Sex & Couples Therapy for Jewish Clients

Trauma-Informed Sex and Couples Therapy for Jewish Clients

At Joanne Bagshaw & Associates, we offer trauma-informed sex and couples therapy for Jewish clients across Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV), and Florida (FL). Many Jewish clients carry visible and invisible layers of trauma—from antisemitism, war, forced migration, religious conflict, family trauma, or the long shadow of the Holocaust. These experiences can deeply affect intimacy, trust, desire, and safety in relationships.

That’s why having a truly safe, culturally aware space for Jewish clients is not optional—it’s essential. In a world where Jewish identity is often misunderstood, minimized, or politicized, it’s vital to work with a therapist who respects the complexity of being Jewish today.

At Joanne Bagshaw & Associates, we help Jewish clients navigate issues related to identity, religion, trauma, and desire, helping clients notice how past experiences continue to echo through their current relationships and sense of self. Whether those past experiences involve family expectations, religious observance, war, displacement, or intergenerational trauma, we honor the full context of your life.

Trauma Therapy for Transgenerational Holocaust Survivors

Atar Stav has extensive experience supporting adults and teens, including those from families of transgenerational Holocaust survivors, where trauma can shape attachment, pleasure, and safety in complex ways. In these families, hypervigilance, anxiety, or emotional distance may have once been necessary for survival, but can now interfere with feeling close, joyful, or at ease in relationships and in one’s own body. Atar offers sessions in English, Hebrew, and French.

In our work at Joanne Bagshaw & Associates, we integrate somatic (body-based) approaches, attachment-focused therapy, sex therapy tools, and mindfulness to help clients gently reconnect with their bodies and with each other. Our approach helps clients develop more flexible, compassionate ways of thinking and feeling, so they can move from survival mode into fuller, more connected living.

For couples, therapy may include learning to talk about sex and trauma in ways that are honest but not overwhelming, rebuilding trust after periods of withdrawal or conflict, and creating a sexual connection that feels truly consensual, mutual, and safe for both partners. For individuals, therapy might focus on reclaiming pleasure, processing traumatic memories in a grounded way, or working through the tension between religious values, personal desires, and cultural expectations.

Get Started Today

Schedule a free 15-minute consult.