I’m excited to share that I was recently featured on Self-Led in Bed: An IFS and Sexuality Podcast with Patricia Rich. My interview is called Healing From Purity Culture Through IFS. Being on this podcast was such an honor, especially as I consider my IFS heroes that have been featured before me.
This conversation brought together some of my favorite subjects: sex, Internal Family Systems (IFS), desire, religious trauma, sexual shame, and the courage to become more fully yourself. I have long been a fan of Patricia’s work and of the way her Self-Led Sexuality model brings sexuality and IFS together with depth, warmth, and real curiosity.
In the episode, we talk about my own path from being raised in a rigid purity-culture environment, to believing I was a sex addict who needed to fight my desires, to deconstructing my faith and discovering a much more compassionate truth: our desires are not inherently dangerous. They are meaningful invitations to know and embody ourselves more authentically.
I share how IFS helped me heal my intense fear of hell, even after my intellectual beliefs had changed. We also explore toxic masculinity and what can happen when men are given space to be vulnerable, open-hearted, and human with one another.
One of my favorite parts of the conversation came when Patricia asked what happens when claiming an authentic sexuality feels deeply right inside, but also threatens to create rupture in important relationships. My answer to that question might surprise you.
I shared about the heart of Rewilding Desire: permission to become curious about what we really want and reconnect with the wild parts of ourselves that shame, trauma, religion, and culture have taught us to suppress.
The timing of this episode feels almost perfect. On the very day it was released, I decided to create the Rewilding Desire Podcast (launching soon).
This new show will explore desire through interviews, real-life adventures, and deep self-reflection. I’ll be talking with fascinating people about what drew them toward the lives and practices they love, what fears or protective parts showed up along the way, and what they discovered about themselves by taking the risk to follow desire. This is just a taste of what’s to come. I invite you to subscribe to Rewilding Desire on YouTube to be notified when the first episode drops.
Rewilding Desire coaching offers a space for people to explore these questions individually and in groups, with depth, safety, self-connection, and room for real-life experimentation.
Every desire is an invitation. Every experience is a teacher.
Listen to the full episode of Self-Led in Bed on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
And as you listen, consider this:
What desires in you have been waiting for curiosity instead of judgment?
For more conversations about sexuality, desire, authenticity, play, and the wildness within, follow Rewilding Desire on YouTube and Instagram and stay tuned for the upcoming podcast.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rewildingdesire
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rewildingdesire/
In empowering support,
Forest Benedict, LMFT
Certified IFS Sex & Desire Coach
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