764: Natasha Helfer Parker - Mormon Sex Therapist Pt. 3

Mormon Stories Podcast

Dr. John Dehlin

Religion & Spirituality

4.5 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2017

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this series on Mormon Stories, we interview the fabulous Natasha Helfer Parker, MFT, CST — moderator of the Mormon Mental Health podcast — to finally hear her “Mormon story.”

This interview covers:

*Being raised in the Church with convert parents in Spain and her eventual move to the US
*Natasha and her family’s concerns about the practice of polygamy and frustration that their questions never seemed to be answered, yet remaining true-believers
*The impact of being a victim of sexual abuse as a child and teenager and how it influenced her experiences exploring her sexuality as a teenager and young adult
*Her removal from BYU because of her sexual experiences and her thoughts now about the unintended consequences of honor code enforcement
*How she met her husband and disclosed her sexual past in an act of transparency, and how it affected the first years of their marriage
*Her thoughts now about the difference between behavior and self-worth within the Church, especially as it relates to sexual behavior
*Her decision to become a sex therapist and how her move to the Midwest became an impetus to develop a wider online presence
*How being a believer in the faith, but having a nuanced view of sexuality led her to being widely known as the “Mormon Sex Therapist”
*How cracks developed in her Orthodox faith foundation
*Her feeling of being in a continuing faith transition for much of the 20+ years of her practice

http://www.mormonmentalhealth.org

https://www.symmetrysols.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Mormon Stories is a production of the Open Stories Foundation and relies solely
0:04.3	upon the support of people like you, its listeners. To help keep the podcast
0:08.4	alive or to become a member of the community, please become a monthly
0:11.8	subscriber by visiting MormonStories.org and clicking on the Donate
0:16.2	button on the right side of the page under Support. All contributions to
0:20.2	Mormon Stories are completely tax deductible and go towards producing the
0:23.8	podcast and building communities and programs of support for Mormons like you.
0:28.4	Thanks for your support.
0:46.4	So welcome back everyone to part three of my interview with Natasha Helfer Parker,
0:52.0	the Mormon therapist and the Mormon sex therapist. This is our third episode with
0:57.8	Natasha, longtime dear friend, former board member of the Open Stories Foundation,
1:03.6	host of Mormon Mental Health Podcasts which you all need to donate to. We, we
1:10.6	would love that. She's also the host of Mormon Sex Info Podcasts which is
1:14.3	amazing. She is the executive director or CEO of Symmetry Solutions which is a
1:22.3	therapist sort of network where you can find a good therapist who's competent
1:27.3	one of my dear friends Kimberly who specializes in and support coaching for
1:34.4	trans individuals and probably lots of other things is one of the many members
1:39.3	of your network. Yes, I have wonderful people so please. So please. All meant to
1:44.6	specialize on faith transitions and sexuality. So check out Symmetry Solutions for
1:50.3	your needs if you need therapy. And so we're back for part three Natasha, we've
1:54.8	talked about you're upbringing in the church, your sexual activity prior to
1:59.4	marriage, getting kicked out of BYU, the shame that you experienced getting married
	...

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