5/15/20 THE PLEASURE PLAN BY Laura Zam

• Print Length: 287 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0757323502
• Publisher: Health Communications Inc EB; 1 edition (May 5, 2020)

Based on popular essays in New York Times' Modern Love and Salon, as well as an Off-Broadway one-person play, The Pleasure Plan is a sexual healing odyssey, a manifesto for women to claim pleasure as a priority, and a love story all at once.

Fifty percent of adult women have some form of sexual difficulty at some point in their lives, preventing them from enjoying vibrant, soul-satisfying sex. Such was the case with Laura Zam, who suffered the shame and embarrassment of feeling "bedroom broken."

For her, delving between the sheets meant physical pain, zero desire, and emotional scars from being molested in her early years. However, in her forties, after meeting and marrying the love of her life, Zam was determined to finally fix her sensual self.

The Pleasure Plan is what happened when she decided to challenge her hopelessness. In partnership with her initially reluctant husband, Zam visited 15 healers and tried 30 pleasure-enhancing methods, including hypnosis with a bawdy therapist; Tantra with a geriatric mistress; and cutting edge workshops in desire, arousal, and orgasm. She also learned about pelvic floor mishaps, hormonal imbalances, and female erections! Amidst these adventures, the author seamlessly interweaves her recovery from child abuse, tales of her Auschwitz-surviving mother, and a clear-eyed view of how medical and mental health professionals might better serve women with sex problems.

Packed with humor, heart, and a healthy dose of prescriptive advice, this memoir also chronicles how Zam and her husband grow, in and outside the bedroom. Her healing becomes their healing. In this #MeToo era, partners can learn from Zam's journey how to support a significant other who's been affected.

Today, Laura works as a sexuality educator, wellness coach, and speaker helping other women who suffer from sexual dysfunction, the effects of trauma, or those who would simply like more pleasure (of all kinds) in their lives. She also consults with health care providers so they may better assist their clients in achieving sexual well-being.

The Pleasure Plan is a roadmap for sexual healing that empowers women to speak up, seek help, and take charge of their health.

THOUGHTS/REVIEW:

The Pleasure Plan by Laura Zam is a very personal medical memoir and a self help book that was exceptionally well written, beautifully expressed, and sensitively addressed women's sexuality issues. The stories shared are funny and heartfelt, yet deeply personnal. Women's sexuality is a very important topic - most especially for those women who have suffered any type of trauma. Laura Zam is a sexuality educator that is also a Certified Trauma Professional, and I found her voice in this guide and memoir as the subject matter expert in this topic based on her extensive research, as well as her own personal experiences.

Laura Zam shared very intimate details of her life and relationships including her sexual dysfunction. In doing this, she has made herself very vulnerable and I found this to be such a courageous act to share with her readers. In discussing this topic, many women fear being judged and misunderstood, or maybe it's a taboo subject based on their religious or cultural upbringing. I commend Zam for her bravery in writing this very important topic that women can benefit from, especially those who feel broken.

The book is presented into three parts and each of the chapter ending has a self-help tip and journal entry prompts to encourage self evaluation and introspection on the topics addressed. An extensive resource and guide is also provided at the end, in the Appendix on a listing of medical professionals that can help such as Gynecologists, sex therapists and even pelvic floor Physical Therapists to name a few.

As a medical professional reading this beautifully written memoir and guide, I highly recommend this book.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

Laura Zam is a Sexuality Educator, Certified Trauma Professional, wellness trainer, award-winning solo performer, HuffPost blogger, TEDx speaker, and workshop leader, whose work focuses on sexual healing. Her writing appears in The New York Times (Modern Love), Salon, HuffPost, SheKnows, NextTribe, the Forward, in international journals, and in five book anthologies. Her solo pieces have been performed in New York at The International Fringe Festival, The Public Theatre, the United Solo Festival (Off-Broadway), and others. National venues include The Kennedy Center, The National Theatre, and the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, as well theaters, conferences, schools, libraries, and universities across the U.S. and abroad. Laura has been awarded numerous grants, including a Tennessee William's Fellowship and five Artist grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She has also taught at a number of universities including Brown University and UC Berkeley.