by iamclinic | Dec 20, 2019 | Couples Counseling, Sexuality
Given our natural neurology, open relationships will mean different things to different people. Our sexbrain––the name for the various mechanisms found within our physical bodies and neuroanatomy that guide self-understanding and intimacy at large––is determined by a...
by iamclinic | Dec 19, 2019 | Couples Counseling, Sexuality
Two strapping young men sat on my couch, wet boots soaking the office carpet. The heavy rain outside was nothing compared to the ways in which they felt drenched in hopelessness. Both toiled over the consideration that an open relationship might be right for them. In...
by iamclinic | Dec 17, 2019 | Couples Counseling, Sexuality
Open relationships are the new sandbox where many LGBTQ+ persons test out their relational skills. Can we explore new relationships and not violate one another’s boundaries? Will our health,our sex and our emotional intimacy thrive because of open relationships, or...
by iamclinic | Nov 15, 2019 | Sexuality
I like to think that counseling is a snowglobe of our expansive relational, emotional and behavioral lives. The counseling office is a safe container to test internal narratives, share embarrassing patterns and learn new ways of existing with fulfillment. That comfy...
by iamclinic | Nov 8, 2019 | Parents of LGBT Youth
Outside, a late snow had fallen, even as the first signs of spring had already come up. Inside the retreat center, we were toasty, sipping on coffee and cocoa during a break. I had hosted enough weekend seminars to recognize the signs of someone who needed to talk....
by iamclinic | Oct 30, 2019 | Sexuality
I ran to the altar to confess to God what I’d done. The clothes in my suitcase still had sand in them from the beach vacation with a man I called my friend, but who was really my boyfriend…for 5 years. Tears running down my face, thinking I could ugly cry my way back...
by iamclinic | Oct 10, 2019 | Couples Counseling
He had swirled for months, arguing with himself. Parts of him wanted to stay in his heterosexual marriage, and other parts wanted to experience romance, love, and sex with another man. Torn between two fantasies—one including his family and another with an unknown...
by iamclinic | Oct 3, 2019 | Couples Counseling
A growing number of spouses are in some way part of the LGBTQ+ community yet find a great deal of satisfaction in staying with their opposite-sex partner. In these Mixed Orientation relationships, love, history, families and shared emotional intimacy are profound...
by iamclinic | Aug 15, 2019 | Couples Counseling
She was so sincere in wanting to help and understand her coming out husband. She took time to meet with me one-on-one. Wanting nothing more than for her husband to be happy and for their children to go through any transition smoothly, she was eager to learn and love....
by iamclinic | Aug 9, 2019 | Couples Counseling
As a graduate student studying healthy relationships, I felt ashamed at how badly my relationships looked on paper. My friendships and love life were disintegrating like the petals of a plucked rose. I was full of shame. . . and vodka. To figure out how I could get my...
