-by Becky

So, if you're going to read a blog "by Becky," you probably want to know a little about Becky, right?   I figured.  It's my intuition.  Which makes me a great therapist.  And friend.  I'm great at both.  But, you'll learn that soon enough.

So, Becky.  Where to begin?  Well, since this is a blog about my burgeoning professional career as a sex therapist, let's begin at the beginning of my development into becoming such a thing.  Therapy, as it were, has been "what I've wanted to do" since I was 14.  Good therapists and nasty divorces will convince of this (but I digress).  I worked at an inpatient facility while I was in college, where I obtained a BS in Psychology and a double major in Religion.  Initially, I wanted to work with adolescents, but after working with adolescents on an inpatient unit for two and a half years, I changed my mind.  I decided to work with adults, parents really.  

I decided, for several reasons and at my mother's dismay, that sexuality and sex therapy was my true academic and professional calling.  I wanted to work with couples so that they could learn to communicate and model this for their children.  I wanted to talk about a topic I think is too taboo for school all the time (because I was that kid in health class).  I wanted to help others, like I had helped my peers through high school and college, find happy, healthy, safe sexuality.  I wanted to give people, all people, the right to decide what type of sex they wanted to have, if they wanted to have it at all.  I really just wanted to talk openly and honestly about something I think people are too scared or too ashamed to talk about in most places in their life.

I went to grad school for two Master's at once, because I was that kind of motivated.  There, I studied Clinical Social Work and Human Sexuality Education.  These two programs "work together" to provide graduates with abilities to work clinically in sexuality-intensive areas.  My focus entering grad school was HIV, an area of sexuality I still hold dear to my heart.

While in grad school and living in Philadelphia, I worked part-time at a residential facility with seniors with acute mental health diagnosis.  I had an internship as a medical case manager with individuals living with HIV and a clinical internship in college counseling.  Both of these internships sealed my fate as a clinician at heart, and taught me a lot about who I was becoming and how I can best serve people.

So, I have returned to Lancaster County, my birthplace, to instill hope, healing, and sexual health for my clientele.  I work in private practice at the southern end of county, and enjoy every moment.  Every day I am in awe of what parts of themselves my clients allow me to hold, how these individuals trust me and my knowledge, and allow me to be present with them on their journeys through life.  Wowzers.  Every day.

But, most importantly of course, I get to talk about sex.  A lot.  All day, if I had my way.  Just wait until we get to talk about that stuff.