What does eroticism mean? The Center for Erotic Intelligence defines eroticism as “the interplay of desire and arousal with the daily challenges of living and loving,” and describes the five main elements of erotic intelligence as:
World-renowned Belgian psychotherapist Esther Perel promoted this concept in her 2005 bestseller Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence in which she described the tension in modern intimate relationships between domesticity (the need for security, belonging, closeness), and sensuality (the need for freedom, erotic desire, and adventure).
She stresses that by learning to create some psychological distance or mystery within the comfort of the familiar, erotic intelligence can help us sustain desire and vitality in long-term relationships.
And yet, as I see so often in my office, many women feel disconnected from their desire, shut off from their erotic selves. We know that a woman’s relationship with her sexual desire is complex, “often inextricably linked to her sense of identity, self-esteem, personal agency, energy levels, self-care habits, and interpersonal relationships,” as psychotherapist Alicia Muñoz describes.
First things first, we can’t talk about erotic and sexual health without addressing possible physical and psychological wounds. For women who have been sexually abused or harassed in the past or even touched inappropriately without consent, experiencing pleasure and developing trust with a partner can be difficult. The stress, anxiety and hyper-vigilance that can come with being a trauma survivor inhibit relaxation and presence in the moment — necessary for the experience of sexual arousal.
If you’re suffering from past sexual trauma, get professional support. You can heal and recover in your body, mind, and spirit and journey towards more emotional freedom and fulfilling relationships.
To develop more erotic intelligence, women must develop awareness about the sexual and body messages they’ve received through their life from family, peers, and the media. These messages shape how you view yourself and how you internalize patriarchal sexual legacies. From a young age, girls are bombarded with objectifying, hyper-sexualized images and are pressured to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty and “sexiness.”
As a result, some women may learn to repress the sexual part of themselves and see their desire and physical pleasure as a source of guilt, shame, and confusion. Others may relinquish power or forgo initiative in this area and wait for partners to interpret signals or hints regarding their sexual needs and wants.The journey to greater erotic aliveness includes being curious about the unique ways in which we have learned to respond, or not respond, sexually. In her science-based book Come as You Are, researcher and sex educator Dr. Emily Nagoski helps women understand and normalize how their desire works. The sexual response mechanism in the brain has both an accelerator — which responds to sexy things — and a brake — which responds to potential threats, like social reputation, sexual shame, fear of performance failure, and body self-criticism. The process of becoming aroused involves turning on all the ons and turning off all the offs. An erotically intelligent woman knows what turns her on and feeds her desire, and what turns her off.
Another normalizing concept for women, based on Dr. Rosemary Basson’s work, is that of a circular sexual response cycle, in contrast to the more linear one that describes male sexuality, in which desire leads to arousal, as a prelude to sex. It is more typical for women to experience “responsive desire,” which is contextual and relational, rather than “spontaneous desire” (innate drive). Women often don’t feel aroused until after having begun engaging in sex, which they may have agreed to or initiated because of a desire to feel close or connected rather than because they have experienced physical desire or arousal.
Not only does each of us have a unique sexual response (accelerator and brake), but we also have a unique erotic language. Many people recognize the concept of love languages, popularized in Dr. Gary Chapman’s book The Five Love Languages. According to this paradigm, each of us expresses and interprets love in a special way, and we have preferences about how we want to receive love, generally in one of five categories:
But people may not be as familiar with sexual or erotic languages. Jaiya Ma, somatic sexologist and founder of New World Sex Education, created the Core Erotic Blueprint, which refers to the fundamental way that one is erotically wired and reveals the best paths for sexual arousal. Through an online quiz, she helps people distinguish among five categories of erotic types or cores and each type has a positive and a shadow.
As part of increasing her erotic intelligence, a woman can learn how to talk about her desires around intimacy with her partner. However, this involves more than just developing good sexual communication skills and establishing a sexual vocabulary. It’s first and foremost about building a relationship characterized by emotional connection, safety, trust, and empathy.
Talking about our sexual needs, fears, and fantasies can be scary. One of the best ways for a couple to share sexual intimacy and to create a strong emotional and erotic connection is to use the Imago Dialogue, created by Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt.
With this unique structure, partners can practice really listening to each other and asking for what they need in the relationship. The dialogue builds empathy and connection, allowing intimacy to grow. As each partner feels heard, seen, validated, and held by the other. At its best, this Imago process can be deeply healing and invite growth into more sexual openness, curiosity, acceptance, creativity, and playfulness. Tammy Nelson’s Getting the Sex You Want: Shed Your Inhibitions and Reach New Heights of Passion Together is a helpful guide for couples who want to transform their sex lives into more passionate and erotic partnerships.
If you’re ready to grow your erotic intelligence, improve the intimacy in your relationship, and connect to your full aliveness and potential, we’re here to help. Check out our our workshops and therapists!
Caroline is a licensed psychotherapist and certified Imago advanced clinician, who is passionate about helping individuals, couples, and families experience deeper connection and joy in their relationships. Her specialties include working with adults and teens on a wide variety of concerns, including depression, anxiety, anger, self-esteem, grief and loss, sexuality, multicultural issues, and spirituality.
She uses an Integrative Approach and provides a safe, warm and welcoming space for clients to explore, learn, and thrive in new ways. She values integrating mind, body, and spirit in her practice and responds to spiritual concerns when clients desire.
Caroline is fluent in French and Spanish, has lived in Latin America and Europe and appreciates the richness and challenges of multiculturalism in relationships. She holds a Masters in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola and a Masters in Education from Harvard and is working on a PhD specialized in Imago. She is currently the President of the Mid-Atlantic Association for Imago and Relationship Therapists and the Chair of the Stewardship Circle of Imago Relationships North America.
One of Caroline's greatest joys is leading Imago workshops for couples with Jason, an Integral executive coach and her wonderful husband of 25 years. They are certified facilitators for SYMBIS, an award-wining premarital program, and regularly speak about relationships in the D.C. area.
She is also a parenting coach, a leader at the Parent Encouragement Program, and the mother of four children herself (two sons in college, two teen daughters at home), Caroline knows how challenging it is to raise responsible, respectful kids today.