Special Guest Interview: Certified Sex Therapist Christina Nail
Today, we’re excited to feature an insightful conversation with licensed sex therapist and couples counselor, Christina Nail, on the Sit and Stay podcast.
With extensive experience in mental health, Christina specializes in helping individuals and couples navigate the complexities of intimacy and connection. In this episode, she shares how her early work in psychiatric crisis care shaped her passion for strengthening relationships and improving sexual health, as well as her transition into private practice.
Christina also discusses her experiences balancing in-person and telehealth sessions across multiple states, the importance of clinician self-care, and the value of quality training in sexual health. We hope you enjoy this compelling conversation with Christina as she provides real-world guidance on building a fulfilling therapy practice—one that makes a genuine difference in people’s lives.
Parker Anderson: Hello and welcome back to the Sit and Stay podcast. The show where mental health providers learn to keep their practice healthy alongside their patients. Brought to you by an electronic health record company dedicated to addressing the mental health crisis in the United States. So I am Ripych product manager Parker Anderson. As always, I'm joined by founder and CEO of Ripytech, Tom Tarshis. Hey Tom.
Tom Tarshis: Hey, Parker.
Parker Anderson: Always good to see you Tom.
So today we're joined by a very special guest. We have with us today Christina Nail. She is a dedicated therapist specializing in sex and couples therapy with a background in psychiatric crisis care. She now focuses on helping individuals and couples navigate the complexities of intimacy and connection. She believes that while struggles are inevitable, the right guidance can lead to deeper, more fulfilling relationships.
Thanks for being with us today, Christina.
Christina Nail: Thank you for having me.
Tom Tarshis: We're super excited to have Christina on and Christina, for all of our guests, we usually do the sort of basic, “When did you decide to become a mental health clinician?” Was it something you saw when you were in kindergarten or what was that path like for you to enter this field?
Christina Nail: So, I think I've looking back I've had that I've been asked that question a few times and looking back I realized when I initially pinpointed that I was probably getting my bachelor's degree but when I really think about it, it goes back further.
I've always been fascinated with relationships and how people interact together. Even when I was a kid, I would think, why are these people responding to each other the way that they are? Especially people that are married and they love each other, and sometimes they're acting nice, and you're kind of like, “That doesn't seem really nice.”
And so I would wonder about those things starting at a young age and then as I got older, it's kind of like, I can actually help people with this. And for me, having high quality relationships is really a foundation for my life. So that's very important. And it's also well researched that having high quality relationships really leads to a high quality life.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah. I mean, so well said, and it's probably the most important thing that research has validated about overall happiness of people with terminal illness or dying like it is what has the quality of those relationships been in your life that is the most important thing for all of us, and yet it's like you said. It’s unfortunate when these people who are married and supposed to love each other and how things can go so off track from that wedding proposal and falling in love. That's awesome that has helped shape your career path.
You mentioned you had worked… and this speaks to me because I sort of started some of my training in a very intense inpatient settings, and you had that experience also, and I wonder if did you wanted to head towards being a couples therapist and sex therapist at that time or how was that experience working with seriously mentally ill patients? How did that play a role in your current specialty?
Christina Nail: Yeah. So it's interesting to look back on that because I'm like, what an interesting thing to be really really good at. Being really good at handling people and helping people that are literally having the worst days of their lives and are having severe mental health issues. So I think back on that time that that's a very interesting thing to be good at.
And then also I did really want to work with families, and I did really want to work with couples and at the hospital. I did a year internship there, and then I worked there for a few years after. So during the internship I worked in every department of the psychiatric hospital: inpatient, outpatient, and intake. And you really see how people that have a solid support system, they're doing way better than other people. And you just cannot get around that. And it can be really hard.
I'm thinking of a case that still brings stuff up for me… multiple cases where you have someone coming in after a very serious suicide attempt. I mean lifethreatening, I don't want to get into too many details. I don't want to trigger anyone, but very serious, very life-threatening. And then their family is trying to figure out, “What do we do with this?” Their spouse is figuring out… they're asking questions like “Why are you trying to leave me?”
So you have to navigate these things and really help people reconnect and engage, and I don't think we often talk about how much these attempts wound relationships, and it's not intentional, right? Because if someone's doing that they're having a mental health crisis, but it's a very serious issue, and it really takes some work and some time to establish trust. Because depending on the relationship, a lot of times that feels like a betrayal. It is trauma. It is difficult.
So for me that's where it's key to have the couple relationship healed and the family relationships as well and friendships and community and stuff like that too. But the core relationships are massively important so people can get back to themselves.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah. At that time you probably weren't even aware of the research or what's happened even more recently which is just any treatment for severe mental illness like FFT (family focused treatment) with spouses, partners, friends, anyone you can bring in on that relationship and support system, that is what predicts the best outcome for these patients, and it highlights the importance of paying attention and the care for the relationship, and I want to see how that evolved into your splitting off from that work into your current role.
Christina Nail: I do want to say to your point that I probably wasn't aware of it at the time. I was actually surprised that I got an internship at the hospital because the LMFT license that I started out with, that was my first one in Texas, was not the preferred license for working in hospitals. So I think at the time I may have been one or two LMFTs in the entire hospital.
Tom Tarshis: Because they were trying to get social workers maybe in those roles or…?
Christina Nail: Social workers or LPCs. So, those were the preferred licences at the time, which I mean, we need everyone. But yeah, you're right. It changes so much so quickly, the zeitgeist.
Parker Anderson: My question, I kind of wanted to hear a little bit about kind of the milestones on your career journey. You mentioned realizing you were interested in becoming a therapist around your bachelor's degree. How long did you wait before applying to school and when you got to school, and then it sounds like you worked at the hospital, did your internship, and along the way, at what point did you decide “now's the time to start a private practice”? And I know you're licensed in California, Arizona, and Texas, so I would love to hear a little bit about what that journey has been like for you.
Christina Nail: So in my undergraduate I started school at a community college.
Parker Anderson: Same!
Christina Nail: Which I think was great.
Parker Anderson: I also think it was great. [Laughs]
Christina Nail: Save money, very flexible, they worked with my schedule. But at the time I was thinking about being a teacher. So, that's kind of where that started. And I was working at a preschool, and that shifted because I did some observations of teachers, and I was like, we're really not very good to teachers. We're really not. And it was like everything I was learning in school was being restricted or not allowed in the classroom. And so I knew that I was not going to want to fight that battle.
So initially my associates was basically teaching courses and the basics. And then y'all just a heads up everyone [Tom and Parker] did say be authentic and be yourself and be open in the podcast. So that's coming. [Laughs]
So, when I went to community college, I actually didn't know if I could do it. So, I have dyslexia and ADHD. I didn't learn how to read until I was in second or third grade. And so, I went into community college and I'm like, “Here we go! We'll see if this sticks.” And I ended up learning some really good tools.
I worked with a lot of tutors there. Every time I've been in school or classes, I always use the tutoring center. I go there all the time. Help me, help me, help me. [Laughs] I’m very open to help.
And then after that, I got my associates. I went to a 4-year school, and I knew I wanted to do something with Psychology. So, I did that. I loved that and worked really hard.
And just so y'all are aware, I was doing this, and I was also a single mom. So I worked out my schedule where I was teaching at the preschool my son was going to school at. And I would also work stuff out with some professors, especially night classes, where they would let me bring my son. And thank the Lord he has the temperament that he has because he is a very chill, calm child. And looking back I'm like, "Wow, I don't think I could have done it if he didn't have the temperament he has." So I did that.
That's when I really started thinking, “Okay, I want to be a therapist.” I want to work with people. I want to help people. I had been to therapy. It's been incredibly helpful for me. To this day, I regularly see therapists yearly because I think it's so important. We're the tool, and I've got to be sharp.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah. Yeah.
Christina Nail: And then really shortly, I think it was maybe a semester off and then I went back to grad school for marriage and family therapy. And at that time, I had it in my mind that I really wanted to work with kids. But then the more that I actually got into it, and the more that I worked with kids, I was seeing, and you hear this from a lot of play therapists and child therapists, I was seeing that probably what you've seen, y'all seen together, a lot of the parents need support. A lot of the couples need support. A lot of that was going on.
And also, I had so much transference with those little kids. They were so cute. I wanted to adopt them all. I mean, there was one child that was really getting it rough, CPS, CPS, home to home to home, and I was like, “Can I just adopt this child?” And my instructor was like, “Yeah, that's transference.”
Tom Tarshis: [Laughs] Yeah.
Christina Nail: And that's another thing with therapists. We have to be able to know what we can contain and what we can't. That gets into some things that I think I'll bring up a little bit later, but that is so important.
Tom Tarshis: And to your point, Christina, you said a lot of parents need [help]. It's more like 100% of parents and couples…
Christina Nail: Yeah, I know. [All laugh]
Tom Tarshis: And that's why our group… you're really not allowed to just… there's a certain age of teens where the individual therapy is fine, but for kids 12, 11, and under, if you're not working with the parents you're just not going to get the results and the benefits and the outcomes.
And you could be the most amazing therapist with kids possible, but if the parents aren't addressing their issues, you're not going to make much gains with the kids. And so it's great to hear you say that. And you're probably helping more kids by doing your couples and parent work than you would be if you were just doing individual therapy with kids.
Christina Nail: That is how it feels sometimes for sure.
But then I started learning about sexual health and couples and how it affects people and how it affects families. People break up over sex, money, and infidelity, Like that these are huge things that affect tons and tons of relationships. And didn't realize at the time… I learned that in Texas at that time it was not required for marriage and family therapists to get training in sexual health. And I thought “Whoa! What an oversight.” And that's when I was like, “I'm specializing in this. I am doing this.” Because it still blows my mind to think about it. It's just how is this possible?
Tom Tarshis: And you had to take a lot of initiative, and you've done a lot of extra training not required to get your license to develop the skills, but I am curious for all the different training courses you've done, has that been worth it? What's been your experience with doing those programs?
Christina Nail: I would say those have been worth it.
So, a lot of people don't realize this with therapists. So, when I got my LMFT license, I had an associate license for about 18 months, if you can get the amount of hours done. But, I'm meeting with someone weekly. I'm continuing education.
And then after I was done with that, I got my LPC license. And again, I have another 18 months of supervision, of education, additional college like Master's level courses but then a couple years later I was like, “Okay, I really need to get certified as a sex therapist,” and the training for that is very very intense. It's very time intensive. It's very emotionally intensive. I did mine at the University of Michigan. So essentially it's a long post-graduate program, and I graduated in 2020, but I couldn't go to the graduation ceremony because of COVID.
So very intense, very emotional because what I would say one of the biggest issues for therapists that don't have a lot of training in sexual health is: What we are going to naturally do is based on what we think is what the client should do sexually based on what our ideas about sexual health are.
And so a lot of the first few weekends are you having to face yourself. You have to look at the sexual programming that you've had. You have to look at what you've been taught that actually isn't real. You need to look at your morals and expectations around sex and realize that other people have very, very different ideas. And it's not wrong or it's not right. It's just different.
And the reality is that most people that are going to come to see us, even if I don't think most things are weird at this point, but even if a therapist is not trained in sex, most of the time if a client is bringing you something sexually and you might think, "Oh, this seems weird," it's likely not. Most human sexual behavior is on a spectrum and most of the stuff that we culturally think is strange or weird is pretty normal.
And so that's some of the training that I think is huge and that should be some of the basic training that marriage and family therapists [should be] getting around sexuality in schools.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah, anyone who's doing clinical work or therapy with patients, you get a lot of training in transference and counter-transference, general themes of trying to come in judgment-free and neutral, but it's great to hear you talk about how they made people face their own sexual histories, and what your experience was like because that is probably the hardest thing for individual therapists or clinicians to let go of or be completely neutral and judgment-free around.
And it makes me curious about how you're in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, Arizona, and Texas are quite different environments. I did my adult training in Arizona at the county hospital there. I also have my graduate degree from University of Michigan. So we share some common areas…
Christina Nail: Nice!
Tom Tarshis: But I wonder what you've seen with respect to what different clients bring in based on Texas, Arizona, or Southern California.
Christina Nail: You know, I'm going to probably not be able to speak to that as much as you'd like. And I say that because a lot of my clients in LA search me out because I'm from Texas, and they have these ideas about how I'm going to present based on being from Texas. And so I think I'm getting a certain subset of LA people.
Tom Tarshis: Interesting. Okay.
Christina Nail: And so I actually don't find it all that much different from my client base in Texas at this point, which is kind of interesting to think about.
Tom Tarshis: That makes sense. Yeah.
Parker Anderson: There's almost like a niche marketing strategy there.
Christina Nail: I would have never thought. [Laughs]
Tom Tarshis: There is a lot of California-Texas moving now. This is maybe a little random but feels like a reasonable time to mention it… Have you seen… I don't know if other people watching this have seen it, but I think Discovery Channel and then on HBO Max, there's that Good Sex series with a sex licensed sex therapist who I think is in the LA area, but I'm curious if you've seen that or your thoughts on that.
Christina Nail: I don't think let me look it up really quick because sometimes I see things and then forget about them… Oh, no I haven't seen that yet.
Tom Tarshis: Okay, that could maybe be a follow-up podcast. Although as a psychiatrist, this is no endorsement or anything, but I do feel like it was done in a healthy manner, but I'm not fully qualified to know if that's true or not, whereas I feel like Christina would be.
And Christina, a lot of our users and listeners have this idea that maybe they want to branch off and start their own practice. We spoke with someone who does walking therapy and people with ideas on a sort of specific type of practice that they'd like to do. Tell us what your business journey has been like, and how you were able to set up a practice that's fulfilling, satisfying, and can pay the bills living in expensive Southern California.
Christina Nail: It’s rough. I will say I did try the walking one, but that was primarily… I'll say wanted or needed during COVID. That was probably when clients wanted to do that the most. Some clients it's helpful for, some not.
With the business piece, I don't have a background in business. I don't have education in business. I don't have that. So when I was looking at that, I knew I wanted to do private practice. So that's something that I had known early on–that I want to do private practice. I want to work for myself.
Working in a hospital setup, I mean, it is layers upon layers, and I get why it has to be this way, but layers and layers of just bureaucracy, and then the dealing with the insurance companies and many things that get in the way of me helping people, of me nurturing people, of doing the hard work. And so that's where I was like, I just don't want to do that anymore. If I could just meet with people, write my little note, and move on, that would be fine.
But that's not how the hospital systems work, and I don't know if they can work like that because they're structured differently.
So a lot of what I try to do in life, I try to keep pretty common sense. So I thought to myself, who is out there in the community that has the kind of practice that I'm looking to have? Who's out there, who's doing what I want to do or similar?
So, the things that were important to me were someone who's been in the field for a while, has their own private practice, is running their own private practice, and is cash pay because I still don't accept insurance, but at that time I was really fresh out of the hospital. I was like, I cannot talk to these insurance companies anymore. You would not believe…
I mean, the worst conversation I think I've ever had that sticks out to me is when I was trying to get a patient admitted and approved, and there's seven days set up for this insurance company, and the insurance company goes, “Well, they didn't complete the attempt." And I was like… I didn't even know what to say. I just hung up and I said, "We'll try again later." So that's the kind of sickness that we're dealing with in that system.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah. So Christina, because you were in a hospital bureaucratic setting, you were exposed to what it's like to speak to insurance companies or get authorization, or I think at our hospital we wanted to change a form to look a little better. And after how many more committees or meetings, you sort of just give up a lot of the time, but a lot of people in this field don't get that exposure necessarily while they're still in training.
So you had that [experience with the] unpleasant bureaucracy and insurance nightmares while you were very early in your career, which probably played a role in helping define how you wanted to run your practice.
Christina Nail: It really did. It helped inform me on how I wanted to start out. So what I did was I went to Psychology Today, I just typed in as much as I could as far as what I was looking for. And I think there was a list of 30 or 50 therapists, and I went through, and I emailed and I called every single one of them. Because when I get going on something, I'm like a dog with a bone. I get very focused. Sometimes not always on the things I should be focused on, but that was one of the things that was very important to me because I needed to find someone that's doing this.
And so I went out, and I interviewed my mentor that I have now that I've had since the beginning. She is amazing. She's in her 80s. She's been doing this for a long time, so she's given me really good practical advice. There's other people that I interviewed that didn't lead to a mentorship relationship, but were really foundational and helped me get started. And I may have talked to five people out of all the people that I contacted, but those five people were so happy to talk to me and so happy to sit down with me and tell me what they've done and talk about their lives and give me their time and expertise, that it was 100% worth it.
So, I would say don't be afraid to go talk to people. Don't be afraid to reach out for advice or ask questions and consult people.
Parker Anderson: Yeah, I was going to say that is really good advice. The reaching out to find somebody who does exactly what you do. And as therapists, what you do for work is helping other people. And so you do kind of have a little bit of a leg up in that the people that you need to learn from to kind of get really good advice on how to start a business are people that really enjoy helping people.
So I think that's really good advice because anybody who is afraid of making that leap to go talk to other people who do exactly what you do and it'll all work out.
Tom Tarshis: And Christina, do you do hybrid? I think you do a mix of in-person but you offer telehealth or what's your schedule like now?
Christina Nail: I mostly see people telehealth. I have an office space that I can use for in-person. It kind of is a little crazy though. So, when I go back to Texas, I do have my Texas clients that want to see me in-person. And I probably go back to Texas three, maybe four times a year. And so, I'll go back there and then the weeks that I'm there, it's 80% in-person.
Parker Anderson: Do you have to sublet an office in Texas? Where do you usually try to see people in-person when you're there?
Christina Nail: So, I have one of my great friends who lets me sublet her office space. Beautiful office space. Known her for years. Known her family for years. I mean, it's great to have a good therapist community because she's really just accommodating and good. And she's very different than I am. We actually worked at the hospital together, and she runs a private practice that's very different from mine.
And so I've also found it useful to discuss things with people that are doing things differently because sometimes then you realize I can make some I could shift something, I can adjust something.
Tom Tarshis: Makes sense.
Parker Anderson: Yeah.
Christina Nail: With the not accepting insurance, I will add that I think it takes more marketing. It's a totally different strategy than how I built things up because I'm cash pay, but also I want people to be able to come and afford therapy, so I'll do groups. A couple of ones I've done in the past are women's sexual health groups because that's one of the best treatments for women. It's very well researched. I presented about this at ASSECT.
ASSECT is the organization that I'm certified as a sex therapist through. And so I did a presentation on the women's sexual arousal and desire groups in 2019, and it still holds true today. The researchers that I kind of pulled from to put that together, they're still doing very similar research about these groups, and they're still effective, and they're getting more and more layers of the ways that they're effective and how they're helping women.
Tom Tarshis: That's awesome. It's such a cost effective way to still deliver very well researched and effective therapies, so that's great that you offer those services. It does take a certain skillset or confidence to be able to do the groups, which you exude.
Christina Nail: Thank you.
Tom Tarshis: So that might not be an option for a lot of other people, but it seems like that's been a rewarding experience for you and been very helpful for patients as well.
You may have already mentioned this a little bit, but one of our questions we like to ask guests is about something in the mental health field that you'd like to shed more light on. And when we were chatting pre-recording, you mentioned something that I know a lot about from the physician side, but every month these reports of disciplinary action on therapists, psychologists, or doctors come out. And I'll just hand it over to you to talk about Christina.
Christina Nail: Yeah. Over the past weekend, I kind of got caught up with the latest board meetings in Texas and California, which I would highly recommend for any therapist. Watch a board meeting every once in a while. Really helps you keep up to date with expectations and the rules and guidelines and everything.
But what I will say, and even though I know that this happens, it surprises me every time I hear that there's another therapist that is losing their license because of sexual misconduct with a client. And that's what the last meeting was about for LMFTs in Texas. I mean, that's not the whole meeting, but that came up where someone's license was suspended for sexual misconduct, then they were on a… I don't know… a rehab plan. They don't call it rehab, but it's some kind of treatment, but the last session was about how this therapist failed to do that. Failed to get the follow-up therapy, failed to stick by the rules of their suspension, continued to practice under coaching, and was reported to the board again by that. So it's not a good situation.
And a lot of times in school, and I know that you've probably had similar education around boundaries with clients and sexual misconduct, and the idea is kind of, like, don’t do it. Just don’t. Just stop. Have y'all seen that Saturday Night Live, it's really old, but the therapist just says, “Just stop!”
Tom Tarshis: [Laughs] Yeah. Yeah. No, if only it were that easy.
Christina Nail: I know, I love it. “Just stop.”
But what the reality is now I really do know that there are therapists out there that are kind of very predatory, and that some of the behavior that people are losing their licenses [for] are very predatory. But there are some therapists that are not doing well. They are not doing well in life. They're having tragedy, and this man in the session says, “My child died, and I really fell apart, and I really kind of lost it, and I stepped over boundaries I never thought I would.” Those are not his exact words, but that's essentially what he's saying. And it's kind of, like, we've got to make sure we're okay because therapists that are… not just sexual misconduct, but therapists that are using substances. And another therapist this happened to in the California meeting where they're using substances, and thankfully, they got their license back. They got the treatment they needed, fully cooperative, fully got the help, got their license back.
It's just difficult though because I think… and I have this conversation with therapists quite a bit. I don't think that we always see it when we're not okay, and we need help because we're so used to putting our s**t to the side and trying to be there for other people. I just want to be clear, the sexual misconduct in this case was not a physical sexual relationship because I know that essentially means you're going to lose your license, and there's not going to be a plan to get your license back after that really. I mean, that's just kind of how it is. This was an inappropriate messaging, pictures, stuff like that, which is still inappropriate.
But we really have to be aware that this is still happening in our field, not just for us, but for our clients. I have these notes. There’s something that I found from California: “Therapy Never Includes Sexual Behavior,” and it's a whole little packet. And this is even more important for sex therapists because I have to be very careful about how I'm communicating with my clients about sex. Very careful. And why is it so difficult? Why do I have to be so careful? Because I am so comfortable talking about sex. I'm so comfortable doing it. It's all I do every day. I'm so comfortable talking about it. My client is likely not.
I've had people come into my office and say, walk out, very nervous, and then tell me something like, “Yeah, we can't talk about masturbation. Don't say that word.” I'm like, “Okay, we don't have to, but I'm a therapist, so I'm going to want to know why.” So I try to keep, when I'm discussing sexual health matters with clients, very clinical. Very clinical to a point where a lot of my clients think it's funny.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah, that's the approach: clinical, professional. You're skilled at not being embarrassed by everything at this point and that's the way you present it. It's a good point, like, doing lines of cocaine with your patients or any sort of physical… There are some lines that are immediate. Your license is gone and there's no probationary or remediation plan. But there are other cases for substances especially where sometimes people can work hard and get their licensing back.
I think, in our jobs, we always have to sort of be there and be professional, and whatever's happened in our lives that day, we have to be able to put that aside. And being able to know when [you’ve reached] “Whoa, this is too much, and I need to take a day off and tell my patients I'll reschedule.” I'm sure a lot of us, probably on days we should take off, don't sometimes because of this obligation to our patients and/or our income. Hopefully, it's more for the first one. But your point is very well taken about [how] often mental health clinicians don't necessarily always pay great attention to how they're doing personally.
Christina, there's not too many sex therapists in the country, and a lot more are needed. What advice would you give to someone who's maybe already licensed or has their associates and is interested in the couples work that's so important and needed. What would be your advice for people interested in getting into this field?
Christina Nail: I would say if everyone could, I would say go get certified. But I do realize that there are barriers to that. There's the hierarchy in academia, and there's the cost, and there's the time, and there's a lot of things like that. But the beginning stage, basically the first thing that you do in getting certified, and I've been to three of these I think, is you do something called a SAR. Sexual attitude reassessment. That's where I would probably start for most people because that is where we look at our reactions, our response, assessing where we're coming from.
Tom Tarshis: Is that a free, like you answer some questions online or…?
Christina Nail: No, it's a very intense two, three day seminar. Really worth it, though. I will say I've done three, maybe four of them. They're really worth it. Every one I've been to has been different. Every one that I've been to has brought more things up.
Also read books, look at different experiences. An example of why the SARs are important is they talk about different kinds of sexual interests that we have stigmatized, like BDSM. And one of the first things that you learn is that mental health-wise, there's actually no difference between people that practice BDSM and people that are non-practicing. You're not more likely to be depressed. You're not more likely to have trauma. I mean, there's a whole list. You're not more likely to have anxiety. It's pretty much the same as the general population.
And consult a sex therapist if you're running into issues with your clients.
Parker Anderson: Great advice.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah, make sure you actually can handle the work is a great first step in getting that exposure. And it definitely sounds like perfect advice.
Parker Anderson: I was just thinking about, being mindful of the time, I was wondering, Christina, I know your website is christinanail.com. Is there anything that you'd like to kind of tell our audience about. Any things that you've got going on or anything that you'd like to promote for yourself?
Christina Nail: Thank you! Yeah, kind of.
So, there's a few things in the works for 2025. Two of the ones, and these are really important to me, I have two women's groups that I'm hoping to start the next phase of. Usually with my groups, I look at starting them to be about six to eight weeks long and then I let the group decide if they feel like they want to continue or not. The first group is the one I mentioned earlier and that's the six weeks women's sexual health group, and the other one is a women's trauma group. And those have been very important to me and a lot of people that I've worked with. There's not as many options that I'd like to see out there for women to have that kind of treatment.
And the other thing is I'm looking at doing a couples workshop weekend or retreat. Still in the works. Very early in the process, but it's very much focused on looking at sexual connection as a healing modality for couples.
Tom Tarshis: I love it. Yes. In our practice, I have about 40 couples that I could refer to that retreat.
Christina Nail: Very good!
Tom Tarshis: Christina, do you do your groups via telehealth or in-person?
Christina Nail: You know, I really would like to have some in-person, but right now, telehealth is just what works for people.
Tom Tarshis: Yeah, I agree. Access is easier that way.
Christina Nail: Before COVID, most of all my groups were in-person. After COVID, they've all been online.
Another thing that I will add, and this is not me promoting me, but a service that is invaluable to women that have had a history of childhood abuse. It's a nonprofit called Saprea, and I do some education work with them. What they offer, and this is important for everyone. I think honestly out of everything I've said today this might be the most important thing. That is because what this group offers is a free four-day retreat where… Have you heard of this before?
Tom Tarshis: I haven't, but, yeah, it already sounds very good.
Christina Nail: So a free 4-day retreat. Bessel van der Kolk helped design the program. Other experts have come in, I can't remember who but similar to his level, and helped design the program, and all you have to do is pay for your flight. From the moment you arrive to the airport till the moment you get back to the airport, you are taken care of by this organization. They have a private chef. They have housing. They have a nurse there. They have a doctor. They have everything that you could possibly need. It’s like, you need magnesium to sleep? Great. You need omega-3? Here. Whatever. You have a special diet? Okay, you’ve got it.
Tom Tarshis: That's amazing.
Christina Nail: They 100% take care of you, so that you can focus on health, healing, recovery for 4 days. It's a very intense program, and I will say that not only is it free, but it is one of the best that I've ever seen.
Parker Anderson: Yeah, I gave it a Google search, and I'm looking at their website. It’s saprea.org. And it looks incredible.
Christina Nail: It is.
Parker Anderson: Okay. Tom, any kind of final questions you would like to send Christina's way before we wrap things up?
Tom Tarshis: No, I'm so excited to have had you as a guest, Christina, and look forward to having you as a resource for people who need your help, and especially since you're licensed in California that will be awesome to make that connection and really appreciate you sharing about your journey and the work that you do for your clients. It's amazing.
Christina Nail: Thank you for having me. It's been great talking to you.
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Stay tuned for more insight and stories in next week’s blog post!
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