Pleasure Uprising: Desire, Attachment, and the Sex You Actually Want artwork

Sexuality · Laura Jurgens, Ph.D.

Pleasure Uprising: Desire, Attachment, and the Sex You Actually Want

by Laura Jurgens, Ph.D.

Formerly The Desire Gap Podcast Most people who feel disconnected from their desire, their pleasure, or their partners have spent years assuming something is wrong with them. It isn't. The disconnection is real — but it traces back to what most of us were never taught: how to be in our bodies fully, how to connect to each other authentically, how to know and ask for what we need without guilt or shame. Culture shapes that — the broader culture we inherit, and the family we grew up in — and it can be unlearned. Pleasure, secure attachment, and authentic desire are your birthright. You can learn what you were never taught — and unlearn what got in the way. Dr. Laura Jurgens is a somatic sex and intimacy specialist, Master Certified Intimacy Coach, American Board of Sexology Certified Sex Educator, and former research professor whose work sits at the intersection of nervous system science, attachment theory, and genuine embodied pleasure. Every episode delivers the somatic, body-based tools that generic relationship advice and most therapists miss entirely — because desire, pleasure, and connection aren't fixed by talking more. They're fixed by giving your body and your nervous system reparative experiences that shift you out of your past.  This show covers: getting out of your head during sex · low libido and what actually helps · somatic and nervous system approaches to intimacy · desire discrepancy and mismatched libido · secure attachment and relationship repair · sexual shame and body disconnection · how to talk about sex without fighting · ADHD and desire · the orgasm gap and why it exists · reclaiming pleasure on your own terms. Whether you've tried therapy, books, date nights, or just quietly wondering why intimacy feels harder than it should — this show will help you understand why those things don't move the needle — and what does. New episodes weekly. Start wherever you are. Free resource: Get Out of Your Head — A Starter Guide to Releasing the Pressure, Shame, and "Shoulds" Around Intimacy at https://laurajurgens.com/guideWheel of Erotic Emotions: https;//laurajurgens.com/wheelFor deeper analysis and the research behind desire, arousal, and attachment -- plus a chance to ask me questions, subscribe to my Substack here:  https://laurajurgens.substack.com/

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

How to Initiate Sex With a Responsive Desire Partner

If you ask your partner "do you want to have sex?" and they say no almost every time, the problem might not be desire. Seriously.  It's the question. Responsive des

Sep 28
37 min

Your Superpowers: Building Sexual Confidence From What You Already Do Well

You know what you struggle with in bed, and you're probably pretty hard on yourself about it. But if I ask what you're good at, do you go blank? Focusing on our

Sep 21
31 min

The Worth Wound: Why You're Attracted to People Who Don't Want You

I used to break up with the good ones. The kind, available, clearly-into-me ones. Not because I got bored. Because it made my skin crawl. I knew it was bad for me, but I

Sep 14
32 min

How to Say No to Sex Without Rejecting Your Partner

She wanted more sex with her husband. She flirted. She invited him to bed. She was not subtle. And he had an entire set of moves for avoiding it. Staying up working late.

Sep 7
44 min

The Freedom Wound: Why You Say Yes When You Want to Say No

Picture someone who says yes to almost everything. They're helpful, they're loyal, they always show up. And yet there's always some reluctance. A headache.

Aug 31
22 min

Penis Size, Performance Anxiety, and What Women Really Want

A man came to me because his marriage was close enough to over that they'd both used the word divorce. Underneath the resentment and the withdrawal and the fights ab

Aug 24
42 min

The Trust Wound: Why Being Vulnerable Feels So Dangerous

I used to chase accomplishment hard, and I dismissed soft skills and people skills entirely — mostly because I had no idea how to do them. I'd put on this dissociate

Aug 17
28 min

Is My Vagina Normal? Undoing Vulva and Labia Shame

Around 40, I realized I felt disgust about my own genitals. I'd been carrying middle school bullies' words about female bodies in my head for more than thirty y

Aug 10
32 min

The Dependency Wound: When Care Was Never Something You Could Count On

One partner wants sex constantly and can't understand why they're being refused. The other has quietly stopped wanting it at all and feels like they're con

Aug 3
36 min

Body Shame and Your Sex Life: It's Not Your Fault, and Only You Can Fix It

Body shame is pervasive, especially for women but increasingly for everyone, and it gets in the way of much more than how we feel in a swimsuit. It gets in the way of pre

Jul 27
33 min

The Safety Wound: When Your Body Was Never Home

Part 2 of the Attachment Wounds & Erotic Emotions Series Maybe you have a tendency to intellectualize or spiritualize your experience, but not always fully feel it. Or m

Jul 20
19 min

Beyond Anxious and Avoidant: Here's What's Actually Driving Your Desires

That thing that turns you on but you've never quite been able to explain? Or the relationship dynamic you keep recreating? Those aren't random. And they aren&ap

Jul 13
38 min

What Makes a Great Lover? Research Shows It's These 8 Traits

If you're searching for how to be a better lover, chances are you're encountering a lot of opinions that aren't rooted in fact. Most of us absorbed a versi

Jul 6
28 min

When Parenting Your Partner is Killing Your Desire

You love your partner. You're pretty sure you're still attracted to them. So why does your body say no — and why does it feel so connected to the fact that you&

Jun 29
34 min

Even Light Power Play Needs a Negotiation (Here's How to Make It Sexy)

Most people who are experimenting with power play and BDSM aren't doing anything extreme. They're just two people who trust each other, trying to "spice it up."

Jun 22
38 min

Joy and Pleasure After Sexual Self-Abandonment

Sexual self-abandonment is what happens when we stop having sex for ourselves. We may or may not actually stop having sex -- we might be doing it for someone else. For th

Jun 15
28 min

What Two Feminist Relationship Coaches See in Heated Rivalry, with Maggie Reyes

It's Pride Month, and I am celebrating with my dear friend and fellow feminist relationship coach Maggie Reyes by doing something I've been wanting to do anyway

Jun 8
1 h 03 min

From Avoiding Sex to Loving It: Real Client Data

If you've been wondering whether your sex life can actually be different, this is the evidence. This episode is like the before and after photos you've been ne

Jun 1
36 min

The Last Place High Achievers Give Themselves Permission

You've solved harder problems than this. So why is this one still stuck? This episode is for the high achievers who have done real work on themselves — the therapy,

May 25
36 min

Coming Home to Your Body: What Sexual Embodiment Actually Feels Like

Most people who feel disconnected from their desire, their body, or their partner aren't broken. They're just exiled — from themselves. And nobody ever taught t

May 18
29 min

Chart trend

Position in the Sexuality chart (US), last 90 days.

#34
all-time peak
9
days in the top 50 since Dec 2024

Chart positions

Where Pleasure Uprising: Desire, Attachment, and the Sex You Actually Want ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 30, 2026).

#177 ▼ 38 Sexuality US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

This is an intelligent resource for navigating embodiment, desire, and desire gaps in sexuality. As a man partnered with a woman, I’ve found it applicable and informative for lots of what we navigate together. However, Dr Jurgens has a tendency to use the language of “socialization” to, for instance, lump trans men in with (cis) women. I think it’s an attempt to be inclusive that actually misses the boat on most trans experience, actual forms of socialization as our respective genders, and trans embodiment. I think further study on Dr Jurgens’ part here would improve her work and the podcast. Overall, especially for cis and/or hetero-partnered listeners, a really helpful resource with that caveat.

D.Shipshape · Sep 2026

Laura’s work is insightful, grounding, and refreshingly practical. She breaks down topics in a way that’s easy to understand and genuinely implement, offering simple, compassionate steps that help you reconnect with yourself. It’s a thoughtful, accessible listen for anyone who wants a deeper, more honest connection with their own desire.

Amy @ Burnout-Free Me · Jan 2026

The episode on arousal styles so resonated w me. I had never heard of erotic trance and Laura explains this in a way I could not articulate or understand. I have struggled to explain this to my husband and why I am SO sensitive to certain stimuli & how some things are so distracting. I also feel like role play is definitely my secondary & can even help support my “trance”. Thank you!! I know this will be a great tool for communication w my partner / husband.

TracyLMAZ · Mar 2025

My wife and I have been to so many counselors over the last 26 years. The podcast has dramatically changed my perspective which is helped our relationship so much. Laura is real with you and cares about helping people find their intimacy in their relationships. My wife and I are going through coaching with her as well. Thank you for real support and a very short amount of time. All the counseling I’ve received over the last 26 years with little to no help! Laura has given us a path forward and just too short months. We are ready for the journey!!

Gerlad714 · Aug 2024

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Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Pleasure Uprising: Desire, Attachment, and the Sex You Actually Want, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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