226: Overcoming Sexual Losses in Older Adults
Our Better Half
Lara Krawchuk has been practicing as a clinical social worker for over 30 years, specializing in grief, living losses and trauma in her psychotherapy practice. She has an intimate connection to the losses people suffer and is an expert in holding the "tough stuff" for her clients. Lara has a tremendous capacity for helping her clients maintain hope and move towards healing. Lara offers trainings and continuing education classes through her clinical practice and in affiliation with . She is passionate about teaching helping professionals how to exquisitely listen, help heal burdens and make our...
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225: Magnificent Sex: Research that Can Help You
Our Better Half
Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D. is Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Optimal Sexual Experiences Research Team at the University of Ottawa. She is a clinical psychologist, Board Certified in Sex Education and is a Diplomate and Supervisor of Sex Therapy. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. She was awarded the Prix d’Excellence in 2000 for her teaching of Human Sexuality. She has a particular interest in sexual health among older people, disabled and marginalized populations. Kleinplatz has edited five books, notably , (Routledge, 2nd Edition),...
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224: Relieving the Symptoms of Menopause
Our Better Half
Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg is the chief of the division of behavioral medicine at MacDonald Women’s Hospital/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Professor in Reproductive Biology, Urology and Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University. Her areas of clinical specialization include female sexual disorders, menopause, pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders, and psychological aspects of infertility. Dr. Kingsberg’s primary research interests are in treatments for female sexual disorders, genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) and reproductive mental health. She is an Associate...
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223: Senior Sex: What I Wish I'd Known At My Age
Our Better Half
Our guest this time is an old friend, Joan Price. Joan is an award-winning author, speaker, sexuality educator, advocate for ageless sexuality, and truly the inspiration behind much of what we do here at Our Better Half! She’s written numerous books, did a great video with Jessica Drake just a few years ago, and just reissued her amazing book, , and it’s better than ever! She reviews sex toys for older bodies and often laughingly says, “somebody’s got to do it!” She speaks about senior sexuality all over the world. And she’s 82! Joan has been on our show before, and we love...
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222: Menopause and Sexual Pleasure
Our Better Half
Our guest this time, Jane Epstein, is a nurse practitioner and a Menopause Society certified provider. She’s also an AASECT Certified Sex Counselor. She lives and practices in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jane graduated as a nurse practitioner from the Yale University School of Nursing in 1989, followed by a one-year training in Adolescent Medicine at Yale Medical School. She practiced adolescent medicine for over 25 years before transitioning to adult women’s health and sexuality counseling. Jane first gravitated toward the topic of sexual health while working with adolescents. In the life of...
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221: Sex Education and Porn Literacy for Older Adults
Our Better Half
Our guest this week is Dr. Jenn Pollitt! Jenn Pollitt, PhD is the Assistant Director of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and an Assistant Professor in the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University. She holds a PhD in Human Sexuality from Widener University. Dr. Pollitt currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a national organization dedicated to advancing sexual freedom as a fundamental human right through policy, law and education. With over 15 years of experience as a sexuality educator, Dr. Pollitt has developed and taught a wide range of...
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220: Innovations in Pelvic Floor Sexual Health
Our Better Half
Our guest this week is Dr. Amanda Olson! Dr. Olson is a pelvic health physical therapist, entrepreneur, author, and global educator with a passion for empowering men and women and advancing conversations around pelvic health. She has dedicated her career to breaking stigmas around pelvic health, developing innovative solutions to improve quality of life, and supporting patients with conditions including cancer, incontinence, pelvic pain, pelvic organ prolapse, endometriosis, and MRKH syndrome. Dr. Amanda Olson is the president of , a successful pelvic health device company that includes tools...
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219: Presence Over Performance as We Age
Our Better Half
Our guest this week is Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD. Dr. Nasserzadeh is an award-winning author, TED speaker, and world-renowned relational expert. She holds a PhD in social psychology and specializes in sexual health and relationships at both macro and micro levels. Dr. Nasserzadeh has served as a senior cultural advisor for governments, UN agencies, academic institutions, and Fortune 500 companies. She has authored multiple articles, books, and book chapters. Her newest book, , was the recipient of the Vincent Clark Award from the California Association for Marriage and Family Therapists...
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218: Masturbation and Menopause: New Research
Our Better Half
Our guest today is Dr. Justin Lehmiller, a social psychologist, author, and Senior Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute. He is host of the and is author of the popular book . Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, having been honored three times with the Certificate of Teaching Excellence from Harvard University, where he taught for several years. He is also a prolific researcher who has published more than 50 academic works, including a textbook titled that is used in college classrooms around the world. Dr. Lehmiller is a much sought-after voice in the media on sexuality research...
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217: All Sex is Queer Sex (Especially For Older Adults)
Our Better Half
Our guest this time is Stephen Duclos, and his interest in aging is partly because he has been doing social change work for decades and sees aging as just one more civil rights horizon. He’s also interested in aging because he’s a sex therapist, and he sees all sex as queer sex when it comes to aging adults. Stephen has been working as a therapist and counselor since 1972. He currently holds licenses and national certifications in Sex Therapy (as a CST), Couples and Family Therapy (LMFT), Mental Health Counseling (LMHC), and Rehabilitation Counseling (CRC). Stephen is an Approved...
info_outlinePlease join us for an enlivening conversation with Dr. Cynthia Graham, an esteemed editor, researcher, and educator. She has done so much research on older adults and amid a negative focus on aging, she has found in her research that sex can actually get better with age. Her research focuses on sexual health among older adults, male condom use, hormonal contraceptives, women’s sexuality, women’s sexual pleasure, and sexual problems. We discussed her current research along with Dr. Justin Lehmiller on older women and masturbation and whether it might improve some symptoms of menopause.
She is the editor of the Journal of Sex Research and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Gender studies at Indiana University and a senior scientist at the Kinsey Institute. In the wake of NIH and other funding cutbacks in scientific research, she talks about the need to continue to do sexuality research and continuing to find alternative avenues to fund and publish this critical work.
Listeners, if you’re interested in Dr. Cynthia Graham’s research, click here. If you’re interested in Dr. Patricia Barthalow Koch’s article we discussed on body image and aging, click here. And if you’d like to read the statement Dr. Graham and her colleagues wrote about the attacks on scientific research, click here.
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