Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Brad Falchuk have taken it upon themselves to help couples find intimacy in these trying times.
In an hour-long video posted on Goop this week, the couple spoke to psychologist Michaela Boehm about how to “find intimacy in uncertain times,” asking the expert how to find private time when you’re stuck in a mansion with your kids.
“As a couple it’s sort of like, ‘Where do you go as a couple when you’re all in the house and you’ve got dogs, and work and work from home?'” Paltrow, 47, complained. “It’s like, ‘What are you supposed to do?'”
“The Politician” actress also asked Boehm on how to maintain sexual intimacy, adding that she was asking for a “friend.”
The therapist noted that lack of sexual desire was quite normal in these fraught times, but “the need to seek pleasure will come back,” advising that women need to indulge in self-care and perhaps enjoy the “sensual” pleasures of a “cup of tea or food.” She also suggested compartmentalizing the house in order to carve out private time.
The Oscar winner also revealed that her children, Apple, 15, and Moses, 13, with ex-husband Chris Martin, are finding quarantining difficult.
“I think we all feel, especially my teenagers right now, are feeling really pent in — especially Apple, who is a really social creature,” Paltrow said. “We’re really following the strict guidelines so she’s not able to see people she usually sees, so it gets fractious in moments.”
She continued, “So there’s definitely tensions in the house, and we have the added dynamic of step-parent, and I think there is quite a lot of stress that comes from trying to recalibrate to this new normal and new level of proximity.”
The coach concluded the session with asking the pair — who tied the knot in September 2018, to engage in one of her “couples exercises,” which resulted in Paltrow and Falchuk, 49, hugging off-camera as a way to “connect body to body and move together” and embracing was a “non-linear activity” that can activate our “native self-cleaning mechanism.”