Our Better Half

Please join us for a fantastic conversation with Natalie Malone, a counseling psychologist and doctoral candidate at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on Black women's sexual/reproductive health and holistic wellness. Natalie is a 200-hour registered yoga and pilates teacher who integrates complementary health approaches and embodiment practices into her research and clinical services. She is a published author with 48 publications in scientific journals and textbooks. Additionally, she is a celebrated speaker with over 20 presentations domestically and internationally.

Natalie shared some great resources with us, including her mentor, Dr. Candice Nicole Hargons', new book: Good Sex: Stories, Science, and Strategies for Sexual Liberation, the podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama and her big brother Craig Robinson, and her own work.

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Great news - we got picked up for another season of Our Better Half! Stay tuned for another year of insightful conversations featuring top experts in the field of sexuality and aging.

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As always, thanks for listening!

Join our co-hosts this week, Jane Fleishman, Jayleen Galarza-Patterson, and Rosara Torrisi, for a rich and interesting conversation unpacking the term 'sexual ageism', talking about it from their professional lives as educators and therapists. Reviewing two articles about why older adults do have sex and why they don't. Fascinating results! Listeners might also enjoy Jane's article on the impacts of social and political upheaval on older adults' sexuality.

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As always, thanks for listening!

Our guest this time is Dr. Margaret Nichols. Dr. Nichols, Ph.D., is a psychologist, AASECT certified sex therapy supervisor, founder, and first Executive Director of the Institute for Personal Growth, a psychotherapy organization in New Jersey specializing in clinical work with the sex, relationship, and gender diverse community. She is the author of The Modern Clinician's Guide to Working with LGBTQ+ Clients: The Inclusive Psychotherapist. Dr. Nichols is an international speaker and author of many articles on LGBTQ sexuality, transgender youth, kink, and consensual nonmonogamy, as well as the co-director of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes' Transgender Mental Health certification program.

Dr. Nichols has been licensed since 1981 and trained as a sex therapist since 1983. In 1983, she founded the Institute for Personal Growth, and in 1985, she helped found and served as the first Executive Director of the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, New Jersey's largest HIV social service agency. Since she sold IPG in 2018, Dr. Nichols has maintained a small private psychotherapy practice and a roster of sex therapy supervisees across the country.

Resources on ways to support trans and non-binary people:

• Supporting transgender people in your life - Advocates for trans equality

• How to be an ally to trans and non-binary people - Trevor Project

• How to be an ally to trans and non-binary people - George Mason LGBTQ+ center

• Dr. Margie Nichols' TED talk

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As always, thanks for listening!

Join us for an exciting conversation with inventors Michael Weiss-Malik and Elizabeth Dell, co-founders of Groove Thing, a way to bring music vibrations inside your body, an astounding invention. They say it's a way to "transform your body into a concert hall." Not a sex toy, not a musical instrument, it's more of a tactile music experience and a synthesis of music and sensation. For older adults, it's an experience of pleasure for many types of bodies -- it's low impact, and it's about letting the music radiate inside the body. If you're interested in learning more, please go to their website.

If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show!

As always, thanks for listening!

Join a few of our co-hosts for a light, lovely, humorous, and educational romp through some challenges of ageism and how they combat ageism through sexual pleasure.

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As always, thanks for listening!

Our guest this time is Dr. Damon Constantinides, a queer and trans psychotherapist, sex therapist, sex coach, and trainer living and working on Lenape land. His work focuses on centering the lived experiences of queer and trans folks using a narrative and relational clinical approach. Dr. Constantinides believes that we can only do this work in community and offers a weekly consultation group for trans and non-binary clinicians. Through his coaching practice, Dr. Constantinides offers regular virtual groups including a Trans Masc 30+ Connections Group and a Trans Masc Sexual Pleasure Coaching Group. He is the co-author of the book, Sex Therapy with Erotically Marginalized Clients. He is deeply grateful to his ancestors and transcestors who made it possible for him to thrive and support his community.

We had a deep and beautiful conversation about the need to center trans and queer experiences with our clients, especially older clients, and here are some links to the work we spoke about with him:

• Difference between pleasure versus performance model

• Sara McClelland on intimate justice

• Damon Constantinides' website

• Sex Therapy with Erotically Marginalized Clients Nine Principles of Clinical Support by Constantinides, Sennott and Chandler

If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show!

As always, thanks for listening!

Our guests this time are the dynamic duo, mother/daughter team of The Buehler Institute, Dr. Stephanie Buehler and Anneka Buehler.

Stephanie Buehler, MPW, PsyD, CST-S, IF, is a licensed psychologist, AASECT-certified sex Therapist and Supervisor, and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health. She is the President of The Buehler Institute and LearnSexTherapy.com, which provides APA, AASECT, NBCC, and California BRN-approved inclusive continuing education in sex therapy and sexuality counseling. In addition to pelvic pain disorders and using the sexological ecosystemic approach she developed, Dr. Buehler has written about and lectured on the intersection of sexuality and sexual identity, thriving after breast and prostate cancer; neurodivergent sexuality and relationships; post-trauma recovery of sexual function and pleasure; counseling for couples; infertility, pregnancy, and post-partum issues; and menopause and other lifespan concerns affecting women. She provides AASECT individual and group supervision and case consultation to therapists. She is the author of several books, including the third edition of What Every Mental Health Provider Needs to Know about Sex.

Anneka Buehler, MEd, is a recent graduate of George Mason University with a master's degree in counseling. She is the Vice President of The Buehler Institute and is a true multi-tasker responsible for directing day-to-day operations, marketing and social media, and content development. Ms. Buehler is an intern at a group practice that serves DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Her areas of concentration include working with neurodiverse clients, trauma, pelvic pain, and kink, and she has extensive experience with the LGBTQ+ population.

If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show!

As always, thanks for listening!

Dr. Laurie Betito is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in sex therapy. She has been a practicing psychotherapist for over 30 years. Nearly three decades ago, she began her radio career as a co-host on MIX 96 in Montreal, a station that broke barriers by launching The Love Line, a weekly call-in show dedicated to sex and relationships.

In 1999, she joined CJAD 800 with her own nightly talk show, PASSION, which remained on the air for 22 years. She has since moved her show away from commercial radio and into the podcasting world with The Passion Podcast where she continues to talk about love, sex, and relationships. She was also affiliated with the Montreal General Hospital's Human Sexuality Unit for many years.

Dr. Laurie continues to lecture extensively in Montreal and across North America. She is the Director of the Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center, the author of The Sex Bible for People Over 50, and has done two TEDx talks: The Pleasure Principle: The Secret to a Better Sex Life, and Passion vs. sex: ensuring the viability of your relationship. Learn more about Dr. Laurie Betito by visiting her website!

If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show!

As always, thanks for listening!

Dr. Callie Freitag is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work. Her work focuses on safety net policies related to aging, disability, and poverty. Prior to that, Callie was a policy analyst & advocate focusing on aging and long-term care policy in California.

We recorded this conversation on January 6, 2025, a difficult day in America, when insurrectionists tried to take over the Capitol building in 2020. An auspicious day. The new administration in Washington is already looking to be a disaster for many Americans, especially for people over 65 who qualify for Medicare and Social Security, and are disabled or poor and qualify for Medicaid. Our guest has been studying social policy and aging and has some great insights and ideas about how to mobilize our energies. We are delighted to bring this hopeful conversation to all of our listeners!

If you'd like to get in touch with Dr. Callie Freitag, you can find out more here. And if you'd like more information about some of the groups mentioned on this show:

Groups working on immigration reform:

• National Immigration Law Center

• National Immigrant Justice Center

Here are some resources to track anti-trans and anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation:

• Anti-Trans Legislation Tracker

• ACLU Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures in 2024:

• Human Rights Campaign Map: Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State

Additional resources:

• Third Act

• Indivisible

• Diverse Elders Coalition

• National Immigration Law Center

• National Immigration Justice Center

For information on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and their state-level affiliates.

If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show!

As always, thanks for listening!