Sex After Prostate Cancer w/ Victoria Cullen | Szn. 5 Ep. 9

Dr. Jenn Kennedy (0:03)

Hi, I'm Dr. Jenn Kennedy, Sexologist, Couples Therapist, and Host of Pleasure Project. This podcast is all about sex, relationships, and the complicated and fascinating space where they collide. We talk about desire, connection, dysfunction, communication, exploration, toys, trends, and the things people usually are thinking about, but not always saying out loud. Some episodes feature leading experts, and sometimes it's just me and honest conversations with you.

Either way, the goal is simple. More insight, more connection, and more pleasure. If you enjoy these conversations, you can follow along on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn at Dr. Jenn Kennedy, or visit my website at dr.jennkennedy.com for even more resources and conversations around intimacy, relationships. All right, let's get into it.

Sex After Prostate Cancer is one of those topics that affects millions of people, yet it rarely gets talked about openly. For many men and partners, the end of cancer treatment isn't the end of the journey. Questions about erections, desire, intimacy, confidence, and connection often begin after treatment. And while survival is rightfully the priority, sexual well-being is an important part of the quality of life. In today's episode, we're talking about what recovery really looks like after prostate cancer, why so many people feel unprepared for the changes that can occur, and how couples can find their way back to intimacy. We also explore the role of penile rehabilitation, the myths that keep people stuck, and why the community element can be so powerful a part of the healing. If you or someone you love is affected by prostate cancer, this conversation offers information, hope, and a reminder that you are not alone. So tune in.

All right, so welcome back. My guest today is Victoria Cullen, founder of A Touchy Subject and creator of The Hub, a private online community dedicated to helping men and their partners navigate life after prostate cancer treatment. Over the years, Victoria has built a global community to provide education, peer support, expert-led discussions, and practical resources for people facing some of the most challenging and often overlooked aspects of recovery. Through her work, she has become a leading voice in conversations about intimacy, relationships, confidence, and sexual well-being after prostate cancer, helping individuals and couples feel less alone, thus finding new pathways to connection. So welcome to the Pleasure Project.

Victoria Cullen (2:44)

Thank you so much for having me, Jenn. Excited to be here.

Dr. Jenn Kennedy (2:47)

I've been looking forward to this conversation because I feel like this is one of those topics that eventually is going to come up in many, many partnerships. You know, I work with a lot of older couples and it definitely affects so much of the population. So I think it's going to be a really welcome podcast.

Victoria Cullen (3:07)

Yeah.

I think it's so much more prevalent than we're aware of because it's a touchy subject. It's not being talked about as much, so it's below the surface. But once you move into this space, you sort of feel like, oh, everybody knows somebody. It's so rare that I talk to someone who doesn't then say, oh, my dad or my uncle or my, yeah, my best friend, it's really, really prevalent but not spoken about enough. So thank you for having me on to speak about it.

Dr. Jenn Kennedy (3:33)

Yeah. Do you know the statistics on prostate cancer?

Victoria Cullen (3:37)

I have to sort of just out of the corner of my eye, I always have them there. Look, in general, I go to speak, because I work with English speaking in Western countries, so what I'm aware of is the stats there, so I sort of keep an eye on.

Of the last 10 years, if we combine Australia, USA and UK, it's 3.6 million men who've had treatment of the last 10 years. So that's, if you then extrapolate, that's, we're not even talking worldwide stats, at that point, that's just those countries.

Dr. Jenn Kennedy (4:07)

Yeah.

Victoria Cullen (4:08)

So yeah, it's a lot. I know that in Australia anyway, it's the most common cause of men's cancer.

Dr. Jenn Kennedy (4:15)

Yeah.

So it is definitely top of mind for plenty of people. So why, and I guess let's start out first of all, why does this affect sex life? There's plenty of cancers that don't affect men or couple sex life, but why is prostate cancer in particular an issue in the bedroom?

Victoria Cullen (4:34)

Prostate cancers, yeah, particularly targets the sex life because of the effects of treatment. And I think that's why it could be so devastating as well, the changes that occur, because there are so many different cancer treatments. Actually, if somebody goes through some form of cancer treatment, I think their sexual function or sex life is likely to be affected in some way. The degree to which it's affected after prostate cancer treatment, though, it has to be a lot larger. I think the devastation comes in because before treatment, the cancer itself very rarely exhibits any symptoms. So somebody goes and gets told they have cancer, but they think, I actually feel kind of okay. They'll go under treatment, but then after treatment is when it's sort of, I've had men say, look, it's sort of like all the plumbing below the belt has been just completely rewired further on your body.