AVID Intimacy, LLC

AVID Intimacy, LLC We’re a Chicago-based practice that specializes in relationship and s*x therapy.

Apologies can open the door to repair. But trust is rarely rebuilt through a single statement.Many people aren’t looking...
04/04/2026

Apologies can open the door to repair. But trust is rarely rebuilt through a single statement.

Many people aren’t looking for better wording. They’re looking for accountability, steadiness, and change over time. When apologies don’t land, it often reflects a nervous system that has learned to look for evidence, not reassurance.

Repair is not about perfection. It’s about participation.

Meet Neila Ouldali, LMFT, PMH-C, one of the thoughtful Relationship and S*x Therapists here at AVID Intimacy.In Neila’s ...
04/02/2026

Meet Neila Ouldali, LMFT, PMH-C, one of the thoughtful Relationship and S*x Therapists here at AVID Intimacy.

In Neila’s words:
“Therapy is a collaborative process where we work together to understand your experiences, your patterns, and your strengths. I approach this work with curiosity, compassion, and honesty, honoring your pace while supporting meaningful change.
My goal is to create a space where you can explore identity, relationships, and intimacy in ways that feel safe, grounded, and authentic to you.”

Neila supports individuals and couples navigating identity shifts, trauma, intimacy concerns, fertility journeys, postpartum transitions, relationship repair, and emotional overwhelm. She integrates skills-based approaches like CBT and DBT with somatic, narrative, and relational work to support both insight and change.

As an Algerian-American clinician with a background in perinatal care and advocacy work supporting survivors of violence, Neila brings cultural awareness, lived perspective, and clinical depth into the therapy room. Her style is collaborative, direct, and steady, with space for both honesty and humor.

Now accepting new clients for virtual and in-person sessions.
To book with Neila, visit our website.

Emotional labor in relationships is often unevenly distributed, especially for people socialised into caretaking roles. ...
03/30/2026

Emotional labor in relationships is often unevenly distributed, especially for people socialised into caretaking roles. These patterns can show up across relationship structures, but they are strongly reinforced in cultures that link femininity with emotional responsibility. This isn’t about who is “naturally better” at communication. It’s about how care gets assigned, expected, and maintained. Intimacy often becomes more sustainable when responsibility for connection is shared rather than carried alone.

A new Kinsey Institute survey with Cosmopolitan asked 3,001 women (60+) about s*x, desire, and pleasure. One thing comes...
03/29/2026

A new Kinsey Institute survey with Cosmopolitan asked 3,001 women (60+) about s*x, desire, and pleasure. One thing comes through clearly: s*xuality does not disappear with age, but it often changes shape.

For many people, the shift is not about “doing more.” It is about redefining what counts, releasing performance, and learning how to stay connected to the body that exists now.

If you want a starting point, try 10 minutes of closeness with no goal. Then notice what your nervous system does when pressure is removed.

Our Clinical Director, Rachel Zar, PhD, LMFT, CST-S was recently featured in Cosmopolitan discussing s*xuality after 60 ...
03/27/2026

Our Clinical Director, Rachel Zar, PhD, LMFT, CST-S was recently featured in Cosmopolitan discussing s*xuality after 60 and what changes with age.

In the article, Rachel Zar, PhD, LMFT, CST-S shares:
“What we’ve seen in those who remain s*xually active after 60 is that they tend to report s*x gets better with age… A lot of the reasons are increased confidence about communicating and increased knowledge and awareness about themselves.”

She also speaks about shifting from performance-focused s*x toward an inside-out experience of intimacy. Instead of monitoring how they appear to a partner, many people begin asking:
What does this feel like in my body right now?

The Kinsey Institute survey featured in the article highlights something we see clinically every day:

S*xuality does not disappear with age.
It evolves.

S*xual wellbeing is not limited by age. It is shaped by safety, curiosity, and self-knowledge.

Read the full article at Cosmopolitan to explore the research and insights.

Ramadan can heighten both connection and awareness. For some q***r Muslims, that includes noticing which spaces feel ste...
03/18/2026

Ramadan can heighten both connection and awareness. For some q***r Muslims, that includes noticing which spaces feel steady and which feel conditional. This is not a crisis of faith or identity. It is often your nervous system recognizing where safety exists and where it does not.

Belonging tends to grow where your presence does not require translation.

Ramadan can bring proximity to people and patterns that carry history. For some, that means warmth and connection. For o...
03/16/2026

Ramadan can bring proximity to people and patterns that carry history. For some, that means warmth and connection. For others, it means old dynamics resurfacing in subtle ways.

Spiritual themes of forgiveness can create pressure to resolve everything quickly. But sustainable repair rarely happens through urgency. It happens through pacing, honesty, and mutual responsibility.

Sacred time can hold both devotion and difficulty. Both are real.

Ramadan can change energy, attention, and emotional pacing. When those rhythms shift, intimacy may shift too. That does ...
03/16/2026

Ramadan can change energy, attention, and emotional pacing. When those rhythms shift, intimacy may shift too. That does not mean something is wrong. It often means the body is adapting to different demands.

For many people, closeness during this time becomes quieter and slower. Intimacy does not disappear when pace changes. It often becomes more intentional, more attuned, and more responsive to what the body can actually hold.

To my trans sisters and trans femme community this Women’s History Month:Many of you developed sharp relational awarenes...
03/14/2026

To my trans sisters and trans femme community this Women’s History Month:
Many of you developed sharp relational awareness because you had to. That awareness is real. It is intelligent. It is protective.

In intimate relationships, though, protection can quietly turn into constant monitoring. Connection can start to feel like management instead of mutual care.
Therapy can be a space to untangle what is adaptation and what is sustainable closeness. Not to erase your strength, but to make room for more ease inside it.

Recognition matters. So does relief.

Plus-size women and femme-presenting people are often taught to accept attraction without respect, or desire without vis...
03/08/2026

Plus-size women and femme-presenting people are often taught to accept attraction without respect, or desire without visibility. This isn’t a confidence issue. It’s a relational pattern shaped by cultural shame around bodies and femininity. Intimacy tends to feel safer when attraction is paired with consistency, dignity, and choice rather than secrecy.

Emotional availability and emotional capacity are often treated as the same thing. They aren’t. People can want connecti...
03/06/2026

Emotional availability and emotional capacity are often treated as the same thing. They aren’t. People can want connection while also needing rest, space, or slower pacing. Recognising the difference can reduce shame and open up more honest forms of intimacy.

Not all experiences of desire need to be explained, justified, or changed.For as*xual and grays*xual people, the harm of...
03/04/2026

Not all experiences of desire need to be explained, justified, or changed.
For as*xual and grays*xual people, the harm often comes not from desire itself, but from the pressure to correct it. When curiosity replaces correction, intimacy is no longer something to prove, it becomes something that can take many forms.

Address

939 W North Avenue Suite 620
Chicago, IL
60642

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 7pm
Tuesday 10am - 9pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+13126000409

Website

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