New AASECT appointees Dr. Eli Green, Dr. Margie Nichols and Dr. James Wadley.

As we prepare for changing the guard at AASECT, I want to congratulate and thank these three people for accepting invitations from the AASECT board to appointed positions of service, starting July 1, 2018:   Eli Green, PhD, CSE;  Margie Nichols, PhD, CST; and James Wadley, PhD, CST. There will be further appointments later and, of course, our election in March will take us into a new two-year cycle of volunteer leadership for AASECT. I am looking forward to my own AASECT Presidency and to results of our selection of a new President-Elect and Treasurer. But for now, time for some information about and kudos for Eli, Margie and James.

Dr. Eli R. Green, AASECT Board member and Chair of AASECT’s Communication Committee, has accepted another position while maintaining his old one. Eli will be Chair of a newly formed committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, to work on envisioning and planning where AASECT should be and could be over the next five to ten years. Also on the committee are current President, Debby Herbenick, PhD, CSE, Secretary Mellissa Novak, LCSW, CST, Board Member and Outreach Chair, Tameca Harris-Jackson, PhD, CST, as well as myself.

Eli is the founder of The Transgender Training Institute, an educational consulting company providing training and consulting services by transgender people, for the benefit of transgender people and communities. As an educator with over 17 years of experience facilitating transgender-related content, Eli has helped thousands of people have a stronger understanding of what it means to be transgender, and how to be effective allies and provide crucial support to help transgender people survive and thrive in today’s world. As a master trainer, Dr. Green specializes in helping fellow educators expand skills and build capacity for implementing high quality transgender trainings. Eli and Luca Maurer co-authored The Teaching Transgender Toolkit:  A Facilitator’s Guide to Increasing Knowledge, Decreasing Prejudice & Building Skills, which won AASECT’s best book of 2016, was honored by the LGBTQ division of the American Psychological Association with the 2017 Distinguished Contribution to Education and Training award. Eli has great planning, presenting, and facilitating skill that will help us position our organization for future opportunities.

Margie Nichols, PhD, CST, a clinical psychologist, trainer, kink-aware, LGBT+ -affirming therapist with over 20 years of experience, will be AASECT’s new Chair of the Public Relations, Media and Advocacy Committee. While we will miss Ian Kerner’s leadership when he steps down from this position, Margie is the person he hoped we could attract to take his place. Margie has long been an advocate of child-centric practices when it comes to children’s gender creativity.  She’s a diplomate in sex therapy, a licensed psychologist, and is trained in EMDR, hypnotherapy,and two methods of couples counseling. A prolific author and trainer, she takes broad, wide, and generous views when looking into the future--whether an individual’s or the world’s. Margie’s strengths perspectives inform a radical sex positivity. She adds, “And I'm old enough to be a little bit....well...wiser.”

Dr. James Wadley, CST, founder of the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians and Editor of the The Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships, will bring his sound judgment, intellect, vision, and delightful optimism to his new position as Chair of AASECT’s Ethics Committee. James is the essence of creativity and has recently directed and produced a film “From Raw to Reel” to express his views on race, addiction and sexuality gleaned from years working with hundreds of folks in Trenton, NJ., looking for better ways to solve their problems with relationships, addictions, and oppression. James has been a sex therapist for over 20 years, and his enormously varied experience will serve AASECT well as new issues challenge our ethical grounding, require reframing our traditions, and ask us to maintain our grounding.

Please welcome these new leaders and offer to help them and me as we move forward.  Currently, as AASECT’s upcoming President, I am looking for Certified members who would like to work on our AASECT Institutes, Conference, and Continuing Education.  My own work on these projects have been among my most rewarding professional experiences.  Please reach out to me any time.  sstiritz@gmail.com.

Thank you, 

Susan Stiritz, PhD, MSW, MBA, CSE, CSES

AASECT President-elect