Transgender people in the Boulder area will no longer have to travel to Denver to receive hormone therapy. Boulder Valley Women’s Health has announced that the clinic will over hormone therapy and general reproductive healthcare. For those patients who are hesitant to try out these new services due to the possibility of being judged for being transgender, Susan Levy, executive director of Women's Health, said "We already are very tuned into the various stigmas that attach around sex and sexuality [and] don't make assumptions about our patients." The Boulder County Transgender Health Task Force has offered training for health care staff to show them how to make their practices more inclusive.Read the entire article here: Boulder Valley Women's Health to Offer Services for Transgender Patients
Survey: Marital Therapy May Increase Sex
A survey of counseling professionals has indicated that the number one reason for marital discord is not feeling valued by one’s partner. While other problems highlighted by the survey come as no surprise (communications problems, disagreements about finances, and the couples’ sex life), the survey also indicated that preoccupation with sports can cause relationship problems. However, for couples with problems in one or more of those other areas, sports might be simply a way to avoid dealing with the more important issues affecting a marriage. The good news? If a couple seeks counseling, which can help reopen clogged communications lines and reinforce the positive aspects of a relationship, a couple’s sex life will probably reflect that change. Read the entire article here: Survey: Marital Therapy May Increase Sex
Supreme Court Lets Stand Ruling That Sides With Transgender Inmates
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment. Under that heading, state governments must provide “medically-necessary” treatment to inmates. While the law seems obvious in the case of life threatening disease, this case involves providing hormone therapy to transgender inmates. The inmates’ doctors argued that this therapy was medically necessary for their patients. The court’s argument did not address any particular treatment for any particular condition, only that treatments which are deemed medically necessary by an inmate’s personal physicians must be administered. The case was a review of a 2006 law passed in Wisconsin that prohibited state funds from being used for hormone treatments or sexual reassignment surgery.Read the entire article here: Supreme Court Lets Stand Ruling That Sides With Transgender Inmates
Are You Sexually Intelligent?
Is your sex life one of quiet desperation? Perhaps you need to boost your sexual IQ. In his book, Sexual Intelligence, author Marty Klein, Ph.D equates sexual intelligence with combining information, emotional skills, and body awareness. This combination of factors gives us the ability to lift a ho-hum sex life out of the doldrums and gives couples of any age the ability to experience excitement and mystery again. The author particularly stresses the need to be able to communicate with one’s partner, both verbally and nonverbally, to cultivate openness, and to realize that as we change as people our sex lives will also change.Read the entire article: Are You Sexually Intelligent?
Sex Therapy
What is sex therapy, anyway?Sex therapy enables either you (an individual or a couple) to talk with a therapist about what may or may not be happening in your sex life. Also, since there are many myths about what is "normal" when it comes to sex, taking with an educated professional can give you a much better perspective regarding whether you have a real problem, or not, and if so, what you can do about it.
10 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Sex Life
1. Take care of your physical health. Exercise, rest, and reduce stress. Eat a healthy diet. Laugh often.2. Sexuality begins within you. Reconnect with your own sexuality first. Know what turns you on and where your erogenous hot spots are located.3. Talk to your partner about what you know brings pleasure to you. Ask about what is pleasing for him/her. Try something different. Take a Tantric sex course. Visit a local bookstore’s sexuality section. Use a vibrator and other “toys”.4. Make time for sexual intimacy either by scheduling time or reducing the amount of things that fill your time.5. Work on improving the health of your relationship. A healthy relationship is very important in promoting sexuality.6. Remember that sexual intimacy is more than orgasmic performance. It begins with seductive eye contact and continues through with eye gazing.7. Try a lubricant! Lubricants come in many different forms and the one you choose should not only serve to reduce friction but also not be chemically irritating. There are many commercially produced lubricants to aid your body’s normal lubricant which will improve sensory pleasure.8. Do Your “Kegels.” Kegels are pelvic floor squeezes, which strengthen the PC (pubococcygeus) muscle. To exercise this muscle, imagine urinating and then stopping the flow. Squeeze for 10 seconds, release, and repeat about 5 times, several times a day.9. Protect your sexual health. Practice safe sex. Get checked regularly.10. Aging and disability does not mean the end of sexuality. What it does mean is that you will have a wonderful opportunity to be open and creative.