Talking to a health professional
If you have questions about your sex life or relationship or if you have a problem, you can talk to various health professionals. For example: a doctor, nurse, gynaecologist, midwife, sexologist, therapist, psychologist.
If necessary, the health professional can refer you to a specialist. A psychologist/psychotherapist can help you if you are dealing with depression, living with HIV or have relationship problems.
Women can also go directly to a gynaecologist. For instance: for a pregnancy or vaginal infection.
What to talk about with a health professional?
You can talk to a health professional about almost every intimate issue. For example:
How to talk with a health professional
If you want to talk with a health professional, these tips may be handy:
- Think about the problem or question you want to discuss.
- Think about what you want from the health professional. For instance: do you want advice, an STI test or a referral to a specialist?
- Make it clear if the topic is difficult for you to talk about.
- Describe your problem or question as specifically as possible. For example: "I am not able to get an erection."
- You can take someone you trust with you, so that he/she can help you.
It often seems difficult to talk about intimate topics with a health professional, but this is part of their job. They know these topics well. There is no need to feel embarrassed.
Privacy
Your privacy is respected when talking to a health professional. Professionals cannot share the information you tell them.
