February 05th, 2016

This week saw me have my second day on placement, my first was last week with a local sex therapist and this week was in a local relationships counselling service. It was interesting to see the response from people when I explain what my studies are about....sex. A raised eye brow, an intake of breath..."Is that a thing?"...."WOW, that sounds interesting"...."We must chat later".

Most people are surprised that is it a specific area of study, but fascinated about what it may contain. The never ending interest in sex, the taboo topic we rarely discuss, the practice most of us engage in and the images we are bombarded with by the media, often given a more severe census rating than violence.

It has also been the week of the Explore More Summit that I registered for, 3 lectures a day online for 12 days from some of the leading speakers in the field, from around the world. I have downloaded the work books but due to time restraints (videos are only accessible for 24 hours from release, which is midnight), have not watched any of the video lectures, so I purchased the package to have access to all of them after the summit. But it got me thinking, the difference between those of us who work in this field (sexuality education, sexual health, sex therapy or research) compared to those who don't. The fascination about what we do and the sex positive environment in which we work, I ponder on the messages that we are given about sex and how that often informs the work people do, when they often don't even realise it. Most therapists would like to think that they are non judgmental and open to new ideas, but when it comes to the topic of sex, those old values, and sometimes myths and stereotypes come to the fore.

Looking at the comments of those involved in the summit has given me renewed hope for the future, a community of like minded people, who celebrate sex and support people to explore, play, have fun and reach their Sensual Potential......they are my tribe.