Corenia Murphy LMHC · CST

Specialty resource guide

Endometriosis & Pelvic Pain

These conditions reach far beyond the body — into intimacy, relationships, identity, and mental health. This is whole-person support for the people living with them, the people beside them, and the providers who help.

Wherever you're starting from, you're in the right place.

You're not imagining it, and you're not alone.

If you've been told your pain is "just bad periods," "in your head," or something you should be able to push through — please hear this: persistent pelvic pain is real, it is common, and it deserves real care. Endometriosis affects roughly 1 in 10 people of reproductive age, and many wait years for an accurate diagnosis. None of that waiting was your fault, and none of it means your experience isn't valid now.

You deserve to be believed. This guide gathers trustworthy information and vetted resources so you can take what helps and leave the rest — at your own pace.

A plain-language starting point

Two short explainers, written to be easy to read and easy to share.

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a chronic condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other places in the body. It can cause inflammation, pain — including pain with periods, sex, urination, or bowel movements — fatigue, and sometimes fertility challenges. It's not the same for everyone, and the amount of tissue doesn't always match how much pain a person feels.

Endometriosis is often framed as a "women's" condition, but that isn't the whole story: trans men and nonbinary people live with it too, and they deserve care that sees them clearly.

What is chronic pelvic pain?

Chronic pelvic pain is ongoing pain in the lower belly, hips, or pelvis that lasts months or longer. It can come from many sources at once — endometriosis, pelvic-floor muscle tension, bladder conditions like interstitial cystitis, nerve sensitivity, prior trauma, or a combination. Because so many systems overlap down there, getting answers can take time and a team.

Pelvic pain affects people of many bodies and genders. Whatever shape yours takes, your pain is worth understanding and worth treating.

Where I come in

When pain touches intimacy, closeness, and mood

Pain rarely stays in the body. It can change how you feel about desire and sex, how safe closeness feels, how you see yourself, and how steady your mood is from day to day. You might brace against touch, dread intimacy because you expect it to hurt, grieve a version of your body you miss, or feel distance growing between you and a partner. All of that is a normal response to living with pain — not a personal failing.

Desire & sex

Anticipating pain can quiet desire and tighten the body. There are gentle, pressure-free ways to rebuild comfort and pleasure at your pace.

Closeness & relationships

Pain affects partners too. Naming it together — and learning new ways to connect — protects intimacy and reduces resentment and guilt.

Identity & mood

Chronic pain is closely linked with anxiety and depression. Tending your mental health is part of treating the pain, not separate from it.

The good news: support exists, and it works best together. Sex therapy, pelvic-floor physical therapy, and medical care each address a different piece, and they reinforce one another. As a sex therapist and counselor, I help with the intimacy, identity, and mental-health layers — alongside your medical and PT team, never instead of them.

Explore how therapy can help Read: When endometriosis touches intimacy

Everything in one place

Resources & support

Choose a tab to jump straight to what you need — no endless scrolling.

Language

Free · printable · yours to keep

A printable toolkit you can use today

51 gentle, plain-language handouts — psychoeducation, coping guides, trackers, provider-visit templates, and self-care planners — written to be trauma-informed and easy to use on a hard day. Search, filter, and download what helps; share any of them with a partner, a loved one, or your care team. The ★ Start here set is a gentle place to begin.

    Seeking support · for clients & providers

    A searchable support directory

    A living collection of many voices and experiences — organizations, research, online communities, podcasts, and the specialists and advocates worth following. Search and filter to find what fits you today; filter For clients or For providers to jump to what's most useful for you.

    A note on language: not everyone with endometriosis is a woman, and menstruation isn't the same as endometriosis — the disease shows up all over the body. Some resources below still use gendered language based on the communities they studied; they're included so more voices are heard, including trans, nonbinary, and other underrepresented patients.

      Listings are shared for information and aren't endorsements; the views expressed by these voices are their own. Always bring medical decisions to a qualified provider.

      Curated resources

      Organizations & advocacy

      Trustworthy nonprofits, professional societies, and government health hubs for education, research, and advocacy.

      Finding care: pelvic-floor PT & specialists

      Provider directories to help you build a team — pelvic-floor physical therapists, excision surgeons, pelvic-pain specialists, and sexual-medicine clinicians.

      Sexual health & intimacy with pain

      Resources focused on painful sex, advocacy, and gentle, body-led approaches to rebuilding comfort and pleasure.

      Books & podcasts

      Reading and listening for living with pain, protecting intimacy, and understanding the body — for individuals and couples.

      Books

      • When Sex Hurts

        Goldstein, Pukall & Goldstein — an accessible guide to the causes of sexual pain and rebuilding intimacy.

      • Heal Pelvic Pain

        Amy Stein — a self-care program from a leading pelvic-floor PT covering pain with sex, urination, and bowel function.

      • Healing Painful Sex

        Coady & Fish — a physician-and-therapist guide to naming and overcoming sexual pain, body and mind.

      • Come As You Are

        Emily Nagoski — the science of desire and arousal; a strong adjunct for understanding the nervous system's role.

      • The Chronic Pain Couple

        Karra Eloff — a practical, low-energy guide for couples protecting connection when one partner lives with pain.

      • Pain-Free Sex

        Georgia Ivey Green — a partner-inclusive, workbook-style guide toward comfortable, pain-free intimacy.

      Podcasts

      Community & peer support

      Places to feel less alone — moderated forums, peer communities, and mental-health support built for chronic pain.

      Apps & symptom tracking

      Tracking patterns can make your pain visible — to you and to your care team. A few tools to consider.

      Care for every body

      Diversity & representation matters here

      Endometriosis and pelvic pain are too often framed as only "women's issues." They are not. Trans men and nonbinary people live with these conditions, and they deserve gynecological and pain care that affirms who they are. BIPOC patients — and Black patients especially — face documented disparities in how quickly endometriosis is recognized and diagnosed. Naming these gaps is part of closing them. The resources below center voices and needs that mainstream coverage has overlooked.

      LGBTQIA+ & trans inclusion

      BIPOC voices & racial equity

      Self-advocacy

      Talking to your care team

      Appointments can move fast, and pain is hard to put into words on the spot. A little preparation helps you be heard. Consider printing this and bringing it with you.

      • Track your symptoms for a week or two beforehand — when pain hits, how bad (0–10), what it limits, and what helps.
      • Write your top three concerns at the top of the page, in case time runs short.
      • Name the impact out loud: how pain affects work, sleep, intimacy, and mood. It's all relevant.
      • Ask directly: "What could be causing this? What are my options? What happens if we wait?"
      • It's okay to ask for a referral or a second opinion — to a pelvic-floor PT, a pelvic-pain specialist, or an excision surgeon.
      • Bring someone you trust if you can, and take notes — or ask if you may record the visit.

      You don't have to carry this alone

      If pain has changed your relationship with intimacy, your body, or your sense of self, support is here — gently, at your pace, alongside your medical and PT team. There's no pressure and no rush.

      In-person in Bellingham, WA · telehealth across Washington & Arizona.

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