Something Positive for Positive 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...

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, ...

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 interrog...

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 th...

"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 rejecti...

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 pra...

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 tra...

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 diag...

The excitement for this one right here is representative of what SPFPP is all about. I've been getting rejected left and right for grants and I THINK after this most recent one, I'm just not supposed to be doing that. The impact of SPFPP isn't contingent on how much money comes in. I've gotten real good at being resourceful and also somehow things just been working out to where we've been able to sustain, so I'm officially done sub...

Our guest this week shares insights about sharing her diagnosis with her therapist, which led her to SPFPP. This is one of those episodes I would call encouraging, but grounded. Perspective is a mofo. You'll hear the amount of effort someone effort someone can put in only for us to STILL potentially self-reject ourselves. Our guest shares an awesome date story that'll give ya hope or give ya the "nope" but the cho...

Make sure you’re able to watch the video on this if you can. This isn’t an interview or experience episode, it’s a hard launch of the revised and easier to navigate herpes support and education platform, Something Positive for Positive People (SPFPP). I’ve not been very active with the website exactly and that’s because I just got spoiled with Instagram. Lately the visibility of my posts and education and information has been TRASH...

The title may have been a lil dramatic lol. I’m catching myself get repetitive with these podcasts and I notice guests haven’t been appearing lately. People tired, political state of the US is trash, life is lifing, the algorithm has discouraged me from putting effort into posting and getting engagement like I had before the pandemic, and it’s just a lot of shit presenting challenges to continued growth at the caliber we’ve had his...

This one is heavy. We talk about suicide with someone in the Ideation aspect of it. I'm not a mental health professional nor do I have any licenses or anything like that. I will say I am a human who can just ask questions, listen, and be present. Personal takeaways are that really people suffering are often told what to do but not asked what they need. Listen in on our guest's experience and hopefully this helps you feel su...

My grandpa had this dream my mom told me about that I was a preacher. As somebody whose spiritual values align WAY off from anything remotely related to religion, I think it speaks to how all this is held together.

I align with a lot of Yoga philosophy and I’ve integrated bits and pieces of what points me in the direction of what in Demon Slayer (anime) is referred to as the Transparent World. What’s beautiful about this too is...

Yes. For those who like the short version of things, you absolutely can be Nonmonogamous if you have herpes. I talk from my own personal experience in this podcast episode and shake the dust off from not talking about my experience for so long, being mindful of those around me so I don’t talk about my partners or offer too much detail there just out of respect to them.

When navigating a herpes diagnosis and dating/relationships it’...

This episode I wanted to just have something to reference for people who want to know my experience. Usually support calls bring in questions about me and my experience from diagnosis to the point of having created the SPFPP platform.

I share my experience with my first symptoms, my diagnosis, the early resources I was provided with, disclosures and dating. This is the story leading n up to the start of the podcast with some sp...

Closed mouths don’t get fed! SO LADIES AND FEMMES SHOOT YOUR SHOT!

In this conversation with Goddess Bats (@actuallybats), we talk about various intersections of identity when navigating herpes, polyamory, sex work, rejection, and identity. Together, we go over:

• What does it feel like to be blamed for “giving” someone herpes—and how do you advocate for yourself one-on-one?

• Are statistics useful, or just a paradox when “everyone ha...

When I tell you all that this was an unexpected conversation, I cannot tell you how . . . surprised I was. You'll hear it in the interview how shocked I was when the topic came up. I knew we'd talk about herpes, but the Bipolar conversation was something that naturally came up.

We go into what bipolar episodes for our guest were like, the hypersexuality that ironically didn't lead to her herpes diagnosis, and how people around her ...