A note from Dr Julia
For three decades I worked with women struggling with vaginismus — first in clinical gynaecological practice, then increasingly in psychotherapeutic and sexological work. Across all those years, the pattern that struck me most was not the condition itself. It was how often women had been told that what they were experiencing was either not real or was their own fault.
"Just relax." "Have a glass of wine first." "It's all in your head." "Are you sure you want to have sex?"
The advice was nearly always well-meaning. It was also nearly always wrong. Vaginismus is not a relaxation problem — it is a protective reflex of the nervous system. It is not psychological in the dismissive sense that phrase usually implies — it has clear physiological mechanics and clear, gentle ways of being addressed. And it is not a personal failing.
I created The Vaginismus Book, and later the TVZ app, to put considered, science-based information into the hands of women directly — without the long search, without the dismissals, without the shame. This website is part of that same intention.
What this site is, and is not
vaginismus.uk is an educational resource. It is not a treatment service. It does not promise cures or guarantee outcomes. It does not collect your personal data, and it does not store anything you do here.
What it offers is what I have come to value most in my own clinical work: information offered with clarity, calm, and respect for the woman receiving it.
Background and training
I trained as a gynaecologist in Germany, completing my specialisation in obstetrics and gynaecology before turning toward the psychological side of women's health. My subsequent training in psychotherapy and sexology was driven by a single observation: that the conditions I most wanted to help with — vaginismus, dyspareunia, the constellation of difficulties around sexual pain and fear — sat at the intersection of body and mind, and could not be properly addressed from either side alone.
I am registered with the Ärztekammer Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany and the BIG-register in the Netherlands. I am now retired from active clinical practice but continue to write, build, and educate from my home in Amsterdam.