Sexual Health Resources and Support: Where to Turn for Help

Sexual Health Resources and Support: Where to Turn for Help

Sexual health encompasses far more than avoiding disease or dysfunction. True sexual wellbeing involves having an overall positive relationship with your body and sexuality throughout all life stages. This means being able to embrace pleasure and intimacy in a fulfilling, safe way according to your own desires.

However, many people encounter issues that impede their sexual health. Trauma, discrimination, inability to access healthcare, lack of education, and cultural taboos can all contribute to struggles with sexual expression and reproductive wellness. Statistics show that:

• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men in the U.S. experience some form of unwanted sexual contact during childhood. This greatly increases risks for sexual health issues down the road.
• Only 40% of high schools and 14% of middle schools provide all 16 topics recommended by the CDC to comprehensively educate students on sexual health.
• In a recent survey, 80% of LGBTQ youth reported lacking the sexual health resources and education required to make informed choices.
• Nearly 20 million new STI cases occur annually according to the CDC, indicating gaps in safer sex education and barrier access.
• Elective reproductive healthcare like contraception, abortion, and gender affirming treatments remain politically contested. This leads to restricted availability.
• Shame, silence, and misinformation still surround female sexual pleasure, menstrual health, menopause, aging, and natural bodily variations in size and appearance.

When aspects of sexuality feel mysterious, dangerous, shameful, or omitted altogether from the cultural conversation, it becomes difficult to develop sexual literacy, agency, and wellbeing. By providing medically accurate resources delivered with compassion, we can empower all people to navigate their reproductive lives and intimate relationships with confidence.

If you’re struggling with any aspect of your sexual or reproductive health, it’s important to know you don’t have to navigate it alone. Various organizations and support services exist to provide people with the resources, care, and community they need. While finding the right support depends on your specific situation, here are some of the top options to consider:

Medical Clinics

If you need STI testing, cancer screenings, birth control, abortion services, or other sexual health procedures, clinics can provide safe, timely care. These facilities aim to serve patients without judgement or stigma. Important clinic options include:

Planned Parenthood – With over 600 health centers across the U.S., Planned Parenthood is many people’s top source for accessible sexual and reproductive care. Services include STI tests, birth control, cancer screenings, abortion procedures, hormone therapy, PrEP, pregnancy care, reproductive counseling, and more. Their services are confidential, with fees adjusted based on your income.

Public Health Clinics – Check if your city, county, or state health department operates low-cost or free clinics. These typically offer STI tests, contraceptives, Pap smears, and other basic sexual healthcare. For uninsured individuals, these clinics can provide essential services based on a sliding fee scale.

Community Health Centers – Federally-qualified community health centers provide care in underserved areas. Their family planning services are more affordable than hospital care and include family planning services, HIV/AIDS care, hormone therapy, and sometimes gender affirming treatments and procedures as well.

LGBTQ-focused Clinics – Traditional health facilities often fail to grasp the unique needs of LGBTQ patients. Specialty clinics like Los Angeles’s Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic and Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago cater specifically to LGBTQ health and sexual wellness. This includes hormone therapies, gender affirmation support, PrEP, and STI services provided without bias.

Abortion Clinics – Along with Planned Parenthood, independent clinics like those in the National Abortion Federation specialize in abortion procedures, birth control, and counseling to support reproductive choice. They aim to provide safe, compassionate care to women and pregnant people during a difficult decision.

Wherever you seek care, you have a right to dignified treatment, inclusive language, privacy, and full information regarding your options. Don’t hesitate to consult online reviews or call ahead to get a sense of the facility’s approach if you have concerns about discrimination or biases affecting your care.

Helplines & Hotlines

If you’re dealing with an immediate crisis, helplines provide private, 24/7 support and counseling via text message or phone call. Connecting with a trained volunteer who can listen and provide referrals can make a huge difference in getting through difficult moments. Some top helplines specific to sexual health concerns include:

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline – RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline. This confidential service offers crisis support for survivors of sexual assault, their loved ones, and people who want to learn how to support survivors. You can call 800-656-HOPE or start a live chat online to connect with an advocate anytime.

The Trevor Project Lifeline – Focused on the LGBTQ community, The Trevor Project’s hotline offers crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth in particular. Counselors provide compassionate risk assessment and can refer those in need to additional local support resources. Call 866-488-7386 or text 678678.

GLBT National Help Center Hotline – This peer support line provides telephone, online private chat, and email crisis intervention services for LGBTQ folks needing a listening ear. People of all ages can find community, report a hate crime, and get referrals through their hotline or chat.

Exhale Pro-Voice Hotline – Offering judgment-free support, Exhale’s after-abortion talkline is manned by counselors trained in reproductive grief, loss, and mental health issues. Anyone coping with emotions after an abortion can call 866-439-4253 to access free, confidential therapy.

All-Options Talkline – All-Options operates a non-biased talkline for anyone considering options or struggling with emotions around pregnancy, parenting, abortion, or adoption. Callers work through feelings with trained peer counselors to find the pregnancy decision that fits their needs.

Connecting with an empathetic person immediately during or after traumatic events can begin the healing process. Confidential helplines allow you to open up anonymously when other support is unavailable.

Support Groups

Support groups enable people to regularly share experiences, insights, and coping strategies in an atmosphere of mutual trust. They provide community and remind participants they are not alone in their struggles. In-person, virtual, or hybrid support groups exist around nearly any aspect of sexual identity, reproductive health, or relational dynamic. Some examples include:

• Survivors of rape, abuse, or assault
• People newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS
• Parents who have lost pregnancies or infants
• Trans youth and adults
• People experiencing infertility
• Partners of porn or sex addicts
• Folks embracing an asexual identity
• New parents struggling with adjustment
• LGBTQ older adults
• Caregivers of people living with STIs
• Women managing pelvic pain disorders
• Adults healing from religious purity culture
• Patients battling reproductive cancers

Joining a group reduces isolation while allowing you to share your story and listen to others who intimately understand your experience. Many larger non-profit organizations host support groups regionally and online. You can also look for more informal local groups through message boards, networking with other advocates, places of worship, and community mental health clinics.

The key is finding a facilitator and cohort you feel safe opening up to. It often takes attending several meetings to find the right fit as group dynamics vary. Don’t get discouraged if your first experience feels awkward. The more vulnerable and engaged you allow yourself to be, the more fulfilled you tend to feel.

Forums & Message Boards

The anonymity provided by online forums enables frank discussions around topics that might otherwise seem taboo. Being able to ask intimate questions and share experiences using a screen name allows people to gain understanding of sexuality and identity while remaining private. Active forums exist on various platforms:

Reddit Sexuality Subreddits – Large subreddits like r/sex, r/TwoXChromosomes, and r/birthcontrol have become digital communities where redditors exchange relationship and reproductive advice freely. More specific groups also unite people struggling with issues like r/DeadBedrooms, r/asexuality, r/adultsurvivors, and r/LGBTsex.

AIDS & STI Message Boards – Websites like TheBody, STTalk, and PositiveSingles have active forums where people impacted by HIV/AIDS, Herpes, HPV and other infections anonymously support each other, trade treatment tips, and discuss dating, relationships and disclosure.

LGBTQ+ Youth Forum – The Trevor Project’s online peer-to-peer forum allows LGBTQ youth to safely discuss topics like coming out, gender identity, bullying, mental health, and relationships. Moderators ensure discussions remain judgment-free.

Women’s Health Forums – Platforms like HealthBoards, PatientInfo, and MedHelp have forums where women troubleshoot reproductive issues among peers facing similar conditions. Topics cover everything from menstrual disorders to menopause to fertility struggles.

Asking questions and reading posts from a diverse range of people exploring sexuality helps normalize concerns that might otherwise induce shame. It allows you to discover support and feel empowered to then educate others. Seek multiple perspectives, but remember anonymous advice still requires fact-checking.

Educational Resources

For young people especially, schools constitute the primary source of sexual health knowledge. Yet the quality of sex education in the U.S. tends to be inconsistent or incomplete:

• As of 2022, only 10 states and Washington D.C. mandate teaching consent as part of sex education.
• In 36 states, curriculum emphasizing abstinence must be stressed over comprehensive information on contraception, STIs, and health relationships.
• Topics like safe sex practices, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pleasure typically get minimal attention or are omitted altogether.

To supplement spotty school-based learning, various national organizations provide excellent educational materials online ranging from sexual literacy curriculums to instructional videos to fact sheets on reproductive topics. Some top resources include:

Advocates for Youth – Leading advocacy organization Advocates for Youth publishes the excellent Rights, Respect, Responsibility curriculum featuring more than 100 free lesson plans for teaching comprehensive sex ed to students grade 7-12. The lessons span reproductive anatomy, puberty, consent, protection methods, communication skills and more.

Answer – Operated by Rutgers University, Answer provides scientifically accurate sexuality education tailored for teens and young adults. Their website contains videos, fact sheets, and interactive learning tools that cover bodies, relationships, gender, sexual orientation, contraception, STIs, and sexual decision making.

Scarleteen – Scarleteen offers inclusive, shame-free sex ed and relationship advice geared at adolescents and young adults. Their expansive website contains articles, illustrations, a helpline, and regular workshops on topics from self-care to coming out to disability and sexuality.

Planned Parenthood – In addition to clinical services, Planned Parenthood supplies excellent online learning resources. Their chatbot Roo answers common teen questions on sex and puberty. Their YouTube channel posts informative videos narrated by doctors busting myths about reproductive health, sexuality and bodies.

Sex, Etc. – Created by the non-profit Answer, Sex, Etc. provides judged-free sexual health info by teens, for teens. The site is a portal to videos, fact sheets, wellness guides, and personal stories exploring relationships, gender, sexual activity, STIs, contraception, and much more – all presented in a youth-friendly format.

Reliable, shame-free education empowers young people to build self-esteem, navigate relationships, avoid harm, and embrace their sexuality and reproductive capabilities on their own terms.

Counseling & Therapy

For some individuals, one-on-one counseling provides the most effective means to improve sexual wellbeing. This is especially true if psychological factors like trauma, discrimination, shame, repression, or mental illness have significantly impacted sexuality or relationships. Reasons people often seek out counseling include:

• Healing from rape, abuse, assault, or other sexual trauma
• Accepting one’s sexual orientation or gender identity
• Managing disorders like compulsive sexual behaviors, vaginismus, or erectile dysfunction
• Improving communication and intimacy in relationships
• Processing emotions related to abortion or infertility
• Overcoming the impact of religious fundamentalism on sexuality
• Treating side effects interfering with sexual function
• Support in coming out or transitioning

Look for providers who specialize in sex therapy or operate from a clearly sex-positive perspective. Many mental health professionals still bring their own biases around sexual norms. Seek referrals from LGBTQ health centers or reproductive justice organizations to find counselors less likely to judge. Counseling can be provided individually, as a couple, in a group setting, or a combination.

Ideally the counselor should offer a blend of talk therapy, cognitive and behavioral techniques, psychoeducation, and experiential exercises tailored to your situation. With professional guidance, you can uncover hang-ups, adopt healthy mindsets, and unlock your ability to embrace intimacy in a self-affirming way.

Overcoming Barriers to Care & Support

Navigating sexual health challenges also means identifying and overcoming any barriers standing between you and the care, education, or support needed. Common obstacles include:

Affordability – Many sexual health services fall outside what insurance covers. Look into sliding scale clinics, non-profit groups with funds to offset costs, payment plans, or assistance programs in your state. Don’t assume care is necessarily inaccessible.

Parental Consent – Teens seeking confidential services without involving parents can research consent laws in their state, where exceptions often apply. Federally-funded clinics provide confidential contraception, STI testing and more to certain minors.

Transportation – Rural residents without easy clinic access could look into mobile care options, patient navigators able to arrange rides, or non-profit assistance with travel costs. Depending on distance, making a day of city appointments can maximize each trip.

Time Constraints – Juggling appointments with school, family, and work gets easier with advance planning. Communicate schedule conflicts so your provider can get you in and out efficiently. Virtual visits also reduce travel and wait times.

Language Barriers – Many health facilities offer translation services, touch screen check-in in multiple languages, or employ bilingual staff. When making appointments, request this accommodation to avoid any misunderstanding later on.

Biases – Seek culturally-competent professionals less likely to discriminate based on demographics. Give unbiased feedback to providers seeming uncomfortable with aspects of your identity or needs so they improve.

While systemic discrimination keeps some marginalized groups from care, local reproductive health advocates and clinics can suggest creative solutions to overcome many access barriers. Prioritize asking for what you need.

Empowering Your Sexual Wellbeing

Protecting your sexual health involves understanding your whole body’s needs, minimizing risks to function, and treating any issues early and effectively. But true sexual wellbeing runs deeper than just physical health. It means being able to integrate sexuality into your life in a way that feels pleasurable, positive, and empowering. Achieving this requires:

• Confidence in articulating your needs and setting boundaries.
• Freedom from shame, anxiety, or inhibitions around intimacy.
• Skill in fostering trusting, mutually fulfilling relationships.
• Knowledge of how to prevent abuse and access support if it occurs.
• Ability to communicate about sexuality in an open, honest, non-judgmental fashion.
• Access to resources that help you make informed choices for your body.
• Fewer cultural taboos dictating what constitutes “normal” sexual expression.

Organizations promoting comprehensive sexual health education, reproductive justice, consent, body autonomy, and survivors’ rights all help create a society where fulfilling intimate lives are possible for all people. Removing stigma enables more individuals to seek help when facing challenges earlier without embarrassment.

By voting, donating, volunteering, participating in activism, and supporting sex-positive leaders and policies, we can collectively improve access to science-based sexual healthcare and resources aimed at nurturing sexual wellbeing. The result will be healthier, more vibrant, more empowered communities.