#013 Erika Bond

Today on the show I'm speaking with Erika Bond, LMFT. This was a really fun conversation! Erika is a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in DC and MD. She’s been in practice nearly 20 years and her most recent undertaking is getting her AASECT sex therapy certification. AASECT is the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists.

She and I talk about:

• How she ended up becoming a therapist, and the calling to help heal others.
• The quality of sex education in the U.S.
• How most sexual problems have anxiety at the foundation
• Healthy sexuality
• The three things that people are moving towards and striving for (hint, one of them is approval)
  • Erika: "We all want to feel approval and so much striving of getting approval from others is chasing a feeling that it’s okay to love ourselves… if I get enough approval from others then it will be okay to love myself. "

Erika’s presence invited me to share my own story - for the first time publicly - of the real motivations for becoming a marriage and family therapist (and she tolerates me with grace as I rant to her).

Learn more about Erika at Guttman & Pearl Associates
https://gpatherapy.com/

Follow Erika on Twitter @erikabondmft