that I could have a career and a family. Thank you for raising me to believe I could achieve my dreams. Thank you for raising me to believe that sex is something I should enjoy fully and be comfortable talking about. This book represents the intersection of all of these teachings. And, Dad, I smilingly say that except for the latter of these three messages, all this gratitude goes to you too. Talking with you more deeply and more honestly about sex and life in general has been a highlight of these last few years.
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