Advisory Board & Faculty
Director of Clinical Education for The Sexual Health Alliance
Chris Donaghue, PhD, CST
Dr. Chris Donaghue is an international lecturer, therapist, and educator. Dr Donaghue is the Director of Clinical Education for The Sexual Health Alliance (SHA), host of the LoveLine podcast, weekly expert on “The Amber Rose Show”, and frequent co host on “The Doctors” tv show. He previously hosted WE tv’s “Sex Box”and Logo tv’s “Bad Sex”. He is published in various professional journals and top magazines, and has been featured on The Today Show, VICE, CNN, HLN, OWN, Nightline, Dr Drew and in Newsweek, New York Times, Daily Beast, Mens Health, Cosmo, and National Geographic. Author of the book, “Sex Outside the Lines: Authentic Sexuality in a Sexually Dysfunctional Culture”. Dr. Donaghue has lectured at prestigious Universities including USC, UCLA, and Princeton as well as being the keynote at various professional conferences such as Chicago Ideas Week, American Association for Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), and The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS). Dr. Chris Donaghue is a Doctor of Clinical Sexology and Human Sexuality, Doctoral trained in Clinical Psychology, Licensed Clinical Therapist, a Certified Sex Therapist and a Certified Sexologist. Dr. Donaghue practices general psychology and specializes in individual and couples sex, relational, and marital therapy. His work also includes sexual compulsivity, sexual anorexia, sexual dysfunctions, and non-traditional sexuality, identities, and relationships. His work is also with diverse individuals, including all gender expressions, sexual orientations, and Kink/BDSM/Poly issues. His office is located in Los Angeles.
CEO/FOunder of The Sexual Health ALliance
Heather Mcpherson LPC-s, lmft-S, CST-S
Heather McPherson is the CEO and Founder of the Sexual Health Alliance, a premier education and certification provider for sexuality professionals. Heather also founded Respark, a national brand that encompasses a group therapy practice, Respark Foundation Nonprofit, and ReSpark Retreats. Respark Therapy & Associates (respark.co) is a group practice that serves Colorado, Washington and Texas specializing in sexuality and relationships. She is published in Playboy Magazine as well as Playboy Online, and has been featured on CNN, HuffPost, Rolling Stones, SheKnows, Quartz, Bravo, the Body, the Sun, Sex and Psychology with Dr. Justin Lehmiller, Psychology Today with Dr. David Ley, Parent Harald, and more. Heather McPherson has lectured at prestigious universities including University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, University of Utah, University of Colorado Denver and Governors State University in Chicago. She is an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist Supervisor, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Supervisor (LMFT-S) and a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S). She also is the Texas Section Leader for AASECT (American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors & Therapists). She has appeared on several podcasts including Loveline with Dr. Chris Donaghue as well as Sex with Dr. Jess. Heather helps clients gain confidence, rebuild trust, increase playfulness, and find passion and meaning in their erotic lives. Heather graduated with honors from Texas State University with a MA in Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy; a CACREP Accredited Program.
Advisor of The Sexual Health ALliance
David Ley, PhD CST, CST-S
Dr. David J. Ley is an internationally-recognized expert on issues related to sexuality, pornography and mental health. He has appeared on television with Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Dr. Phil and others. He has been interviewed in publications ranging from the LA Times and the London Telegraph, to Playboy and Hustler magazines. Dr. Ley has published extensively in both the academic and “pop” realms of literature. His latest book, His new book Ethical Porn for Dicks, A Man's Guide to Responsible Viewing Pleasure has endorsements from Dan Savage and Pornhub.com and is a humorous and provocative handbook for men who want to think more comprehensively about porn. The Myth of Sex Addiction (2012) and Insatiable Wives (2009) were revolutionary explorations of sexual issues which blended a powerful client-centered narrative with a rich understanding of psychology, biology and sociology. At the same time, he is Executive Director of a large behavioral health and substance abuse outpatient program, and consults across the country on both mental health and sexuality-related issues. As a result, Dr. Ley is able to bring a broad, practical approach to help mental health clinicians effectively address sexuality-related issues.
A sample of our Faculty
Dr. Elisabeth Sheff is the foremost academic expert on polyamorous families with children. With a PhD in Sociology, Dr. Sheff specializes in gender and sexual minority families, consensual non-monogamy, and kink/BDSM. Sheff’s first book, The Polyamorists Next Door (2014 hardback and ebook, 2015 paperback and audiobook), details the findings of the first 15 years of her research on polyamorous families with children. Her second book, Stories from the Polycule (2015), is an edited anthology of writings by polyamorous folks. When Someone You Love is Polyamorous (2016) is Sheff’s shortest book that guides family members and significant others who are trying to understand a polyamorous loved one.
Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Purdue University. He is a Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute and author of the book Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, having been honored three times with the Certificate of Teaching Excellence from Harvard University, where he taught for several years. He is also a prolific researcher and scholar who has published more than 40 pieces of academic writing to date, including a textbook entitled The Psychology of Human Sexuality (now in its second edition) that is used in college classrooms around the world. Dr. Lehmiller’s research focuses on topics including casual sex, sexual fantasy, sexual health, and friends with benefits. His studies have appeared in all of the leading journals on human sexuality, including the Journal of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Dr. Lehmiller has run the popular blog Sex and Psychology since 2011, and it now receives several million page views per year. He has been interviewed by numerous media outlets, includingThe Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, CNN.com, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, and The Sunday Times.
Kelvin Pace, MS, LPC-S, CST Kelvin graduated with a master’s in clinical psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2009. He has been a LPC supervisor for two years and he has been an AASECT certified therapist for 3 years.
Kelvin is the owner of KpaceCounseling, LLC where he serves clients in private practice. He does contract work with Full Spectrum Health as a behavioral health clinician where he works with an integrated care team delivering evidenced based care to persons of the LGBTQ+ community. Kelvin has worked for a local non-profit delivering mental health services to children and young adults that have suffered from complex trauma. With a firm foundation in trauma, he delivers trauma informed sex positive therapy to his clients. Kelvin provides services to couples and individuals dealing with sexual or relationship issues that include low desire, anxiety surrounding sex, and infidelity. His current focus is on mindfulness based interventions to manage sexual concerns and he works with persons that are either in or looking to explore non-traditional relationship orientations that fall under the umbrella of consensual/ethical non-monogamy.
Charlie Glickman PhD is a sex & relationship coach, a sexuality educator, a sexological bodyworker, and an internationally-acclaimed speaker. He’s been working in this field for over 25 years, and some of his areas of focus include sex & shame, sex-positivity, queer issues, masculinity & gender, communities of erotic affiliation, and many sexual & relationship practices. Charlie is also the co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Prostate Pleasure: Erotic Exploration for Men and Their Partners. Find out more about him on his website or on Twitter and Facebook. For Charlie’s sex coaching services, visit Make Sex Easy.