Sex, Addiction, and The Missing Peace: Ken Donaldson, LMHC Interviews his Wife, Holly Donaldson, CFP

Sex, Addiction and the Missing Peace: As Intimacy Increases, You'll Find the Missing Pieces...

In this episode of Sex, Addiction, and The Missing Peace, host Ken Donaldson interviews his first guest, his wife, Holly Donaldson, Certified Financial Planner™. While Ken lately has talked to more people about sex due to him recently becoming board-certified as a sex therapist, Holly, as a Certified Financial Planner, is board-certified to talk about money. And because sex and money are two things people don't like to talk about too much, Ken and Holly say they don't expect to get many post-covid party invitations. They're both comfortable talking about the uncomfortable subject matter!
Holly's been a lifelong student of economics. She holds a master's degree in it, and a master's in business administration, both from the University of South Florida (Go Bulls!!). Holly spent much of her career in banking, helping people and companies with their finances. Then, in the early 2000s, she became intrigued with behavioral economics, which is studying the psychology of money.
Holly then wrote a book about it in layman's language called The Mindful Money Mentality. She has recently created an online course, "Retirement Readiness," for people concerned about how they will transition from working and saving to spending those savings. You can read more about Holly at her website, www.HollyDonaldson.com.
In this episode, Ken and Holly quite candidly, openly, and honestly discuss:

• Holly's first thoughts when Ken shared with her that he was launching the Sex, Addiction, and The Missing Peace podcast. (Hint: The word "piece" when placed along "sex" typically means one thing, whereas "peace" means something completely different!)
  
• Holly's initial reaction, thoughts, interpretation when Ken first mentioned the term "sexual addiction." (Hint: Tiger_____________ and "yuck.")
  
• Holly's first impressions about Ken's Ph.D. project being focused on sexual addiction. Not being someone who works in this field, in reading some of Ken's initial findings, Holly quickly recognized the confusion and the many different opinions and ideas around sexual addiction. Holly observed this sexual addiction confusion, especially in what to call it, and the many differing research outcomes, all creating a challenging picture for an area to research in. (May The Force be with Ken!!)
  
• Ken then asked Holly about her thoughts, as a layperson, regarding addiction in general since she has heard Ken speak to numerous groups about addiction. (One of their first encounters previous to their romantic relationship was when Holly brought some of her friends to hear Ken talk about addiction at Turning Point of Tampa.) Holly suggested more Emotional Intelligence (one of Ken's favorite topics!) is needed so people can better understand and regulate their emotions and then be better able to express them. She also emphasized the importance of self-care for people who may be in a relationship with a person struggling with addiction.
  
• Holly and Ken both joked about sharing Ken's Ph.D. being in clinical sexology in different ways with friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
  
• Holly also offers some supportive and comforting advice for all of the significant others who might have a spouse or partner in an all-consuming Ph.D. program and again emphasizes open communication, self-care, and the importance of maintaining some of the simple relational rituals.
  
• In closing, Holly re-emphasizes the universal need for people to learn better how to give themselves "self-care."