In honor of Mother’s Day, Jane, Rosara, and Sabitha are talking about mothering, the havoc it wreaks with our lives, the discoveries, and impacts on our sexuality. They also wonder aloud about daughtering, especially as their parents age. Join us for a look into the lives of our co-hosts. And let us know your thoughts.

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As always, thanks for listening!

Our guest this time is Mx. Sizzle, a trailblazing Persian and Kurdish hard femme who serves as a sexual health, BDSM, and kink educator. They hold a bachelor’s degree from New College of Florida and a master's degree in public health from the University of Florida, with a focus on queer and transgender health. As the founder of "A Different Kind of Different, LLC," they create safe spaces for sexuality exploration and empowerment that prioritize equity and justice. Mx. Sizzle’s nationally acclaimed workshops and unwavering dedication to amplifying marginalized voices have a profound and positive impact on society. Their pursuit of a PhD in Clinical Sexology is a testament to their commitment to education and inclusivity, while inspiring others to join the movement of decolonizing sex education.

Learn more about Mx. Sizzle on their website: mxsizzle.com, and check out these great articles on kink and sexual health!

In other news… Our Better Half won the 2024 AASECT Podcast Award! We are thrilled to have received this award from AASECT and we are so grateful for you all listening and supporting our podcast.

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As always, thanks for listening!

Our guest this time is Kathy Labriola, a nurse, counselor, and hypnotherapist in Berkeley, California. She has provided affordable mental health services to alternative communities for the past 30 years. Kathy is the author of four books on consensual non-monogamy including her latest, Polyamorous Elders: Aging in Open Relationships.

She is extra crunchy, rides a bike, lives in a housing cooperative, grows organic vegetables, raises chickens, and has been a card-carrying bisexual and polyamorist for 50 years.

If you want to learn more about Kathy Labriola and her writing, check out her website at www.kathylabriola.com!

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Our guest this time is the wonderful Dr. Israel Martinez, a certified sex therapist and coach with a group practice that specializes in therapy with the LGBTQ+, ethically non-monogamous, and kink/BDSM communities. He is the author of the book Helping Gay Men Find Love: Tips for Guys on Dating and Beginning a Healthy Relationship, has been published in the book Social Workers: Finding Real Solutions to Real Problems, and created and curates www.queermentalhealthhelp.com. He also supervises and trains other therapists to more ethically and effectively treat clients within gender, sexual, and relationship diversity. Dr. Martinez is clinically licensed in NY and NJ. He lives in NJ with his husband, Matt, and their cat, Mijo. You can reach him at www.LGBTtherapyNJ.com.

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Tushabe Wa Tushabe, an Assistant Professor at Widener University in The Center for Human Sexuality Studies, graduated from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, in Indiana, earned a Master's in women's studies from Texas Women's University, and received a Ph.D. in Decolonial African Epistemologie from Binghamton University.

Tushabe's research interests focus on decolonial and indigenous knowledges and practices, and sexualities through languages. When not in the classroom, writing, or mentoring students, Tushabe can be found enjoying the outdoors, especially waterfalls, mountains, and hiking. When Tushabe is with family, they enjoy listening to the young and the elders in the community tell stories they grew up hearing from their elders.

If you would like to learn more about Tushabe’s work, you can check it out HERE!

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Cindy Gallop is a woman taking the world by storm, disrupting venture capital and erotic imagery available online. Cindy is an advertising consultant, the founder and former chair of the US branch of the advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and, most important for our conversation today, she is the founder of If We Ran The World and MakeLoveNotPorn. Cindy's TED Talk is one of the most talked about presentations from the 2009 TED conference, and she was recently quoted in the New York Times.

Go check out Cindy’s amazing work at MakeLoveNotPorn, and If We Ran The World!

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Dr. Igor Grabovac graduated in Medicine from the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb in Croatia. During his student days, he developed an interest in improving health in vulnerable communities and conducted research on discrimination of LGBT patients and doctors in the Croatian health care system. He has worked for the International Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer Youth and Student Organization (IGLYO) as a member of the Health Working Group, where he was involved with policy and research on access to healthcare for young LGBTIQA+ people in Europe.

After a medical internship and obtaining his medical license as a general practitioner, he started working at the Institute of Occupational Medicine, University Clinic for Internal Medicine at the Vienna General Hospital. He has also earned his doctorate in Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, where he was the first resident physician in public health in Austria at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. Igor also coordinates the Public Health curriculum for undergraduate students in human medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. He is also a co-editor of the recent book, Sexual Behaviour and Health in Older Adults.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Igor Grabovac and his work, go check out his lab, and his research.

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As always, thanks for listening!

Our guest today is Tyler Buchiero. Tyler is a licensed clinical social worker and AASECT certified sex therapist. He earned his master’s degree from the Greater Rochester Collaborative program and currently also works for the University of Rochester in their older adult service.

He has a particular interest in working with individuals struggling with sexual functioning problems, as well as intimacy issues and LGBTQ related concerns. Tyler works through the lens that the understanding and intervention in these complex life experiences is driven by the strength of the therapeutic relationship; as he says in the episode, “What is shame but the story that we're telling ourselves?” To that end, safety is foundational to all treatment, as is the pursuit of the emotional truth of the situation.

He uses multiple therapeutic approaches and discusses one that he has developed an interest in while working with older clients -- acceptance and commitment therapy. If you’d like to learn more about Tyler, check out his website here.

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As always, thanks for listening!

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Gretchen Frey back to the podcast. We first interviewed Gretchen right after she retired from her specialty in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She practiced Gynecology from 2010 until 2021.

She is now completely retired from clinical practice focusing primarily on sexuality education. ​Sabitha and Jane taught a pre-conference seminar with Gretchen a few years ago with another colleague and had a great time working together! During her years of working as a physician, she developed special expertise in treating older adults and saw many patients with formerly undiagnosed sexually transmitted infections or STIs.

A number of our listeners have asked us to focus more on this area so we asked Gretchen to come back and talk with us about STIs. She talks with Sabitha and Jane about STIs and focuses specifically on Herpes Simplex Virus. She provides us with a common sense approach to testing, treatment, and the difficult issue of shame. If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Frey, check out 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!

Our guest this time is Dr. Pebble Kranz from the Rochester Center for Sexual Wellness. She is a Family Medicine doctor with a background in theater who now specializes in sexual medicine.

Mentored by a beloved sex therapist, the late Gina Ogden, she has been trained in sexual medicine through the European Society of Sexual Medicine and became a Fellow of the European Committee on Sexual Medicine (FECSM) in 2018.

Because one training program is never enough, she also has trained with the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), the American Association of Sexuality Counselors Educators and Therapists (AASECT), and the World Professional Association on Transgender Health (WPATH) where she is pursuing certification in gender-affirming medical care.

Dr. Kranz founded the Rochester Center for Sexual Wellness with her husband Dan Rosen, a sex therapist and supervisor in 2017. They see patients and clients of all genders and also do training for therapists interested in becoming sex therapists and sexuality counselors. Since 2021, she has been honored to serve on the board of the Scientific Network on Female Sexual Health and Cancer.

Pebble talks with Sabitha and Jane about seeing her patients as whole people, exploring their life stories, asking what sex means to them in their own bodies, and enjoys teaching about so many areas of sexual health and wellness.

If you’re interested in more information about Pebble Kranz, please check out her page on the Rochester Center for Sexual Wellness 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!

Our guest this time is Rev. Jennifer Brower, Certified Life Coach, semi-retired Unitarian Universalist minister, and Fellow in Thanatology. We talk with her about death, dying, and bereavement and their links to sexuality.

She works with people who are navigating significant life transitions. Some are joyful, like marriage, and others, like mourning a death or loss, are not. Rev. Jennifer Brower is a native of Manhattan, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York City and, with her one child off to college, she has just become an empty nester. Rev. Jennifer Brower was also one of the ministers in Rosara’s home UU congregation and she performed the ceremony where Rosara chose a godmother, Rosara’s wedding, and both of Rosara’s children's naming and dedication ceremonies. Join us for an enlightening conversation on death and sex.

Listeners, check out our Rev. Jennifer Brower's website, Instagram, and Facebook pages. And if you are interested in end-of-life choices in New York State or Associations for Death Education, you can find more information here.

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!