Instagram story viewer> @therapyaimee> Tagged

Aimee Mortensen | Relationship + Sex Therapy

@therapyaimee

undefined

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

If we’re ghosting anything this spooky season, let it be the habits, thought patterns, and expectations that are haunting our mental health. 👻

15

1

“You had the power all along my dear.” - Glinda The Good Witch

7

0

Consent education starts long before conversations about sex.
So, what does consent actually require?
Research-informed consent education teaches us that consent should be:
Freely given. No pressure, guilt, threats, manipulation, or coercion.
Informed. People need to understand what they are agreeing to. This means being honest, communicating clearly, and never intentionally withholding important information.
Specific. Agreeing to one thing doesn’t mean agreeing to everything. A hug isn’t permission for a kiss, and consent to one activity doesn’t automatically mean consent to another.
Ongoing. Consent isn’t a one-time conversation. Anyone can change their mind, even if they initially said yes.
Given by someone capable of consenting. Silence, freezing, uncertainty, sleep, or incapacitation should never be treated as a yes.

How do we teach this to children of all ages?
Toddlers: Ask before tickling, hugging, or kissing. Respect their refusals when possible, and narrate necessary caregiving. Teach them the proper names for body parts and that they can always tell a trusted adult when something feels wrong.

Preschoolers: Teach the difference between surprises and unsafe secrets, practice asking before touching or taking things, and let children choose alternatives to unwanted affection.

Elementary-aged children: Talk about personal space, privacy, peer pressure, digital boundaries, and how to respond when someone says no.

Tweens and teens: Discuss dating, sexual consent, digital images, sexting, peer pressure, alcohol and other substances, and the responsibility to recognize and respect another person’s boundaries. Make it clear that consent must be ongoing and that relationship status never creates entitlement to someone’s body.

And perhaps one of the most important lessons for parents and caregivers: model the behavior you want your children to learn. Apologize when you cross a boundary. Respect their privacy as they grow. Don’t force affection to protect an adult’s feelings.

8

0

Today I had the opportunity to attend the Evolution of Women Conference: Bridging the Gap, and I left with so much to think about. 🤍

One of the highlights was hearing Dr. Christina Hibbert, PsyD, speak on “The Strength We Never Asked For: Bridging the Gap Between Medical Care and Emotional Healing.” Her message really resonated with me—the reminder that when women experience illness, trauma, loss, or major life changes, treating the physical symptoms is only part of the story. Emotional healing deserves a place in healthcare too.

I also appreciated the conversations surrounding women’s sexual health and the biopsychosocial factors that influence how women experience their bodies, relationships, desire, and healing. Women’s health is never simply physical or psychological—it is all connected.

It was also pretty special to attend with WORTH IT Counseling + Consulting, who sponsored lunch, and to watch Aimee present Beyond Desire: The Psychology of Women’s Sexual Health. 💛 @evolution_of_women @worthitcounselingconsulting @drchristinahibbert #womenshealth #mentalhealth #evolutionofwomenconference2026

20

4

@therapyaimee taught at @evolution_of_women today about the psychology of women’s sexual health.

18

0

We don’t enter relationships with a blank slate, We bring our childhoods with us.

The way conflict was handled.
The way emotions were expressed, or avoided.
The way love was shown.
The things we were praised for.
The things we were punished for.
The things nobody ever talked about.

And sometimes, the behaviors that helped us feel safe growing up don’t serve us quite as well in adult relationships.

Maybe keeping the peace helped you avoid conflict at home, but now you struggle to tell your partner when you’re hurt.

We learn how to relate to other people from the relationships we’re surrounded by.

The good news? Those patterns aren’t permanent.

7

0

We talk a lot about how painful it can be to be the lower-desire partner, to feel pressure, guilt, or like your “no” is disappointing your partner.

But being the higher-desire partner can be hard, too.

It can feel lonely to want more connection and wonder if your partner still desires you. It can be easy to start interpreting every rejection personally or feeling like you have to stop reaching out altogether to avoid feeling hurt.

One thing that can help? Take sex off the table sometimes.

Let touch just be touch.
A kiss doesn’t have to lead anywhere.
A long hug doesn’t have to become foreplay.
Cuddling doesn’t have to come with an expectation.

Sometimes intimacy grows when neither person is waiting for the moment to “turn into something.”

6

0

Our 2026 Evolution of Women speaker lineup is officially finalized! ✨ Meet our 2026 speakers and join us on October 2 as we bridge the gaps in women’s health. Speakers and attendees across multiple disciplines 🙌🏽

Evolution of Women is about bringing medical and mental health professionals together to better understand whole human care for women. From reproductive and maternal mental health to pelvic floor care, sexual health, trauma, neurodivergence, perimenopause, infertility, eating disorders, functional medicine, and major life transitions, our speakers will explore the places where women’s healthcare too often becomes disconnected.

Register for the conference to be a part of this movement. Link in our bio.

#womenshealthconference #continuingeducation

80

17

New faces. New energy. A lot happening behind the scenes. 🖤✌️🏻 We’ve officially added two new clinicians to the @worthitcounselingconsulting team, and it has been so fun getting everyone together, dreaming bigger, and making plans for everything coming in 2026 and 2027.

We’re growing, we’re planning, and we’re really excited about what’s next. Meet the new WORTH IT team. ✨

3

1

Your therapy should never be a place where you feel pressured to adopt your therapist’s beliefs.

A good therapist can hold space for your values without imposing their own. They can help you explore your relationship with faith, spirituality, doubt, identity, or meaning while respecting that your beliefs belong to you.

6

0

A new SelectHealth behavioral health policy is scheduled to take effect November 1, and we are seriously concerned about what it could mean for access to mental healthcare in Utah—especially for children and teenagers.
Here’s the issue:
Utah already licenses associate mental health professionals—including ACMHCs, AMFTs, and CSWs—to provide mental health treatment under required clinical supervision.
But SelectHealth’s new requirements could make it substantially more difficult for behavioral health practices to use these clinicians to serve SelectHealth members, including by creating an additional barrier around initial evaluations and treatment plans.
And that means access to care could get even harder.
Finding a therapist for a child in Utah is already incredibly difficult. Families can wait MONTHS for someone who treats children.
Teenagers aren’t much better off. Many therapists don’t treat minors at all.
And we’re talking about this in a state where suicide was the second-leading cause of death for Utah youth ages 10–17 in 2023.
This is not the time to create additional barriers between young people and mental healthcare.
There is also a long-term consequence people need to understand.
But Utah already has a licensing agency and Behavioral Health Board responsible for determining who is qualified to provide mental health treatment and what supervision they require.
So we have questions.

37

1

Today is World Sexual Health Day, a reminder that sexual health is about so much more than preventing pregnancy or STIs.

It’s about communication. Consent. Pleasure. Body image. Relationships. Intimacy. Sexual functioning. Boundaries. Identity. Safety. And feeling comfortable enough to talk about the things we’re often taught to keep quiet.

Sexual health can change throughout our lives. Stress, relationships, medications, pregnancy, parenting, aging, trauma, chronic illness, and major life transitions can all affect our sexual experiences, and that needs to be talked about more openly.

9

0