I had every intention of making my last podcast episode being on this topic but I was called to take a different route based on the direction this episode went. I interviewed a member of the Women's Support support group as well as a Yoga Therapy client at the time of this recording. Herpes and Spirituality is one of the main searches that drive people to SPFPP, and many of the people I talk to have a background of Christianity, growing up Catholic, and our conversations generally head in the direction of speaking to their relationship to God. With all this free time I'll have from no longer running the podcast, I'll be able to read the Bible myself and be able to have more fitting conversations with people coming from that purity culture upbringing. I enjoyed getting to bounce some reflections off someone in this conversation rather than doing it alone and rambling too much, so I'm grateful to Lia for letting me talk her ear off and tie her experiences together with this conversation topic that has become so meaningful to so many people.

I interview _Laurentellsstories (Instagram page) who reached out to me yesterday. She and I recorded today and spoke about what inspired her to tell her story about dating with herpes. She's been a beast in the dating world, so hearing from her would be inspiring to someone looking to get to the other side of their diagnosis and start dating again. She shares a little about not telling people about her herpes status in the past and we talk through the mindset of that space. A rejection in 2021 sent her down the path of finding passion in storytelling and she decided to be open about her status the literal day of this podcast recording and upload. Be sure to be on the lookout for her One Woman Show in Chicago and perhaps the world depending on the year you listen to this.

I interviewed a man named John who speaks with me about his experience in recovery for sex addiction. We open with me challenging him on how he introduced himself only for him to kick it back to me, which I love! My guy is going to be a public speaker one day and I commend him often throughout the episode for his willingness to share such vulnerable insights as someone who is in recovery. While herpes was what brought us together, that by far is not all there is to his story. He speaks about sharing his status with his parents, spending addiction, what it can be like to date someone who is in recovery, as well as his own challenges in his healing process. Stay tuned for this podcast episode where we get to hear from a man with herpes beyond just his diagnosis as we round out our final few episodes leading to the big 400th episode celebration in Brooklyn.

We also need more people to take our survey!

This podcast episode on Love Addiction is a good description of that.

Herpes has taught me more about sex than any of my sex education teachers, girlfriends, educators, have. And honestly I can't even say it's sex I've learned, it's intimacy. With four more episodes til retirement of SPFPP's podcast, it felt aligned to talk to ya'll. It's been an interesting day home. I had some aspects of my inner most being reflected back to me and in genuine Courtney fashion, I interrogated it with curiosity.

My relationship to sex and the partners I've given the title of girlfriend are interconnected as they've shaped my earliest ideas not just of sex, but also intimacy. Having herpes changed how I do sex, and in interrogating that, I inherently developed a new idea of what intimacy is. We're on the countdown to episode 400 and celebrating in NYC!

Hailing all the way from Alabama, well, actually Florida, but Alabaman roots, our guest this week. Jade is the founder of Essentially Prepped, integrating essential oils and lifestyle coaching. For those looking for another option for herpes support, listen to this episode and see if she's someone who resonates with you.

We talk about stigma in the south and some of how Jade's dating experiences have gone. We speak about the fluidity of sexuality as it relates in the south along with being publicly visible as people living with herpes and the pros and cons of this. You can connect with Jade on Instagram @essentiallyprepped and check out her stie here.

"I really didn't realize how ashamed I was about how happy I am". In this episode I reflect on just how much I've pushed down my happiness both publicly and even privately just to keep other people comfortable especially in a time where there's not much visibility of joy and happiness. Releasing my resistances to joy, happiness, pleasure, and receiving brought up many emotions, including the last of my rejections for applying for grants! I speak about growth, rejection, the nervous system, and how herpes helps with identifying the need to manage stress.

In this episode, I talk through what SPFPP support groups are, how they started, and what people can expect when they join. I share how these spaces are less about advice and more about being seen, and why presence matters more than performance. Whether you're new to herpes or just looking for community, this episode breaks down how the groups work and why they matter. Learn more about the herpes support group for men and women.

Jealousy, rejection, and other perceived negatives are broken down not as bad things, but as infinite potential. Take something that makes you jealous for instance, you can either be inspired by it to be better, or you can want to corrupt it and make it worse. The intensity of emotion that comes with the label of jealousy is what it is, but we assign a narrative to the label which can create an identity behind it.

There's a practice of attaching and releasing that's the natural flow of rhythm that all beings adhere to, and the same way it applies to jealousy, it applies to fear, and applies to rejection. This'll make all the sense if you can make it through my rambling and sharing of personal experiences of jealousy and how I apply its lessons to self-rejection which is the only rejection that truly exists for us on this episode of Something Positive for Positive People.

Our guest is a therapist specializing in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), but when she was diagnosed with HSV-2, she found herself in unfamiliar territory, navigating a rare neurological complication, medical dismissal, and the emotional weight of a life-altering diagnosis. In this episode, she and I discuss what it means to be the helper who needs help. We unpack Ellsberg Syndrome, and how the medical field did NOT exercise trauma-informed communication, and the power of integrity, validation, and DBT as an option for people with herpes in their healing. This episode is a great example of how herpes stigma intersects with the mental health field, and why remembering who you are validates your identity and jump starts the healing process.

After a herpes diagnosis, dating can feel daunting, but community can change everything. In this episode, I sit down with Rachel to expand on her experience navigating self-stigma, dating, and disclosure after contracting genital HSV-1. We discuss how therapy, community, and self-reflection helped Rachel reconnect to her voice, reclaim her confidence, and find grounding after emotional turbulence. If you’ve ever felt like your diagnosis defined you or held you back from dating, this episode offers comfort for wherever you may be in your own diagnosis.