Wednesday 1 December 2010

Sex Ed: Dr. Laura Berman

Who is Dr. Laura Berman and why should we care?

Laura Berman is an American sex educator and therapist. She has made appearances in various media including The Today Show and Oprah Winfrey and also stars in a reality TV series called Sexual Healing on Showtime. With her sister, Jennifer Berman MD, she has co-authored a book called "FOR WOMEN ONLY: A Revolutionary Guide for Reclaiming your Sex Life". She heads The Berman Center in Chicago, "a specialized health center focused on women's and couples' sexual health".

Her web site mentions that "after obtaining a Master's Degree in clinical social work and a Doctorate in health education specializing in human sexuality from New York University, [Dr. Berman] went on to complete a training fellowship in Sexual Therapy with the Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center."

"Dr. Berman is also a member of the American Association of Sex Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH), and American Urologic Society (AUA)."

The web site also covers her contributions to various media:
Dr. Berman is the Host of The Dr. Laura Berman Show on Oprah Radio on XM 156 and Sirius 195 at 5 PM EST as well as a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Dr. Oz Show.

Dr. Berman is the author of the newly released book, The Book of Love: Every Couple’s Guide to Emotional and Sexual Intimacy. She has also authored the New York Times best-selling books, Real Sex for Real Women: Intimacy, Pleasure, & Sexual Wellbeing and For Women Only: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Sexual Dysfunction and Reclaiming Your Sex Life as well as Secrets of the Sexually Satisfied Woman: 10 Keys to Unlocking Ultimate Pleasure and The Passion Prescription. She is also a weekly columnist for the Chicago Sun Times and has appeared on Fox News and CNN and in The New York Times, USA Today, and every major woman’s magazine.

A busy woman indeed and a considered expert in her field of sex therapy.

Sexual Healing
The web site for her program on the Showtime Network is described as:
Featuring world renowned sex educator and therapist Dr. Laura Berman, each week SEXUAL HEALING will chronicle the experiences of real-life couples as they immerse themselves in an intensive, week-long relationship workshop led by Dr. Berman, who will help the couples work through their problems, communicate better and ultimately reach their full sexual potential. Each hour-long episode will expose the diverse and revealing sexual and relationship problems that face many couples, along with the innovative therapeutic activities used to help them.

You can view various video clips taken from the show. Full episodes are available from Amazon however this costs $1.99 per episode or $13.99 per season.

DrLauraBerman.Com
As the tag line states, "Your ultimate source for better sex and intimacy at any age". Her web site is geared towards women but I'm assuming there are benefits for couples. The main page offers a free "sexual health assessment" which claims to answer the questions:
  • How hot is your love life?
  • How intimate is your relationship?
While the site offers various freebies, the heart of it is a paid 15 week online program called the "Passion Prescription". This takes you through various steps like "Self-Discovery — Getting in Touch With Yourself" and "Sex Toys — The Wonderful World of Vibrators" and "Fix Your Mind — A Healthy Relationship With Yourself" and "Show Him — Introducing Him to the New You". The online membership apparently costs $3 per week so overall, it is not an expensive program and as Dr. Berman says herself, "No matter what your personal goals are — whether you’re looking to energize the intimacy between you and your partner or get more "wow" out of your orgasms — the online Passion Prescription will be your guide to the best sex you’ve ever had!"

Membership also gives you according to the site: Dozens of Sex & Intimacy Tips, 27 Sex Positions, 30 Featured Sex Toys, Online Community, and Better Sex!

Books
The site lists 4 books which provide further detailed information on various subjects relating to her work in the sex therapy field:
  1. The Passion Prescription
  2. Real Sex for Real Women
  3. Talking to Your Kids About Sex
  4. The Book of Love
Dr Laura Berman on Google video
There are all sorts of videos of Dr. Berman discussing a variety of topics relating to sex and relationships.
Dr. Berman and sex toys
In my other blogs about Sex Ed, I discovered that Sue Johanson recommends sex toys; Scarleteen discusses them and Violet Blue is pro-sex toy. Dr. Laura Berman is no exception. Her web site talks about how to select the best one and she has partnered with a company Pleasure Me Now to offer various toys to the public.

Final Word
There is a wealth of material on the Internet about this woman and by this woman. Her numerous appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show are certainly a high recommendation from the Queen of talk television. This is being translated into her own TV show on the upcoming Oprah Winfrey Network in 2011.

Berman does bring a lot of experience to the table.


References

Wikipedia: Laura Berman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Berman

official web site
http://www.drlauraberman.com

Membership
*Your book, Real Sex for Real Women, is only $14.95 plus $4.95 S&H. You will also gain free access to Dr. Berman’s customized Web site and online advice for 7 days. If you’re happy, do nothing. Your online access will continue uninterrupted, and you will be enrolled under our standard membership agreement. Online membership is just $3 a week, billed quarterly (every 13 weeks). The charge will be applied to the same account you provide at sign-up. You may cancel before your free trial ends at no charge, or at any time afterward and you’ll receive a refund for the unused portion of your subscription.

For Women Only: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Sexual Dysfunction and Reclaiming Your Sex Life
by Jennifer Berman, Elisabeth Bumiller, Laura Berman

review
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49163.For_Women_Only

Amazon.Com
http://www.amazon.ca/Women-Only-Revolutionary-Overcoming-Dysfunction/dp/0805064052

OPRAH: Dr. Laura Berman, Director of the Berman Center in Chicago
http://www.oprah.com/contributor/dr-laura-berman
Links to audio clips from Laura's radio show

THE OPRAH SHOW
How to Talk to Your Kids About Sex with Dr. Laura Berman
http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/How-to-Talk-to-Your-Kids-About-Sex-with-Dr-Laura-Berman

OPRAH RADIO
The Dr. Laura Berman Show
http://www.oprah.com/oprahradio/About-Oprah-Radio-Host-Dr-Laura-Berman
Audio clips are available from past shows

Wikipedia: OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OWN:_Oprah_Winfrey_Network
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is a future U.S. specialty channel, set to be launched at 12:00 pm Eastern/Pacific (11:00 am Central) on January 1, 2011,[2][1] owned by Discovery Communications. The network will replace the Discovery Health Channel on cable and satellite feeds due to low viewer ratings. Oprah Winfrey will be the chairwoman of the channel and head of editorial control.

This is Winfrey's second foray into cable television; she was a co-founder of the channel Oxygen until she and her fellow partners sold it to NBC Universal in 2008.

Winfrey has announced her syndicated talk show will end in September 2011, and that it will not continue on OWN thereafter. However, she will host a new prime-time show on the channel called Oprah's Next Chapter two or three times a week.

List of shows on the up-coming OWN
http://www.oprah.com/own/shows.html
In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman
Dr. Laura Berman wants you to have great sex. A relationship expert, sex therapist, New York Times Bestselling author and Sirius XM radio show host, Dr. Berman makes house calls to help troubled couples uncover what's really going on between the sheets. No issue is off limits with Dr. Berman, and she isn't afraid to talk specifics. This series will surprise viewers with questions that prove how normal it is to need help... IN THE BEDROOM.


2010-12-01

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