Episode 8 - Pleasure, Healing, and the Power of Sex Therapy with Karimah Cornelius-Stith

By Jessica Garrison

Everyone is going to love our next guest, Karimah Conelius-Stith. She is kind, compassionate, creative, soft, and insightful. She is a joy to listen to and has so much knowledge and experience to share. The love and passion she has for her work radiates through the screen, drawing you in from the start.

While discussing the connection between mental, physical, emotional, spiritual health, Karimah mentions another aspect of health that is often overlooked: sexual health. Karimah is a sex therapist, helping couples with their intimate life as well as their personal relationship. When she first started listening to people share their stories, an alarming number of both men and women had an experience or multiple experiences with sexual abuse. Karimah wasn’t equipped to help them at that moment, but she wanted to learn how. She sought out more education and completed years of training to fulfill her dream of being a sex therapist after hearing these stories. Overall wellness improves with the betterment of a person’s sex life, and Karimah is there to help people reach this step in their journey.

Mental health issues run in Karimah’s family, and her aunt was the one who encouraged her to be a therapist. Her aunt wasn’t getting the necessary help for her mental health issues and was only in her 60s when she passed away. Meanwhile Karimah’s grandmother was over 100 years old when she passed, furthering the point that mental health is just as important as your physical health. It’s about finding the value in yourself, knowing that you are worth taking care of and worth spending time on. So many times we put ourselves last on the to-do list, but self care is health care. You can’t go on forever—eventually you run out of steam. It’s more likely to happen sooner if you aren’t taking breaks or getting the help you need along the way.

Karimah also discusses how uninformed people are about sex therapy, but she is very proud of her profession despite misconceptions. It wasn’t easy to achieve her dreams and she put the work in to accomplish her goals, so now she is able to help those who need it. Pleasure is healing and gives people freedom, so we shouldn't feel shame or guilt around it.

This episode is really interesting, especially if you’ve never heard of sex therapy before. There’s so much to learn, from healthy practices to common misinterpretations about Karimah’s practice. She is an inspiration to anyone who is looking to live out of their own expectations as we listen to her defy the expectations of those around her.

Ways to Engage: Check out some articles or posts about sex therapy/sex therapists. Is there anything you didn’t know? Is there anything helpful? How can you explore pleasure on your own or with a partner? Make it a goal to take care of your sexual health as much as the other aspects of health—they’re all connected.