Sex Therapy 101 with Cami Hurst

The shadow of colonial history still haunts our bedrooms. Sex therapist Anne Mauro reveals how historical trauma and cultural messaging create a perfect storm pushing women to consent to sex they don't truly desire.

Drawing from her extensive clinical experience, Mauro unpacks the complex intersection of race and sexuality—what she terms "ethno-sexuality"—with remarkable clarity. She traces how patriarchal f...

Notes from my guest Amy Furuyama:

• “I want to acknowledge that many interracial relationships between Asian women and white men are loving, respectful, and not rooted in fetishization. What I’m sharing here comes from the experiences of some of my clients, not a reflection of every interracial relationship.”
• “Japan has formally acknowledged its role in the wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women. However, many Koreans feel that...

Aubri Lancaster shares her expertise on asexuality and consent, introducing  frameworks like "favor vs. chore" and the spectrum from sex-favorable to sex-repulsed that apply to everyone regardless of orientation. She challenges our cultural understanding of intimacy and desire, offering practical tools for healthier relationships.

• Understanding consenting to unwanted sex - acknowledging when sex is consensual y...

What happens when we say yes to sex we don't actually want? In this deeply insightful exploration of "duty sex," I sit down with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fyfe to unpack the profound psychological impact of consenting to unwanted sexual experiences in long-term relationships.

My research has uncovered troubling patterns: when partners (particularly women in this study) consistently consent to sex they don'...

What if the problem isn't that you don't want sex, but that the sex you're having isn't worth wanting? This revolutionary perspective from Dr. Betty Martin, creator of the Wheel of Consent framework, challenges everything we've been taught about sexual desire.

In this illuminating conversation, Betty explains why many women find themselves caught in a pattern of consenting to unwanted sex, leading ...

What happens when women repeatedly consent to sex they don't want? Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers, founder of the Northwest Institute on Intimacy and author of "Sex, God and the Conservative Church," joins us to explore this question with unexpected depth and historical context.

This conversation takes a fascinating turn as Dr. Tina traces how patriarchy, politics, and religious messaging converged to create a pr...

Research on consenting to unwanted sex reveals surprising trauma symptoms and resentment even without coercion, creating an internal "accountability conflict with yourself" when betraying your own boundaries.

• Shadeen Francis explains resentment as information revealing unmet needs or crossed boundaries.

Shadeen Francis is a licensed marriage and family psychotherapist and a board-certified sex therapist. Her exp...

We dive into the complex world of "consenting to unwanted sex" with Al Vernacchio, a comprehensive sex educator who brings unique insights from his position at a Quaker school. Our conversation explores why many women agree to sex they don't desire and the cultural influences that create these situations.

Al Vernacchio, MSEd teaches at Friends' Central School in Wynnewood, PA. He is the Coordinator of G...

What happens when women repeatedly say "yes" to sex they don't actually want? The answer might surprise—and disturb—you.

Dr. Cami Hurst pulls back the curtain on her groundbreaking PhD research examining the hidden consequences of "duty sex" in long-term relationships. Drawing from over 1,300 women's experiences, she reveals striking findings that challenge our understanding of consent and sexual health...