For Clinicians
There is a ripening roadmap. Once you know it your couples will thank you.
Advanced training and consultation for therapists ready to work with the body, the bond and the erotic– not just the narrative.
The Gap
Most of us were trained to talk about everything except this.
Graduate programs teach theory. Couple therapy training teaches process, and sex therapy programs teach about sexual functioning. When a complex couple enters the room with some combination of mismatched desire, betrayal trauma, loss, sexual pain and/or shame AND a heavy dose of relational threat many superb clinicians quietly shift the focus away from sex. Not out of judgment. From a lack of integrated training. It can feel like there is simply too much content to hold on to all at once.
The Ripening Method closes the gap by integrating:
The Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT).
Erotic development and differentiation strategies.
Tantric philosophy and practices for embodiment and transformation.
Let us show you how→
“Karen is a master clinician whose groundbreaking contributions are indispensable, significantly enhancing therapeutic outcomes for couples striving for deeper, more meaningful connections. She now leverages her extensive expertise to develop the innovative Ripening Model of Secure Erotic Functioning.”
—Stan Tatkin, PsyD MFT, Founder of the PACT Institute
“Caroline and Karen are both so knowledgeable and they have a terrific rapport. Their clarity, competence, humor and warmth made it easy to integrate complex and sensitive material”
— TRAINING PARTICIPANT
The Offerings
Three ways to train with us.
01
Group Consultation
Ongoing · Online
We are as interested in your clinical development as we are the outcome of your sex therapy cases. Case consultation in a small group-format. Bring your hardest cases and learn to think strategically and developmentally with your couples.
Join the next cohort →02
Individual Consultation
in person · onLine
Bring your hardest cases and get personalized attention. As your own growth edges come into focus, we will help you upgrade your skills with complex couples in sex therapy. Your clinical outcomes will improve and the work will feel so much more exciting and fun.
CONSULT WITH US→03
Advanced Trainings
pre-recorded · live
Immersive workshops in the Ripening Method: integrating the bottom-up PACT approach with erotic development and embodiment practices.
REQUEST TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES→
Why Train With Us
You’re not learning a brand. You’re inheriting a lineage.
Karen was a member of the original core faculty at the PACT Institute, she trained for a decade in the Sexual Crucible Approach with David Schnarch and she both studied and taught tantric practice with Margo Anand. Yoga, meditation, ecstatic dance and more are woven into the way she works. Caroline is an AASECT certified sex therapist, a PACT Level 2 practitioner and has trained in EMDR for over 20 years. Caroline ran a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for 12 years with over 1500 graduates, completed the Urban Tantra Professional Training Program and has extensive experience working with sexual and gender minorities.
What you get is the synthesis– tested across decades of clinical hours – taught moment-to-moment and bottom-up, the same way you’ll use it.
Meet your teachers →Start Free
7 Essentials When Working With Sex in Couple Therapy
Skilled therapists can often feel at sea when sexuality enters the room. Read what we always keep in mind when we work with couples in sex therapy.
—Training Participant