The Care Girl Podcast
The Care Girl Podcast
Hannah Townsend's Guide to Relational Growth and Sexual Empowerment
Hannah Townsend, a skilled sex and relationship therapist, joins us to share her remarkable journey from aspiring lawyer to transformative therapist. Her unique perspective stems from personal experiences, including being an only child of divorced parents and a life-changing job at the novelty store Tokyo Valentino. Discover how a chance encounter with a customer sparked her passion for helping individuals shed societal shame around sexuality, ultimately leading her to the Atlanta Therapeutic Collective. Hannah's dedication to empowering relationships, particularly within the Black community, is both inspiring and enlightening.
We venture into the intriguing ways celebrity culture shapes modern relationship expectations, especially among millennials and Gen Z. The allure of high-profile weddings and the quest for the "top 1% men" often overshadow authentic connections, creating a disconnect between personal desires and societal pressures. By advocating for self-awareness and independence, we encourage listeners to challenge materialistic demands and embrace connections that resonate with their true selves. Hannah's insights offer a refreshing perspective on nurturing genuine relationships in a world obsessed with superficial ideals.
Our conversation takes a thoughtful turn as we address the complexities surrounding premarital sex and its role in relationship compatibility. Hannah emphasizes the significance of exclusivity, emotional readiness, and communication in building strong foundations. As we navigate the shifts in sexual dynamics over time, particularly post-marriage, Hannah's highlights the value of understanding different "sex languages" and the necessity of adapting to changes. This episode equips listeners with practical advice for enhancing sexual empowerment and fostering relational growth, encouraging an open-minded approach to intimacy and connection.
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What's up everybody. It's your girl, the care girl, alexandria. As you all know, I come and I bring health and wellness experiences to you and I interview healthcare founders and practitioners, just like Hannah Townsend that I have on right now. Thank you so much for coming on. I'm going to give a little bit about her background. Little bit about her background. Hannah Townsend is a sex and relationship therapist with experience in helping individuals and couples navigate the intricacies of intimacy, communication and connection. She is an associate, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified in erotic blueprints, breakthrough sex coaching and trained in accelerated evolution, which allows her to blend traditional therapy with methods, unique methods for sexual empowerment and relational growth. Oh, my goodness, I. I saw you on linkedin. I was like she's, oh, she's so young, but I'm like I, I I need a black woman to touch on these areas, because I feel like the black community is having so much trouble with this area and you know the divorce rate, all those different things and how society is just telling us different things. How are you today, hannah?
Speaker 2:I am good, alexandria, and also I apologize that I did not share this with you earlier, but my name is pronounced Hannah, like Benny Hannah, okay.
Speaker 1:Hana. So Hana Townsend, y'all. No problem, hana, okay Listen. If you listened to my last couple of podcasts, I've had some difficult names so I just knew I had yours. But Hana, hana Townsend, that's real correct then?
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you. Yeah, it's a tricky one because it's spelled exactly like Hannah. So yeah, but I am doing well today how are you? Doing.
Speaker 1:I am making it happen. You know, um, I know we've been trying a few times to get this on the books and I'm glad we worked it out today. Uh, virtually um. One day we'll do in person, because I'm pretty sure there'll be a lot of questions about this, Um and I just I just wanted to go ahead and just bring you on Um, tell, tell me like, did you grow up like um? You know people telling you their problems, like what made you really want to go into therapy?
Speaker 2:Um, I actually did not grow up in an environment of people telling me problems, but I did grow up as a child, a single not single, but an only child of divorced parents. So that was very interesting, navigating at the age of five and just matriculating on to like my adult years. What kind of catapulted me on the direction of therapy was when I was an undergrad at Georgia State. I was taking a sociology well, finishing up my sociology degree, but I also worked part time at a novelty store called Tokyo Valentino.
Speaker 1:Oh, I heard of that.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes to the NFL, right, yes, yes. So during my experience at Tokyo Valentino, I have the opportunity of working with some of every kind of customer from different walks of life, just helping them like identify products to, whether it be like spice up their sex life or help them get more in tune with their own interest or, just, you know, their own curiosities. And also, when it comes to sex and sexuality, there can be like a lot of shame around that, and one day I had a customer that called a store from a private number and he asked for a particular kind of novelty and I could tell that he was very nervous talking about this novelty and because of his nervousness and not willing to openly share it, made it kind of difficult, difficult for me to identify the product that he was looking for. So we end up getting into this conversation about how society impacts like our general general interests, whether it be like romantic interests, sexual interests, things that we just want to be interested in trying and exploring, and I was like this was very cool, I actually like this. And I was like, okay, I want to be a sex and relationship therapist and that was like my turning point I've heard the name like sex therapist due to one of my previous co-workers at tokyo, valentino. Um, her name is honey. She um had an experience being a dominatrix and she knew about sex therapy. And I'm like, what is sex therapy? Oh, wow, dominatrix, wow.
Speaker 2:And then my best friend, ashley um, she was watching this Netflix series called Sex Education and the mother on Sex Education she is a sex therapist. And she was like Hannah, I can so see you do this, you already do this with that customer and it just being so genuine and like earthy for me and just like very connecting as well, I was like, okay, I'm going to go on this path, cause it was very interesting. I was on the path to go to law school, um, for civil rights, um, and things just didn't pan out that way. So I was like, okay, I'm going to do this. And luckily, I found a sex therapy collective in Atlanta that is called Atlanta Therapeutic Collective and right before I think it was the year before I was like, okay, I want to look into this being as a career.
Speaker 2:Um, the the therapy the therapy collective owner, courtney Jeter. She just like like that year after she went into like a collective state for her um therapy, opening it up from private practice to uh excuse me like a collective and I was like, okay, this is perfect. And I got my foot in through doing like social media, social media marketing intern with her for her company and I was able to learn a lot like even before going into grad school and learning about the different paths to becoming a therapist, whether it be like social work, marriage, family therapist, professional counselor, psychologist, and now I'm here as a marriage and family therapist.
Speaker 1:Amazing. I love that, I love that story. And sometimes you know you, you, you walk, you walk into one field and you, like, you're like, okay, this is just the job for me, and then you find you found purpose at the end of a phone call that you didn't know that would happen. So so I think that that is that is good to know, because sometimes people don't know where to go and they're navigating situations to where, like, they don't feel that purpose. So, feeling that purpose and knowing like that's something that you really really enjoy, enjoy doing.
Speaker 1:And then you took action on that and and, uh, you know, detoured from you know law, like that's something that, okay, that's a very lucrative field and this can be as well for you, especially if you're walking into a purpose in helping people. I want to talk about the trauma side as well, because I know that's a part of what you do too. Can you give us a little rundown on how you help navigate, help couples and individuals navigate the trauma side of, hey, they may have been abused as a child, or they may have someone have forced them to have sex, or just how can one navigate that? And I was the domestic violence survival as well, so I've had to definitely use counseling to get through different situations in my life.
Speaker 2:So I kind of get my feedback as well. To start off, I want to first say, alexandria, I commend you on your resilience number one, because that is not a easy feat, an easy position to be in. So I commend you on your ability to make it out and through and to build yourself back up after that. Thank you so much. You're welcome, you're welcome. So trauma is a very like a delicate, is a very like a delicate aspect that does come up a lot, whether it be individual therapy or couples therapy, especially when it comes to sex. Because trauma can look like not just sexual trauma that impacts like how we connect with ourselves to be able to be intimate with ourselves and someone else, but also like the relational trauma. Also, as you mentioned, domestic violence and also sometimes like the messages that we receive in society about, like the ways of being and how we should do things and how we shouldn't, can also even create some sense of trauma and shame around, like who we are and how we show up. So when it comes for me and also I am two years post-grad and I am still like learning and navigating as I go as well so what I found to be helpful for me is I use like a narrative therapy approach and with a narrative therapy I have, I work from the clinical lens that the person that's sitting in front of me knows more about their story than I do, and I'm just here to learn from you and I want to know how you understand your story. So we do a lot of story development, story recreation, exploring some of those like narratives that you have around, the experiences that you've made or not made but that you've had, so we can work together to create a more empowering story for you to feel resilient and that you can, you know, overcome what you've experienced. So I found, like a narrative therapy to be pretty helpful and also, with accelerated evolution, they have this practice called running dyads and when you run a dyad you're basically how do I say this? You're processing the emotional aspect of what you experience, but you're also exploring deeper and deeper to get to the root cause of where is this trauma lying? Where is it lying in your body? Is it like a certain sensation? Is it a certain feeling? What is this belief behind this trauma experience and how is it navigating? How you're operating and showing up now today? How you're operating and showing up now today.
Speaker 2:And the last one that I like to use is called. It's called like illuminating parts and you might also hear it like in part works, part work like internal family systems. But basically, when it comes to like illuminating this part, you, when you try to like speak to this part, try to speak to this part. That is, in you First identifying where is this part at, what is this part like? Is it like a younger, earlier version of you? Is it like, you know, middle, middle, teen, tweens? Where is this part? What image comes up with this part? And just exploring that and connecting with that and seeing what this part has to share with us about how it's feeling, and just getting more in, tuned and embodied with our emotions, cause sometimes trauma can disconnect us from being able to connect with those emotions and can leave us feeling very guarded. So those are the things that I found to be pretty helpful so far.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. I think that a lot, of, a lot of people are navigating either is trauma of parents being divorced or either trauma of, you know, just just different things that have happened, and it can definitely affect the relationships moving forward, because I know some people are chronically single. The relationships moving forward, cause I know some people are chronically single. Some people are serial daters, right, some people are, you know, in relationships that they don't want to be in because they're afraid to move on and and uh discover themselves, right. Codependency.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm definitely a former codependent, I would say uh even even with friends, you trauma bond with them.
Speaker 1:Y' talk about, hey, you know these guys ain't nothing right, you y'all kind of like bond. But you know, really like being being healthy. In relationships it starts with yourself. I feel you have to have a relationship, a healthy relationship, with yourself, and for me I'm a spiritual woman, I have the relationship with god because, uh, once you start navigating other people, it's it. You can get lost in them, and I think a lot of women prefer to be by themselves because they find themselves choosing the wrong mate, and when they choose the wrong mate, that definitely can set you back 10 times right.
Speaker 1:Then you have children involved, a mom of three boys. If people don't know, I have a 17-year-old about to be 18, a 10, a 17 year old about to be 18, a 10 year old about to be 11 and a nine year old. So so all boys, uh, my mom helps, she stays with me, she helps, and then I co-parent with their dad. Um, not an easy thing to do, I would say. Um, but navigating the dating world definitely has been an experience for me. Um, and I think the number one thing I would recommend women do is to work on themselves and to invest in themselves and to invest in therapy.
Speaker 1:After every relationship that I've had, that was not a success. Often we blame other people. We blame others and we don't really understand that we had something to do with that, that we had something to do with that. We had something to do with that. How do you feel about the way things are going with with social media and how does how do you think that it is sexually affects us in our relationships in the way that we show up today?
Speaker 2:before I respond, I want you to clarify that question for me, just so in terms of like, what's on social media, um, can you give me?
Speaker 1:sure, um. So let's, let's, let's take it the um, the Cardi B situation right, where you know there's a lot of uh, her, she's very, extremely her her music is sexual, she shows up, shows up sexual, um. And then there's all this uh, this, this stuff around drama around her spouse cheating, she's cheating and um, and then you know, people talk about it online and then a lot of women are are trying to be like her understudy.
Speaker 1:I would say and they, they're getting surgery and they're trying to look like her, and how do you think like mental wise, like we were talking about that? We was before we got on. We were talking about mental health.
Speaker 2:How do?
Speaker 1:you think that people following celebrity gossip and you know, idolizing these huge weddings that they're having and some of these, some of the relationships, may be real or they may not be real, right like that whole, like Portia from the housewives married that African guy and uh, which had this elaborate wedding. Like is that is that my question is is is social media and celebrity relationship? Is that a realistic goal for for couples today, and and what effect do you think that that has had on on society and especially the the millennial and gen z uh population? I would say okay, gotcha, gotcha you can take your time.
Speaker 1:You can take your time, I know I mean, it's a, it's a loaded question and and I'll go before you while you're thinking of your question, I think that, uh, for me, um, a lot of women want that that's, you know, six-figure man, um, you know he's, he's. He's a high performer, um, he's a corporate man, or he's a high performing entrepreneur, um, and he's like one percent top, one percent man, and and, and they're turning down regular guys or honest working men to pursue these other type of men, but they're not really understanding that every woman wants this type of man and they're being unrealistic, I feel, and it's a bit delusional, or delulu, or what they, what they would say online um and I just want to kind of bring us down to reality of like, hey, you know, you have to really really understand you are what you attract and something what you see online is not real.
Speaker 2:I I definitely receive what you said. Um, and to respond back to that, I do want to agree with you. First when saying like some things that you see on the Internet sometimes are not real, and I feel like it can be like that, saying like what is it with the Joneses trying to go off, mimic the Joneses or whatnot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. I know what you mean. You're trying to be like the Joneses.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like it's a lot of that coming up and then it brings about, like, a lot of stress of my relationship. Doesn't look like this being hard on your partner, things like that when, like, we don't know what's going behind people's closed doors. It's like we. It's like the idolization of what we think to be glitz and glamour, and sometimes everything that's glitz and glamour is not always glitz and glamour. And also I feel like it ties into like, like cultivating a stronger sense of self when it comes to truly identifying what is it that really calls to your soul, that really will meet your needs emotionally, mentally, physically, because sometimes maybe what you see for someone else will not actually like be what's best for you for someone else will not actually like be what's best for you.
Speaker 2:So, having to have that time to just step back and like really connect with yourself and see, like, what is really for me, and then let that be your guiding direction, because I do feel like when people in general let the social media stuff get, let the social media stuff become too much of reality for them or for us, um, it can be like a cloudy mind thing and you feel more bogged down by stressors of trying to compete or trying to keep up, and I don't feel like that's the purpose of being here on this earth. I mean, we don't have we're on borrowed time, so it's like make the purpose of being here on this earth. I mean we don't have we're on borrowed time, so it's like make the best of it and really just be what calls out to you and connect with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like disconnecting from all of that, especially when you're on a journey and I know, like some women, like they, they're getting close to the 40 and and they may not have their children and they say, uh, that there's not a lot of men that are out. I believe there's a lot of men out here. I think I think that there's uh, uh, there's abundance, right, it's a shift of the mindset and understanding that you know, you, you have to be more positive, um, versus like, hey, I just want this one type of man. And then also the whole materialistic side.
Speaker 1:I feel like we all are adults. You are an adult, I'm an adult, you should be independent, right, you shouldn't be on the first date telling a man I need you to pay this, this, this and this, because how's that fair to him? How's that fair to him? But we're going to change directors. I want to go into, um, into relationships. How do you feel about, um, premarital sex, right? I want to get your view on that, um, and you know, should you try it before you buy it?
Speaker 2:That is funny. Um well, this is going to be like more so, like my personal opinion. So I am actually not against premarital sex. I mean, if that is what you are interested in doing, then I say, hey, if that's what you're interested in wanting to do, then do that. If not, then not. I do think, regardless of trying it before you buy it or not, I feel like some people would feel more inclined to, because there's this worry about if I end up being committed with this person for X amount of time and then we have what people consider to be not good sex, then it's like kind of like dampens their relationship, kind of dampers their relationship. Also, there are some people who feel like there's more ways that we can cultivate intimacy outside of having to try it before we buy it. I'll just on you, but I'm all for trying it before you buy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. I think that if you, if you are, if you are definitely dating for serious, of course, you, you want that exclusivity. Um, that's, that's that's also recommended, right, because you don't want to have a bunch of partners, because that's energy exchange and you know, all of those things.
Speaker 1:I think we, we we're not touching on all that, but I, I just know that you want to be careful with yourself and make sure you're mentally ready for those things. And sometimes, women, we can emotionally attach to a person and men they compartmentalize, they don't put, you know, sex in line with how we do, we do, right, we, we have to be extremely careful with sharing ourselves because, because, um, you know, those are those feelings get involved and you know he'd be like, okay, this wasn't that right. So, so you want, you know, exclusivity and you know long-term relationship. You make sure that that is known and it's okay to be like, hey, you know, I want to wait 30 to 60 days and and if that guy can't wait, uh, wait that, that that time, then you know, okay, you, you just you're not for me, right, uh, it just really depends on your comfortable, uh, comfortability level.
Speaker 1:And you know your, your communication skills with that person, cause sometimes you know there could be an unspoken language there and you know, then you got, you also got a lot of women that's like, okay, it's an exchange, right, they're like, hey, you take me to steak dinner and you know I'll give you some right, and that's that's, that's their choice. But I think that, uh, either way it goes, however you feel, is is however you feel, but uh, to me, uh, it's definitely connecting on a higher level, um, spiritually, mentally and all of the above. You want to make sure that man is healthy and you know inside and out right, and you want to make sure that it's a healthy exchange mentally too, because because sometimes you know what they say, you know if it's, if it's too good, you know you might make you go crazy.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's hilarious. I mean, I think I've seen it we've seen.
Speaker 1:We've seen movies, fatal attraction and you different things like that, and then you just have to be. You have to be mentally ready and also know your own body too, because sometimes some women they haven't had an orgasm before. Let's talk about that, like how can a woman explore herself before she is even intimate to understand?
Speaker 1:like hey, this is what I like, cause I know a lot of women they have not uh, really had, uh, really, really good sexual relationships and and it kinda, it kinda is is bad, because I that's something that every woman should experience, but we don't have their genetic makeup on how they were raised and the trauma that they went through, so it could be a different experience for them because there's maybe a block there.
Speaker 2:And piggybacking off what you said about like there might be a block there, like when it comes to exploring or identifying like what you might be interested into. I think starting at that block, like digging a little bit deeper into what is this block? Why do I have this block? Where, like, where is this block showing up? What does this block look like? How is it affecting me?
Speaker 2:And then, from navigating through that block, then able to explore okay, dipping into like some interest, maybe not like explore, okay, dipping into like some interests, maybe not like what's. How do I want to say this? Probably not going immediately to like something sexual experimentation but maybe just slowly dipping your foot into, maybe starting off with reading like some eroticas or something like that. That could be a route to figuring out something that you might be interested into. Or even like some of like the erotica movies that might be be interested into. Or even like some of like the erotica movies that might be like the 365 days and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Um, and also there's like a lot of um. I feel like there's a lot of sexuality and sex education, um communication that's going going around now. So like even following like toy brands like FemFun or Lilo and they have, or Bee Condoms that's based in Georgia. Like following some of those pages can be also helpful with just getting your mind open to different things that might be out there and then just using that as like data gathering and then you're able to apply what you have saw and you just, you know, try it out.
Speaker 2:And sometimes people get very bummed about okay, I tried this out, it didn't work how I wanted to, and then it's like we forget. Like sex is not a one-way thing, like it's a little twist and turn. I can I consider it to be like um, kids have jungle gyms, adults we don't have jungle gyms for play. We have sex, and sex is gonna be very creative. So we have to get out of like that one track of mind of figuring out how things should be or do things and just explore and get creative with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I 100% agree, make I a hundred percent agree, make it, make it, you know, turn frustration into fascination. And I think when you, when you actually bond with a person and you, you click with them emotionally, um, because for a long time I attracted me and they were emotionally unavailable and I figured out oh, I was emotionally unavailable because my parents are emotionally unavailable, Right. So I had to work on that emotional availability and vulnerability of myself and that's when I started having better relationships and I was able to actually feel and feeling, you know, not only physically, but you know on an inner level as well, and I think sometimes, like you said, those blocks, you know, going to therapy can help you figure out those things. Moving towards marriages how important is sexual health in marriage? From a scale of one to 10, how do you feel?
Speaker 2:How important is sexual health in a marriage? I think it's very important On a scale of one to 10, this is going to be my biased response I think it's a 10. Um, because sex is not just all the time like the act of having sex. Sometimes sex is where you feel very raw and uninhibited and you're able to connect. So sex can be like connection. Um, sex can be relaxation, sex can be freedom, sex can be so many different things in the connection with somebody that sex can be like even just very like a spiritual experience, because it has so much into it. So I think it's very healthy, very important and very healthy for especially like long-term relationships, especially like marriages.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I believe so too. Why do you think that men say, hey, after we get married, everything changes, she's not as sexual and she may gain some weight? I think what happens there Is there just a level of comfortability there, you know, there is no like being risky anymore. What do you feel like goes through the mind of some of those relationships that have just gotten, you know, fizzed out that sexual connection?
Speaker 2:There can actually be like it's like a complex thing, it can be more than one thing that just compounds on top of each other and interplays with one another. So comfortability can be an aspect. But also thinking about like that transition. From first we were, you know, just couples not really seeing each other. Now we're living together and getting acclimated to that whole transition, to like we're really like doing this thing. That can be a shift.
Speaker 2:Because I'm thinking about Esther Perel's book. She has a I forget the name of the book a mating in captivity talks about how sometimes in marriages, because of that close contact, the desire can fizzle out because it's like the familiar, the familiarity with one another. It creates a lack of desire. So that can be an aspect of it. And then also thinking about like kids coming into the picture of that.
Speaker 2:If this couple has kids, like that's exhausting as well. Then the financial stressors like that's another stressor that impacts sex and intimacy. And then body changes as we get older. So like how we feel about our body image can even impact, like our sexual confidence and how just confident we feel showing up and connecting with our partner. Also, I believe that in marriages it gets very vulnerable and sometimes vulnerability can be very scary and with that vulnerability added into this relationship because it's like now you really see me and we're doing this thing that can even bring up a lot of like senses of shame and um creates like memories of traumas and that can even impact like how you're connecting with your partner. So it's like a multitude of different things. I'm sure I probably missed some other things, but it is. It's a multitude of different things that you know impact that right.
Speaker 1:So so this is, this is a normal thing. That happens and you know. And and with therapy with a therapist, family therapist, relationship therapist with somebody like you, would that be good for a couple to to have for, like, relationship maintenance, sex therapy, sex therapy or relationship maintenance?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I definitely do believe so, and it's actually not an uncommon. An uncommon issue. I feel like some people feel like it's very like hush, hush. We can't seek out help around this. Or you might hear like friends say oh, we're just having like the most amazing sex life, and you're just over there, quiet, like, oh, my gosh, you're not having this. Like how to share this with somebody? And it's actually a pretty common thing. Um, and yeah, see, a sex therapist. Like I feel like, um, when you need supports and help, you're going to seek out like, uh, well, say, for instance, like, if you're sick, you're going to seek out a doctor. If you need help with sex, seek out a sex therapist or sex coach. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So they say that's one thing. They say it's about the motion of the ocean versus the size. How do you?
Speaker 2:feel about that? Ah, it's about the motion of. I would say it's a little bit of both, because sometimes the motion of the ocean does do the deed. But also there's different spots in the woman's vaginal canal that you might need some more length, like, for instance, like there's erogenous areas, like the A spot that's like more deeper, like by the cervix area, sometimes even like the cervix can be very stimulating for some people. So it was like you might need a little bit more length for that. But for the motion in the ocean you got that with your G-spot it's like two or three inches up, so that anybody could you know.
Speaker 1:Right, he may need to, you know, use a little bit more of hands. Whatever you know, I mean to me, if you're lacking that area, you may need to not lack in the oral area, right? So it's a catch-22. And I think some people they may be more sexual than their partner. That could be maybe a mismatch, um, in your, in your eyes, where, where this man may want you know way more than than they actually, you know, want to do right I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a mix match, um, simply because I learned this through the erotic blueprint.
Speaker 2:Um, learning about like the different, how we have love languages, we also have sex languages. So we have like energetic, kinky, sensual, sexual and then a shapeshifter. So a person that likes to have sex like a lot, they will more so be like a sexual blueprint and what's interesting is that a lot of sexual people they end up with people who might not have that same amount or same high sex drive. Um, that's not to say that it's a mismatch, but more expanding how you connect. So say, for instance, getting more creative maybe for your partner to achieve sex. Maybe other things have to be put in place for you all to get to that moment of intimacy, for sex.
Speaker 2:Or maybe you might have to get your one off and then go see your partner because you know like they probably won't be able to go repeatedly back to back. So you get your one off, you have this moment with your partner and then, if you have to go again, you can do that separately. Or you all can do that together, have your partner with you and you do your D. But it's just an array of different ways that you all can make that work. I don't see that as like being complete mismatch. I don't think anyone is honestly mismatched. It's just about your willingness to step outside of your comfort, on your comfort zone.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. I definitely have seen some things in Atlanta. They have a lot of swinger situations and just you know, I know you've seen some things in Atlanta. They have a lot of swinger situations. I know you've seen some things in the Tokyo store. I definitely have seen people who have that higher and someone else is more timid and scared. I would like to save a lot of that for marriage because I think you, you got, you can't, you can't give it all right. You know what that's. What do they say? Uh, you know you give him the whole cow. You know he, he, he ain't got to worry about buying the milk, so something like that, something like that. What are you currently working on and can tell our audience about? Uh that you're developing? They can follow you. Where can they find you online if you're on social media and if you do have availability or when your schedule is open up to receive more clients?
Speaker 2:Gotcha. So I am actually going through a bit of a shift right now. Actually, I have transitioned to now being full-time therapist. It was a very interesting thing. So graduating 2022, when you graduate, like, as a pre-licensed therapist, it's very hard to find a lot of therapy work to like just focus on honing in your skills. So, luckily, I was able to stay with Atlanta Therapeutic Collective, working there part-time, and I worked part-time at Tokyo Valentino for a year until I got my associates earlier this year. So now I have transitioned out of Tokyo Valentino as of like a couple of days ago and I'm working at Atlanta Therapeutic Collective in North Druid Hills. I'm starting on with Ellie Mental Health at I believe it's Piedmont Center Hospital area, and then I'm also working at another company called CWC Coaching and Therapy. Congratulations on that, thank you.
Speaker 2:So I'm focusing on that just just hone in a lot of my clinical skills, because I feel like that is very important and you learn as you go, like I feel like with therapies like, yes, you get the schooling, but you really learn your craft through actually doing it. So I'm very excited to immerse myself into that, for immersed myself into that for quite a while and also I am starting sex tech school this month with Brianna Cole? Yes, okay, so I'm pretty excited about that. I found out about sex tech school, like excuse me, a couple of months ago, because how did I think of it? Oh, it was a school called California Integral Studies and they sent me about information about this program, about sex tech. But I was like I'm tired of getting so like going back to school for so many things and having to be in the long program. So I looked up sex tech school, saw Brianna Cole and I was like wow, I'm going to do this and it's going to help me with materializing, like, my idea.
Speaker 2:I want to put out something for individuals and couples when it comes to communications. I feel like that's a very big thing. Communication I feel like that's a very big thing. Communication, connecting with emotions how do I want to say this? Managing emotions, having some boundaries around emotions, but also learning about sexual intimacy at that same time, and expanding what we know of sexual intimacy by offering different ways to connect. Connect with their partner, especially like with the non-sexual touch. Um, because I feel like we think of sex just being like something that has to be like sexual, like we're getting into that point. But sometimes that non-sexual touch it brings a lot of like relationship intimacy.
Speaker 2:So educating more uh, educating more about that, and different pleasure practices that you can do. Like, even with some of the toys that you have, you don't have to use them the ways that we think they have to be used. There's so many different ways that the items that we have can be used, even like household items. So, oh, okay, so, oh, okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. So so you're, you're, you're fine tuning your craft, getting things together before you step on out on your own. I love that. I love that. Will you be sharing any tips online or anything like that? You know, are you on ID, or can people find you online at all there? Or will you disclose that later once you feel like you're more comfortable with coming out on different topics?
Speaker 2:I will disclose that later on.
Speaker 1:I have not created, like a actual Instagram profile for the company, so that is like all in the works, but I, but we can always circle back when you do and put it in the show notes, but for now this will be a little teaser of what, what your, what your um, what you will be talking about, and and uh, it'll give our audience a little bit of anticipation because I, like I said, we're going to bring you back and I want to bring you back once you, once you have had that experience.
Speaker 1:So maybe, maybe you know, six months to to next year, sometime, maybe around the same time where you will have, you know, uh, some openings and ready and when you're ready to take on um the world. You know, um and I and I commend you on um, on on being um vulnerable and telling us everything that you're doing and just the development of it all, and I think that the audience can definitely appreciate just the knowledge that you brought thus far. But with that, we're going to wrap up everything with maybe a favorite quote or something that keeps you going, or even a confident quote for women who may need that little push today.
Speaker 2:Yes, the first quote that came to my mind. I learned this in undergrad because I studied philosophy, and a quote that stood out to me was by this philosopher named Heraclitus, and it said no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.
Speaker 2:And that was so profound to me because even like as trauma survivors, we go through these experiences through life. We we go through these experiences through life and even just like as people in general, we go through these experiences in life that sometimes can leave us feeling very jaded and through that and just working through that and coming out on the other side, you're able to see things from a whole new lens and new light. So when you do put yourself back out there, it's not like you're not using that same previous limb before, so it's like you show up as a different self in a new situation. So that's like something that I will leave.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. Yes, I love that. Thank you so much for Hannah for coming on, and I know this will help somebody. This will be published soon and I definitely can't wait to see what is what is in store for you coming soon, and please stay in touch with us, thank you all. Please subscribe, like and follow the podcast. Leave us comments below, leave us questions below, because we will be back. Have a good rest of your day.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Alexandria. I appreciate it so much. Thank you.