In My Own Words...

Thirty years as a family therapist, sex therapist, teacher, speaker, researcher, poet, editor, and author prepared me to conduct the ISIS survey. Since the 1970s, I've listened to thousands of women voice their feelings about their sexual relationships-their concerns and fears, ecstasies, wishes, and dreams of what might be. I've led sexuality workshops for women across the U.S. , keynoted scientific conferences, and trained physicians, nurses, social workers, family therapists, and other health providers to include sexual issues in their intake assessments and treatment plans.

Books and Other Projects

The Heart and Soul of Sex will be followed by two more books based on the ISIS survey. One will be on the ISIS findings on sexual relationships, and the next will focus on passion and compassion in late-life sexual relationships. Both will be published by Shambhala.

I've also written Women Who Love Sex: An Inquiry into the Expanding Spirit of Women's Erotic Experience (Pocket Books, 1994, 1995; Rev. Ed.: Womanspirit Press, 1999). This book has been published in nine countries, with sales of over 50,000 copies, and was a selection of One Spirit and Quality Paperback Book Clubs.

In 1994, I produced a companion educational video to show the diversity of the women interviewed for the book. Women Who Love Sex: Creating New Images of Our Sexual Selves is in the video libraries of universities and health clinics across the country.

I am currently helping to create a CD-ROM that addresses sexual issues confronting women in late-life. The Best Is Yet to Come: Women Talk about Sex and Menopause will be published by Our Bodies, Ourselves in conjunction with Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston , Mass. A Spanish-speaking sequel to this CD is in the planning stage.

I've also written a book on family therapy ( When a Family Needs Therapy) and a psychology-oriented cookbook for people in recovery from addictions ( Food for Body and Soul: Recipes for Recovery ). My other books on women's sexuality include Safe Encounters: How Women Can Say Yes to Pleasure and No to Unsafe Sex (co-authored with Beverly Whipple); and Sexual Recovery : Everywoman's Guide through Sexual Codependency ).

In addition, I have edited a women's newspaper and a poetry journal and written for consumer magazines including Parade, Ms. , Ladies Home Journal, Fitness, New Woman, and New Age. I've also written chapters for five academic books, and reviews and articles for sexology journals. A peer-reviewed paper on the ISIS survey, "Sexuality and Spirituality in Women's Relationships," was published in 2002 by the Wellesley Centers for Research on Women ( www.wcwonline.org.)

Clinical Experience, Teaching, and Education

I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified sex-therapy diplomate, and an associate professor of sexology at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. I'm also a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and numerous other professional organizations. I'm a consulting editor for three professional publications, including Contemporary Sexuality , the journal of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. I served as a consultant to the U.S. Surgeon General's 2001 "Call to Action for Healthy Sexual Behavior" and as a consulting editor for the 1998 and 2005 editions of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

My Ph.D. in sexology is from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. My M.A. is in family therapy from Goddard College , and my B.A. is in English literature, from Smith College . During parts of the last ten years, while working on the ISIS project, I have been a Visiting Scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Northeastern University Women's Studies Department, and the Wellesley College Centers for Research on Women. In 2002, I was invited to join an innovative group, "Women Healing Women," at Harvard Divinity School 's Center for the Study of World Religions.

Apprenticeships in Body and Spirit

These years of ISIS research have also led me on a journey to my own ongoing spiritual practices and I've experienced the wonderful work of many healers and teachers. These include an apprenticeship in ceremonial shamanism with Peruvian curandero, Oscar Miro-Quesada (www.mesaworks.com), and practica in extraordinary body consciousness with movement innovator, Emilie Conrad (www.continuummovement.com).

Grants

Through Harvard Divinity School 's Center for the Study of World Religions a project was funded for me to explore sexual issues for menopausal women that will inform the third Shambhala book in the ISIS series. The Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality funded a study on the multidimensionality of meaningful sexual experience that informs The Heart and Soul of Sex. Cornell University 's Kroch Library has contracted to archive the ISIS survey data in its human sexuality collection, ensuring the availability of these data as primary source material for future researchers.

A Call for Collaboration

Are you a scholar or healer who's developed your own ideas about sexual and spiritual energy and how they connect in our lives? If you wish to collaborate on a project that expands how we think and talk about these issues, please contact me. I may be able to work directly with you or connect you with likeminded colleagues.