Episode 46: Gender and Sexuality with Heather Edwards, PT, CSC

Kumbay'all: The Whole Woman's Resource

Episode 46

Gender and Sexuality with Heather Edwards, PT, CSC (she/they)

We get questions about gender and sexuality all the time. In Kumbay’all episode 46 Amanda interviews @heatheredwardscreations - pelvic physical therapist, sex counselor, sex educator, artist, author, and founder of adult sex ed event programs - about several different topics related to sexuality and sexual wellbeing.

Heather creates art, books, events, education, and conversation for smashing some patriarchy with nonbinary crotch and pleasure enthusiasm, and she is a wealth of knowledge!

In their conversation, Amanda and Heather cover topics such as:

• The difference between sex counselors, sex therapists, and sex educators, and when you might want to see each type of professional

• Some of the sexual health issues that Heather helps with in her pelvic physical therapy practice

• How Heather first became interested in trans pelvic health

• A review of terminology describing sex and gender expression, including cis, trans, binary, and intersex

• How sex is actually assigned at birth

• What we can learn from the structure of BDSM

We hope you’ll find this episode to be enlightening and enjoyable!

This is an excerpt from episode 18, so you can also listen to that original discussion for even more information about Heather’s background as well as her program, Vino & Vulvas.

About Heather:

Heather Edwards, PT, CSC (she/they) has been a pelvic physical therapist since 2003 and is an AASECT certified Sexuality Counselor as well as a Sex Educator. They achieved their dual certificate at the University of Michigan Sexual Health Certificate Program. They founded Vino & Vulvas in 2015 and it quickly became their favorite thing to do. They have presented at APTA’s CSM, AASECT (sex therapy, counseling, and education), Teen PEP (comprehensive sex ed in schools), InterConnect (intersex advocacy), SE OB/GYN, and transgender conferences and teaches for Pelvic Global Academy on the topic of Trans-Inclusive Sexual & Pelvic Health. As the COO of Pelvic Guru, LLC, they create and curate collections of illustrations and handouts that are provided to interdisciplinary pelvic health providers. They have a series of courses that address specific sexual psychosocial aspects of medical care called Clinical Blindspots. They provide community sex education live and online as Vino & Vulvas and Bubbles & Bubbly. In addition to education and clinical work, Heather is an artist, illustrator, and author of the coloring book series "Coloring Books for the Crotch Enthusiast" an illustrated story about a nonbinary vulva, “Finding VaJoyJoy”, and most recently of a novel, June Full Moon. Her latest is erotica that is pelvic-health informed, consent-focused, and models emotionally intelligent dialogue as a new platform for her sex education work. As an advocate for promoting the inclusion of all minorities into sexual health, especially those who have been historically faced with many barriers to care, they have teamed up with Dr. Uchenna Ossai and Pelvic Global Academy to create the Pelvic Health Sex Counseling Certificate (www.pelvicsexcounseling.com).

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Heather Edwards Creations - Heather’s website

Heather Edwards Creations Linktree - additional info and products from Heather

Episode 18 - original discussion with Heather - includes even more sexual health links!

Renew Pelvic Health - Amanda’s practice in Atlanta, GA

@renewpelvichealth on Instagram or Facebook

Progressive Pelvic Education - online courses on pelvic health

@progressive.pelvic.ed on Instagram or Facebook

You can also watch this episode on YouTube!