Finding the Right Therapist For You

I’m a great therapist. I think, or atleast it seems like it, but really how would you know and ultimately, atleast a little bit, kind of, who cares? I love my job and I take it seriously enough to always have a book mark in a text, a half finished podcast from some great mind or other and a few dozen unresearched episode ideas for Secular Sexuality. But the truth is, I could be the best therapist in the world (or the worst) and still not be the right (or wrong) therapist for you. This week, two of my favorite therapists join me on Secular Sexuality to talk about how to find a good therapist and more importantly, find the right therapist for you.

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Kissing Purity Culture Goodbye with Dr. Darrel Ray

When 2009’s The God Virus eventually led Dr. Darrel Ray to start Secular Sexuality, Purity Culture™ was at the heart of the mission. Now in our third season as part of the Atheist Experience Network Dr. Ray returns to help us understand how we got here and how we can heal. This we’re taking your calls and setting our sights on chewed up bubble gum and the lies that separated us from our sexuality, and we’re all out of bubble gum.

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Porn IS LIKE Golf

Porn is such a complicated subject. What is it? What should we use it for? What is it doing to us? Turns out a multi-billion dollar industry with strict yet reckless regulation is the type of thing you should occasionally check in on but just how concerned should we be? Well, let me see if I can clear that up.

Understanding Out of Control Sexual Behavior-

Douglas Braun-Harvey on Out of Control Sexual Behaviors & Sex Addiction from Smart Sex, Smart Love with Dr Joe Kort

Out of Control Sexual Behavior - Douglas Braun-Harvey MFT, CGP from It's Not About the Sex

The Misleading “Sexual Addiction” Label by Joe Kort for Psychology Today

Harvey Weinstein Proves Sex Addiction Doesn't Exist by Marty Klein for Psychology Today

The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Review of the ‘Pornography Addiction’ Model from Researchgate

Religious, Moral Beliefs May Exacerbate Concerns About Porn Addiction by Joshua Brubbs from the American Psychological Association

An integrated model to assess and treat compulsive sexual behaviour disorder

Peer Briken, Nat Rev Urol 17, 391–406 (2020)

COVID-19 Mail Bag

In this time of disconnect and social distancing we thought we’d take advantage of the extra downtime many of our favorite speakers are currently experiencing by having them join us on this week’s Secular Sexuality. Vi and I are all set to sit back and let friends of the show, new and old, answer your questions on air.

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Religious Trauma Syndrome with Dr. Darrel Ray

This week we are joined in person by our show’s founder and producer emeritus Dr. Darrel Ray. From the beginning, Secular Sexuality has been about healing our sex life and ourselves from the pain of religious shame and doubt. Now we examine the progress of early research as the construct of Religious Trauma Syndrome is considered as a way to heal many of those hurts.

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Keeping Score with Dr. Darrel Ray

There has been a lot said about what makes up a ‘healthy’ number of sexual partners. Many of us have grown up bound to a faith that has pretty strong opinions on the idea. Others have come to understand that there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here, but worry about how they’ll be seen or how their sexuality may impact them. All of us live in a society that does a pretty good job of muddling the question. This week Vi and I sit down with Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality author Dr. Darrel Ray to consider just how many sex partners is to many.

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Recovering Your (Secular) Sexuality

In the wake of The God Virus psychologist Dr. Darrel Ray lead a small group therapy session around the loss of faith and the pain of religious trauma. When that quickly filled up he started a path towards the Recover From Religion Foundation that now offers a number of incredible services to people all around the world. Gearing up for the first ever Fall Excursion, Dr. Ray gives us a sample of his Recover Your Sexuality Workshop. Join Vi and I while class is in session, 9/5 7p CDT and check back here afterwards for footNOTES!

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Toxic Pop

For the Fourth of July we sat down with Dr. Darrel Ray to discuss the real or imagined threat of toxic love in pop culture. We dive into our favorite pop songs and highschool heart breaks to bring you this secular take on love, lust and power ballads. We promise to never give you up, let you down, run around or desert you so be sure to take a look.

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Recovery From Religion with Dr. Darrel Ray and Matt Dillahunty

This week I actually get to meet, in person, for really reals, the Dr. Darrel Ray, creator of the original Secular Sexuality. We’ll be talking about his work across various platforms including Recovery from Religion, the Secular Therapy Project and this history of the show. Joining us is one of the faces of the ACA, the highly esteemed Matt Dillahunty.

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One's and Two's- Comparing Perspectives

This week we are joined on Secular Sexuality by our creator and producer emeritus Dr. Darrel Ray, author of the exquisite Sex & God and The God Virus as well as our very own Jenna Belk. It’s an ACA homer’s episode where we address the gender binary and life path of atheism. Catch the episode at 7p CST and check back here afterwards for some FOOTnotes.

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