Chapter Highlights for My Life, My Body: Sex Ed Made Easy - Healthy Relationships

Welcome to the next blog in the series - Chapter Highlights for My Life, My Body: Sex Ed Made Easy. This blog is about the third chapter - Healthy Relationships.

In Australia, domestic violence is everywhere. Everyone knows someone who has experienced domestic violence, and people are dying from unhealthy relationships too often. While there are many layers to preventing domestic violence, one of those is with education about healthy relationships.

Healthy relationships form part of comprehensive sexual health education because relationships are a large part of our lives. Not just sexual relationships. Any personal relationship needs to be healthy. Too often toxic and unhealthy relationships are tolerated because we don’t always know that they shouldn’t be that way.

This chapter - Healthy Relationships - show what relationships look like - professional relationships, family relationships, friendships and sexual/romantic relationships. These relationships are identified to be sexual and not sexual. Showing the clear boundary between which types of relationships can be sexual and which relationships cannot be sexual.

In my experience of doing over 5000 hours of psychotherapy, it was more rare to work with someone who knew which relationships can be sexual, compared to those that were unsure or had no idea what type of relationships can be sexual. This is why it is so important to distinguish between sexual and non sexual relationships.

Following on from distinguishing between sexual and non sexual relationships, we look at how healthy relationships work. Easy to understand boundaries for healthy relationships are displayed that make it easy for the reader to understand and implement in their lives.

Boundaries include being a safe person and expecting the same in return. Allowing each other to speak and explore feelings, including difficult feelings. Supporting each other in our individual choices and being responsible for our own choices and behaviours. Being kind to each other, helping each other, not harming or hurting each other and always asking for consent.

As mentioned in a previous blog, consent is a running theme in this comprehensive, sexual health education eBook. Too many people believe that they own their romantic or sexual partner and that they can do as they wish with them. This is not how healthy relationships work. Healthy relationships have consent. Ongoing, enthusiastic consent that can be removed at any time. The more people that are aware of this, the better their relationships will be.

My life, My Body: Sex Ed Made Easy is available now to download onto a phone, iPad or tablet device. Not only does it make comprehensive sexual health education easy, it also supports the reader to have privacy while learning.