Embrace Therapy

03/16/2026

03/11/2026

It's been an intense 10 days here in Israel. 🇮🇱

The war, although laden with purpose and meaning for many of us, is exhausting and hard individually. And where there is individual struggle, there tends to be impact on relationships, marriages, and families.

I can't tell you how many jokes I've heard over the past week and a half about couples having different takes on how to deal with this kind of stress or the jokes about the kind of parenting we do in bomb shelters.

The reason these jokes so often land is because we relate. We relate to the struggle to maintain sanity with ourselves and those we have the privilege of being stuck with in a covid-like quarantine with a side of rockets.

Even though I am a war amateur with this being my 1st - and hopefully last - war in Israel, I put together some tips that you may find helpful in reducing perhaps a fraction of your overwhelm and stress.

Please share your wartime survival tips, comment below 👇!

12/30/2025

ARE YOU TICKLISH??? 🤣

It seems that the universe was telling us that we needed to make a post on the topic of ticklishness because of how frequently this has come up in our practice.

While being ticklish can be fun at times, especially when you're in the mood to be silly (something that can enhance your s*x life), at other times it can be something you and/or your spouse can feel is a hindrance to your intimate life.

Think about it:
You're with your spouse and you're in a zone, enjoying all kinds of pleasure and then you get ticklish. It can feel like it disrupts the flow of the intimate moment.

So here are some strategies that can help.

Let us know which one works for you!!

*xtherapy *xtherapist

11/05/2025

Thanks to Disney 🥀 and chick flicks many of us think our s*x lives has to always be on 🔥: romantic, passionate, connective, you fill in the blank.

The reality is however, that just like our emotional connection can be on point, meh, or distant depending on the day, our moods, what's going on in our lives, the phase of life we're in, etc. our s*x lives can also run the spectrum of being on point, meh, or disconnected.

Having a thriving s*x life is a skill that takes CONSISTENT practice & repetition.

We cannot wait for the stars to perfectly align each day to get our practice in.

So does that mean we should dishonor our no and be intimate when we know we don't want to be❓

Absolutely not!! 🙂‍↔️🚫

But if we are feeling eh or maybe down for something, not sure, maybe not, then the best thing we can do is show up for the experience.

It could be it won't be 🔥 and that's ok. What we are getting out of the experience can be a lot of other important things: we are showing up for our relationship, for our partners, getting emotional connection, feeling desired, feeling pursued, creating space for play, inhabiting our bodies, etc.

And plus as Emily Nagoski's research points out, a lot of times, especially for women, we don't start out in the mood but once we get started, we actually bring ourselves into the mood.

Ironically, when we consistently show up to our s*x lives, that's when we actually get the most 🔥❤️ going!

*xuality *xtherapist

10/30/2025

We've been focusing a lot on our miluim couples lately and a big theme that has come up is DISCONNECTION.

Though the miluim experience is unique, the experience of disconnection is something that many of us can relate to on different levels.

How many of us have walked passed our spouses and felt simultaneously missing, longing, resentment, loneliness, and sadness because we can't remember the last time it felt like we were an actual couple?

How many of us feel we live parallel lives that are focused on surviving the day to day grind?

How many of us long for real connection and fun and depth with our spouses, and conversation that involves really witnessing and being there for one another?

Disconnection can look different for different couples. Sometimes it's loud and sometimes the quiet is deafening.

Sometimes it's felt more by one partner than the other.

Sometimes it's obvious and sometimes it happens slowly over a long period of time that neither spouse knows why they are feeling sad or off.

What most people don't realize is that every relationship experiences disconnection.

Just like balance in life, it's not something we ever achieve and then keep forever; it's something we constantly work to maintain. We lose life balance and then we become aware that something's not balanced and then we work to create more of it.

Similarly, CONNECTION is something we must constantly maintain. When we become aware that we are disconnected that's when we can start making choices to connect more.

One of the most important parts of this process is recognizing what are signs of disconnect are. That's precisely when we can actually do something about it!

So, what are your signs of disconnection?

10/24/2025

We're launching our pilot program, OPERATION: BACK TOGETHER!!

Shalom Bayit is the cornerstone of the home. The vibe we create with our spouses creates the vibe of our homes. Plus, our kids' mental wellbeing is directly impacted by the quality of our marriages. When we are solid, they have a much greater chance of feeling solid, whole, and secure.

The impact of this is HUGE!!! Healthy marriages ➡️ healthy children ➡️ healthy society.

Operation Back Together gives miluim couples, who have sacrificed so so much, the space and opportunity to solidify their relationship and create a thriving shalom bayit.

Being in survival mode is NOT the time to be in processing mode. Now that many men are returning home from the battlefields, it's the perfect time to start incorporating each partner's experiences and wisdom over the past 2️⃣ years to be a stronger and more resilient couple than ever before.

Our program is not intense and heavy. We've had enough of that over the past 2️⃣ years. Instead, my executive and team coach husband Ari Friedman and I put together a program (with food 🍕 of course!) that has a ton of fun activities that are meant to bring a couple closer together and deepen their understanding and appreciation for one another.

If you or anyone you know is interested in this or future programs helping miluim couples connect and learn skills in a fun, chilled way, feel free to DM me! 💌

Thank you to in for sponsoring this event so that our anglo Miluim couples can relax, have fun, and boost their connection with one another. 🙏🏻

10/24/2025

We're launching our pilot program, OPERATION: BACK TOGETHER!!

Shalom Bayit is the cornerstone of the home. The vibe we create with our spouses creates the vibe of our homes. Plus, our kids' mental wellbeing is directly impacted by the quality of our marriages. When we are solid, they have a much greater chance of feeling solid, whole, and secure.

The impact of this is HUGE!!! Healthy marriages ➡️ healthy children ➡️ healthy society.

Operation Back Together gives miluim couples, who have sacrificed so so much, the space and opportunity to solidify their relationship and create a thriving shalom bayit.

Being in survival mode is NOT the time to be in processing mode. Now that many men are returning home from the battlefields, it's the perfect time to start incorporating each partner's experiences and wisdom over the past 2️⃣ years to be a stronger and more resilient couple than ever before.

Our program is not intense and heavy. We've had enough of that over the past 2️⃣ years. Instead, my executive and team coach husband Ari Friedman and I put together a program (with food 🍕 of course!) that has a ton of fun activities that are meant to bring a couple closer together and deepen their understanding and appreciation for one another.

If you or anyone you know is interested in this or future programs helping miluim couples connect and learn skills in a fun, chilled way, feel free to DM me! 💌

Thank you to in for sponsoring this event so that our anglo Miluim couples can relax, have fun, and boost their connection with one another. 🙏🏻

10/12/2025

So many of us are struggling now with the many political, religious, existential shifts that are happening in the world, in our communities, and in Israel.  At our tables, we are questioning, "how can we be happy on zman simchateinu with all the pain that is going on?"

And the answer is: It is hard. So hard. Hard to feel both the joy and the pain.

But the thing is, we are incredible, complex beings, capable of holding multiple states and feelings at the same time.

We can be joyful AND we can feel grief

We can be so grateful and happy that our brothers and sister are finally coming home AND devastated by what they've gone through and what we've lost

We can be relieved the war is going to be over AND feel on edge or in denial or terrified of what comes next now that it will indeed be over.

We can dance and sing on Simchat Torah AND mourn the two year anniversary of October 7th.

Maybe that's what pure joy is after all.  An evolved joy. A joy that is not naive and in the clouds. A joy that is fully aware of the pain and suffering and horrors and still retains its identity.  Maybe that's what this time of year is really about: the complexity of finding joy amid the pain.

May we all experience the purest, most evolved joy this year and know no more suffering.💛

09/30/2025

"I forgive him." ~Erika Kirk

We all watched Erika deliver her heart wrenching speech memorializing Charlie. There was something so powerful about how she looked up, closed her eyes, and with choked back sobs uttered the words "I forgive you," addressing the man who murdered her husband.

And I think for many of us watching, we wondered, HOW?

How can a woman who had her whole life with her young husband and adorable children ahead of her, forgive the monster who cruelly, unfairly changed her life forever?

When I watched her speech, I couldn't help but think about the hostages and their families and how they have been grieving.

Were there any speeches or hespedim about forgiveness? Is that the Jewish way? Is that the mental health way? Do we need to forgive to move forward, to heal?

For Jewish people across the world, it is the time of year where we are knee deep in states of reflection, introspection, remorse, accountability, growth, and atonement.

Forgiveness naturally is a big theme now.
We seek forgiveness from those who we hurt and grant it to those who hurt us.

But for so many of us, granting forgiveness may not be what is best for us.

Does an abused person, for example, forgive their abuser in order to heal? Is forgiveness the only way to move forward and feel a sense of peace?

The mental health world is divided on this. Some believe forgiveness is a must to heal, and there are countless books on the topic. Others think that's unfair and puts unnecessary pressure and angst on the hurt person.

I love the Torah concept of forgiveness which actually has 🅾️ requirement to forgive a person who has not repeatedly and wholly made a proper amends. The repair that is required isn't just 👄service, it's a process involving:

1️⃣ a deep felt sense of regret

2️⃣ specifying the wrongdoing and acknowledging the impact of the wrongdoing

3️⃣ creating and implementing a thought out, concrete, realistic plan of action that will ensure that mistake never happens again.

Pretty intense! And pretty real!

More in comments 👇🏻

09/21/2025

09/02/2025

When we think of anxiety, we often think pathology. The issue however is if we pathologize anxiety we tend to want to get rid of it. Ironically, the more we try to shove it away, the stronger it becomes.

That's why 🗣️ "calm down!" doesn't work!

The best thing we can do for our anxieties is to welcome it. We don't have to say "ooh I love feeling this way," but we can work to understand it.

Sometimes the easiest way to do that is rather than pathlogizing it , we call it what it is: fear. That's simply what anxiety is, we're feeling very afraid. Calling it fear makes it more human, and less scary.

Then, we work to understand what's going on for us on a visceral level when we feel that fear.

Physiologically our bodies tell us with hearts racing ❤️, sweating 💧, dry throats 🏜️, shaking 🫨, and many other ways that there's some threat to our wellbeing.

And the 2️⃣ ways our bodies know this is:

1️⃣ - if it's reading the environment and the nonverbal cues and perceives some sort of physical or emotional danger

2️⃣ - History: "If it's hysterical it's (often) historical." Our bodies learn from past experiences what is safe and unsafe for us. If we feel anxious now, we are likely projecting our past experiences onto the future.

Anxiety can give us a tremendous opportunity to heal from our past experiences. When we learn to ground 🧘🏻‍♀️, diffuse, and calm 🌱 our nervous systems we can teach our bodies that they are indeed safe😌, and we can bring this sense of safety into our present moments.

Anxiety doesn't have to be a pathology. It can be our body's call for healing and restoration.