About My Practice

I am a Certified Sex Therapist in Columbia, South Carolina, having obtained my certification through the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).  I have a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan, and Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of South Carolina.  I have been in private practice as a marriage, family and sex therapist for 20 years.

From 1985 to 1990, while in Michigan, I worked with runaway teenagers in a crisis shelter, getting teens off the streets and back to their families, through a short-term residential treatment program and family counseling.  Working with teens, I saw many teenagers involved in dangerous sexual activities, from prostitution to unwanted premarital sex, with consequences ranging from pregnancy to Sexually Transmitted Diseases, to distrust with relationships.  In addition, many runaway teens were victims of child sexual abuse and rape.

I wrote Virgin S-E-X because as a sex therapist, I see women every day who come in for therapy with an amazing complaint:  they hate sex, and sometimes do not like themselves or men because of early negative sexual experiences.  Often, these women had difficult sexual experiences in their teen years that affected them for many years.  Later in their life, when they were in serious relationships or married and wanted to experience a normal loving relationship, they were unable to.

My mission is to help teenagers STOP getting hurt by sex.  Unfortunately, many teenagers do not have real sexuality education to help them make the most positive choices about relationships and first sexual experiences.  Virgin S-E-X is about being educated about healthy sexuality and making choices that a girl will not regret, for the first time and every time.