While physical sexual health is prioritised and highlighted in the LGBT+ community, emotional sexual health is o en le by the wayside. In a culture that’s increasingly de ned by technological advances, our relationships, or lack thereof, are taking a queer turn, say therapists Sarah Gilligan and Fi Connors.

Illustration by Oliver Weiss

We are all aware that the modernised world we inhabit is fast-paced, hectic and massively dominated by technology. Seismic changes in the way we communicate and interact with each other (think Grindr, Facebook etc.) are having an untold effect on how we deal with each other and how we have relationships.

This is not breaking news, but something that’s gaining more and more traction as the months pass. These days it is difficult to speak about relationships and sex without recognising the all-pervasive nature of technology in our daily lives.

For this article, I took the opportunity to Facetime with my friend, Fi Connors, a natural medicine clinician, educator and author of the emotional sexual health book, When Love is A Drug, who currently resides stateside. We have an appointment to discuss some of the recurring themes that have emerged in our individual practices, in the areas of emotional and sexual wellbeing – the real-time, real life effects that we are both witnessing with our clients on a weekly basis.

And so, breaking news, the biggest commonality on both sides of the pond? You guessed it. The rise of the challenge of the relationship and of course the increasing challenge of being single. The questions we hear our clients asking are becoming ever more critical. Do I want to be single? Do I want to be out there playing the field? Have I chosen to be single? Or is too difficult to get into a relationship, and even when I manage to, is it impossible to sustain?