Communication Skills Archive

  My summer of “light” reading has continued, plunging me headfirst into mind-candy, with the encouragement of my co-worker Miriam. I’ve loved it. The passage of one of my reads focussed on two characters who have just had sex together for the first time. One of them is worrying about lack of sexual experience and [...]

I came across a New York Times post on herpes the other day, and in it a doctor is quoted as saying that the stigma of herpes is worse than the stigma of HIV. My initial response was to figure that doctor doesn’t have HIV herself. I don’t have HIV so I can’t claim direct experience, but with what I’ve learned in my work with women who are HIV+, I feel confident saying that the echo of the stigma of living with HIV probably goes farther than that of living with herpes. But in talking about sexual relationships, for sure they both have their challenges.

  “What do you say to taking chances?” This line from a song in the first Glee soundtrack has been looping in my brain, so when one of my favourite sexual health writers emphasized the need to take chances for better sex, my immediate response was yes!  Celebrate spring by doing something new, suggests Dr. [...]

Sometimes I feel like a bit of a downer in my messaging: Hey, do you like sex? Remember you might end up with some infection or virus. Have fun! So why be such a downer? I think of it as realistic more than a downer. Realistic messaging means reflecting back what I’ve learned as a sexual health educator working with women living with HIV. And one of the messages that I’ve heard many times is that they had no idea they might be at risk for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) with their partner.

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