Tonight, Dana and Ryan were joined by Sarasota-based Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Laura Carnevale. Laura has a master's degree in Mental Health Counseling and Exceptional Student Education. Married for 25 years with two college-age children, Laura works at Behavioral Health Centers of Sarasota, an outpatient office of adult and child psychiatrists. With extensive training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Rapid Resolution Therapy for trauma treatment, Laura is currently studying new brain science in interpersonal neurobiology.
Laura spoke about the importance of sex education in youth. Sex positive parenting encourages the discussion between parents and children on sex as early as birth. Sex positive parenting isn't just sitting down with your children to have "The Talk," but creating a dialogue on sex that is based around self-esteem and safety, rather than keeping sex a taboo topic. Sex positive parenting is having honest, age-appropriate, non-judgmental conversations about sex.
Next up to talk about how sex positive parenting can pay off in the teenage years was Sam Wall. Sam has been a sex educator since 2012. She got her start writing a newspaper column and working with the U.C Davis health system. She is currently the Direct Services and Public Relations Assistant for Scarleteen.com. Scarleteen is a sexual health organization based online which provides accessible, accurate sex education for teenagers and twenty-somethings. Teens have different needs from their parents when it comes to learning about sex. On Scarleteen, many users are concerned with things like health, STD's, birth control, and relationships.
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