Contemporary Sexuality - September 2008 - (Page 3)

Member Spotlight Charlotte (Charley) Franklin (Philadelphia, Pa.) C harlotte (Charley) Franklin decided to become a sex therapist while in college. She graduated in 2005 from the University of Alabama at Huntsville with bachelor degrees in psychology and business. She found AASECT on the Internet and contacted sex therapists in her area. James Meginley from Chattanooga, Tenn., took the time to mentor Franklin and encouraged her to join AASECT. “My passion for sex therapy lies heavily in my belief that issues of sex and sexuality offer much of the driving force behind individual health and happiness,” Franklin says. “Sex and sexuality influence much of an individual’s selfconcept and self-expression. Sex and sexuality have the capacity to promote healthy functioning, as well as hinder it. I am passionate in the topic’s ability to transform the reality of a couple, and therefore also a family. The application of sex therapy has a strong propensity for the improvement of life.” Adds Franklin, “My career in the sexuality field has just begun.” Franklin is a student in the Couples and Family Therapy Masters Program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where the Council for Relationships runs the program’s clinical practicum. Franklin just finished her first year of the program, and “so far,” she says, “about 40 percent of my therapy work with clients had to do with sexual issues. “The best moments are when I find myself truly joining with my clients and making a difference in their lives,” Franklin says. “My worst moments are when I doubt myself.” When she enters the program’s Sex Therapy Specialty Track this month, Franklin expects to have more clients with sexual issues. “I am excited that I will have the opportunity to work more deeply in my field of interest. I welcome the experience,” she says. Franklin also loves to read. She recently finished Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice, about the myths of the black male as supermasculine, hypersexual and promiscuous. “Since I am in a relationship with a black man, this book offered me more insight into some of the prejudices that we encounter in daily situations,” she says. Currently, Franklin is reading Patrick Carnes’ Facing the Shadow in order to learn more about sexual addiction. She is interested in sexual addiction, due to the role other types of addiction played in her family of origin. She says, “addiction, though a very powerful word, simply identifies the presence of a pathological pattern, which promotes a dysfunction in the performance or relationships in one’s life.” She grew up in Tennessee. Her family has been some of her biggest inspiration, Franklin says. “My family, though filled with a history of bumps in the road, overflows with life energy. My family is filled with poets, photographers, artists, dancers, singers, musicians, architects, doctors, university professors, hikers, campers, storytellers, and above all — lovers. My family is forthcoming in their love, love of life and of one another.” The 20-hour drive between Franklin’s Philadelphia home and most of her family has been very difficult. Her youngest sister begins college this month; another sister attends the University of Colorado at Boulder. Franklin adopted her dog, Happy, from the Humane Society. Happy was terribly sick at that time, but is now “one of the most beautiful dogs I have ever seen, though I do admit I am biased,” she says. The two go for at least a few walks a day, and they go hiking when Franklin can find the time. Her hobbies include all the expressive arts, from singing to theater and poetry to painting with oils. Unfortunately, Franklin no longer has time to cultivate these passions, but she does make time for live music and salsa dancing, and she volunteers at Project Home every Thursday night as a counselor for a children’s grief group. Franklin’s boyfriend, Fred, a graduate student in New York, works as a special education teacher in the Bronx. “One of the hardest things about our relationship,” she says, “is the two hour distance between us.” The AASECT conference in New Orleans was Franklin’s first. She says, “I had an amazing time. I could not have asked for a better first AASECT conference. I feel very blessed to have found the AASECT family. I will definitely see you in Arizona at the next conference.” — Hani Miletski “The best moments are when I find myself truly joining with my clients and making a difference in their lives. My worst moments are when I doubt myself.” — Charley Franklin September 2008 Vol. 42, No. 9 | www.aasect.org Contemporary Sexuality 3 http://www.aasect.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Contemporary Sexuality - September 2008

Contemporary Sexuality - September 2008 Contents The Myth of Teen Promiscuity Member Spotlight Book Reviews News of Members Quick Hits: Sex in the News Reflections on AASECT's Annual Meeting

Contemporary Sexuality - September 2008

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