For many couples, talking about the intimacy in their relationships can be challenging — which can lead to feelings of disconnect, isolation, frustration and disappointment. In this week's Conversation with the Reluctant Therapist, host Elizabeth Barrett and Ian Kerner, sex therapist and New York Times best selling author, talk about his writing, research and career helping people to normalize their feelings and behaviors around sex, porn and creating healthy intimate relationships.

Victims of crime can suffer from secondary and ongoing trauma during the legal process when they are asked to continuously recount their stories, undergo invasive examinations and have their own behaviors scrutinized and questioned. The National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCLVI) is a nonprofit legal education and advocacy organization based at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. NCVLI’s mission is to actively promote balance and fairness in the justice system through crime victim centered legal advocacy, education, and resource sharing. On this week's Conversation with The Reluctant Therapist, host Elizabeth Barrett interviews NCLVI Executive Director Meg Garvin about her work as a leading expert on victim's rights and her life's work as a lawyer, professor and advocate.

What starts out as a curiosity can become a passion and then on some occasions — a vocation. An artist’s professional life often finds them before they realize they have a gift. That’s the beginning of the story of touring musician, composer and producer Mike Blankenship. Host Elizabeth Barrett welcomes Blankenship for a conversation with this extraordinary keyboardist for the band Michael Franti and Spearhead, about his love of music, performing, being an activist for his community and role model for his son.

In an effort to stay informed many of us may be consuming more news than our mind can process. As the 24/7 news cycle has grown, so have the incidents of anxiety, depression and panic in the general public. Host Elizabeth Barrett welcomes journalism professor Kim Bisheff. In addition to her teaching, she is an award-winning author and expert on the spread of misinformation through social networks. Barrett and Bisheff tackle a question increasingly on our minds: How do we protect our mental health and well-being in an age of over-stimulation?

The first hour of life outside the womb is a special time when babies meet their parents for the first time and a family is formed. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and should not be interrupted unless the baby or mother is unstable and requires medical resuscitation. It is a "sacred" time that should be honored, cherished and protected whenever possible.

When one consciously invests in life, the possible accomplishments are limitless. It is something Dr. Ryan Alaniz is keenly aware of. He is an associate professor in Cal Poly's sociology department, an author, researcher and community builder. Dr. Alaniz is an expert in disaster relief, social change, water scarcity & drought and correctional education. He is also a father, farmer, beekeeper, soccer player, kayak guide, and tender of the earth. Host Elizabeth Barrett speaks with Dr. Alaniz

Dr. Riane Eisler, author, social systems scientist and knowledge leader, may be best known for her culture-shifting, award winning book, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future. But it is her current work as the president of the Center for Partnership Studies and book, Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives and Future , that may be her most powerful transformational gift to our collective cultural narrative.

For many, the path to adulthood has been drastically accelerated, and altered, over the last year with the pandemic and a rapidly changing social structure that has called into question many of our long-held beliefs regarding what it means to be a grown-up. Host Elizabeth Barrett welcomes this week's guest, David Gudiel. He is a seeker, empath, and former Cal Poly student. The two discuss navigating the world when you don't conform or relate to, the cultural and familial narratives you were

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a time to educate communities and individuals about how to prevent sexual violence. Host Elizabeth Barrett speaks with guest Jennifer Storm, a survivor and victim's rights expert, about her powerful personal story. She has devoted her life advocating for victims of crimes and is the author of six critically acclaimed books about addiction and recovery.

For many birthgivers, the childbirth process has become one that has not centered around the birthgiver, which is what Eri Guajardo Johnson strives recenter through decolonizing and liberating birthgivers. This week, host Elizabeth Barrett welcomes Guajardo Johnson, a queer, biracial birthworker and community educator. She is the founder of Birth Bruja , an online educaitonal platform devoted to intersectional, liberational and decolonial approaches to birth work, healing and life.