You have to admire Sandrine for her courage to open such a clinic in Lebanon. We can only hope sex or talking about sex will stop being a taboo in Lebanon but it still needs time. Here’s another link to an interview 3 years ago with Dr. Atallah where she shares some of her clients’ stories.

Talking about sex is still “taboo” in our society, Atallah tells NOW. “At first, my friends and relatives did not take me seriously and thought I would not make it and would not work within my specialty field.” She explains that sexual health “is a state of integration and complementarity between the organic, psychological, mental, and social factors of sex. Accordingly, a psychotherapist sometimes plays the role of an expert in sexology. This role is, at other times, played by a gynecologist who makes minor mistakes with patients, hence the need at the outset to hold awareness-raising lectures on sexual health with the participation of gynecologists so that they would know this specialization exists in Lebanon.”

Dr. Atallah noted a drastic “transformation” in her clinic after her televised appearance on LBC show “Lezim Taarif” (You Should Know) in 2010. “I used to get couples with a lukewarm sex life or men with premature ejaculation problems,” explains Atallah. “Yet after my media appearance, people started to acknowledge sexual health and my clinic was flooded with people with different sexual problems than the variety I used to see before. I started welcoming both old and young people. More gays and lesbians are now coming and the nature of sexual consultations has changed.” [Link]