Our diverse multi-disciplinary Research Team is a varied group of professionals, academics, and passionate community members.
Our research team members also represent various fields of healthcare such as kink health researchers, physicians, statisticians, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, graduate students and interns.
We welcome high levels of curiosity, passion and all levels of research experience.
Our research team members also represent a wide range of social positions and social addresses, in terms of race, culture, gender, age, generation, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, and involvement in kink communities.
Courtney Pajden, PhD, LMFT
Dr. Courtney Padjen, PhD, LMFT is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MN License No. 4041) and provides individuals with safety and support as they embark on their counseling and…
Read MoreElyssa Helfer, MA, LMFT
Elyssa Helfer received her Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Clinical Sexology from…
Read MoreErik Wert, DO, MPH, FACOI, AAHIVS
Dr. Wert (He/His/Him) received his Bachelors in Science from Union College, Schenectady NY with a majoring in biology, with a minor in chemistry. He then attended medical school at Michigan…
Read MoreKaston Anderson-Carpenter, PhD, MPH, BCBA-D, LBA
Dr. Kaston D. Anderson-Carpenter is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. He is also a core faculty member in the MSU Consortium for Multicultural Psychology Research, the…
Read MoreLandi Cranstoun, MD
Landi (she/her) is a family physician providing primary care to rural and underserved populations. She has a special interest in regionality and rurality as it impacts access to and quality…
Read MoreAidan A. Sunassee
Aidan Sunassee is a sexologist, sexuality researcher and educator, and active member of the kink community. His facilitation style is trauma-aware, grounded in inclusive practices, and informed by both personal…
Read MoreReni Forer
Reni Forer (she/her) graduated from U.C. Berkeley and is now a medical student at the University of Michigan. She is also currently completing a certificate in Sexuality Education & Counseling…
Read MoreAngie Wootton
Angie Wootton is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Welfare and Affiliated Faculty of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY. Wootton’s mixed methods…
Read MoreJulie Lehman
Julie Lehman, LMFT, (they/she) operates a private practice of sex therapy/psychotherapy in San Rafael, CA. They work predominantly with folx who have marginalized sexualities, genders, and bodies around issues related…
Read MoreKristine Chadwick
Kristine Chadwick, PhD, has 30 years of experience conducting mixed method community-level and education research. She now extends her research skills to the field of sexology, in which her areas of interest…
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Dr. Courtney Padjen, PhD, LMFT is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MN License No. 4041) and provides individuals with safety and support as they embark on their counseling and healing journey.
“I’ve been described as honest, compassionate, approachable and trustworthy, and in the same breath I am blunt and direct. Often, I tell clients I’m “a mover and a shaker” – – Growing up I bounced around small towns in the Northwoods. There I learned that being direct is a kindness. I have wanted to be a therapist for as long as I can remember and have always had an interest in human sexuality and trauma. Having taken the ACES test and scoring an 8, I feel my trauma provides me with the ability to connect with clients with a deeper level of empathy and understanding. I am here to help you get comfortable with being uncomfortable to disrupt your own homeostasis and work as a catalyst to create the change you desire.”
Elyssa Helfer received her Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Clinical Sexology from Modern Sex Therapy Institutes. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in Los Angeles, CA working primarily with the kink community. In addition to her therapy practice, Elyssa creates and presents kink trainings for The Affirmative Couch, an organization aimed at training more affirmative psychotherapists. As a blogger for Psychology Today, Kink Weekly, and Psychotherapy 101, her writing focuses on shifting the toxic narratives that surround the kink community and encouraging those in the therapeutic community to pursue more thorough sex and kink education. Elyssa is an advocate for sexual freedom and empowerment and plans to use her Doctoral degree to continue teaching Master’s level students and licensed therapists how to better serve the kink population.
Dr. Wert (He/His/Him) received his Bachelors in Science from Union College, Schenectady NY with a majoring in biology, with a minor in chemistry. He then attended medical school at Michigan State College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) graduating in 2000. He completed his medical internship and Internal Medicine Residency at Ingham Regional Medical Center/McLaren Greater Lansing in 2005. Dr. Wert is also Board Certified in Internal Medicine, and is a Fellow in the College of Internal Medicine. Once he graduated from his residency he has practice Internal Medicine in Lansing, MI since 2005. His focus has been preventive healthcare and sexual health care. He subsequently returned an obtained his Masters in Public Health from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in 2016. Dr. Wert speaks at both State and Local levels on Health Inequalities faced by diverse patient population. He provides primary care, HIV care and HIV prevention to a large BDSM/Kink community. He is a member of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, and is also a Kink Aware Professional though the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. Dr. Wert lectures on multiple topics relative to healthcare and healthcare disparities at various state and local events. He has also served as a guest lecture on BDSM/Kink at various organizations. Dr. Wert serves an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at MSUCOM. Dr. Wert obtained his certification in HIV medicine from the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) in 2020. He is also assisting the AAHIVM in re-writing their modules on how to take a sexual history, and focusing on educating providers on BDSM/Kink. Dr. Wert also serves CARAS community-based IRB Committee.
Dr. Kaston D. Anderson-Carpenter is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. He is also a core faculty member in the MSU Consortium for Multicultural Psychology Research, the MSU Consortium for Sexual and Gender Minority Health, and the MSU Center for Gender in Global Context. Additionally, he is an affiliate faculty in the MSU Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.
He earned his Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology from The University of Kansas and his Master of Public Health degree with honors from the KU School of Medicine. Additionally, he earned a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and Applied Behavior Analysis from McNeese State University. Furthermore, he is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral and licensed as a behavior analyst in Michigan.
In his research, he investigates the determinants of addictive behaviors and health in underserved communities. Dr. Anderson-Carpenter’s work has been published in a number of journals, including the American Journal of Community Psychology, the Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, and Academic Pediatrics. He is the 2015 recipient of the G. Alan Marlatt Award for distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions by the Society of Addiction Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 50).
Since 2010, Dr. Anderson-Carpenter has worked with community organizations and policy makers to address socially important issues affecting communities, including underage drinking, substance use, and HIV/STI prevention, and health care access and retention. His community contributions to the community have been featured on WLNS TV in Lansing, MI, and he is the 2018 recipient of the Lansing City Pulse LGBTQ Inclusion Award. He is also the President of the Lansing Area AIDS Network Board of Directors and an Advisory Member for the ACCESS National Research Initiative. Moreover, he is the 2019 recipient of the Michigan State University College of Social Science Outstanding Teacher Award.
Landi (she/her) is a family physician providing primary care to rural and underserved populations. She has a special interest in regionality and rurality as it impacts access to and quality of medical care for already marginalized people. She teaches other primary care physicians how to provide welcoming care to sexually diverse patients who fall outside the LGBTQ+ umbrella (poly, kink, sex work). She completed her undergraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was granted membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society, won the Pinkus Award for best clinical medical student, and the Clyde F. Barker Prize for surgical research. She then completed residency in family medicine at the Mountain Area Health and Education Center rural track program in Hendersonville, North Carolina before starting practice in rural Madison County, Kentucky. Prior to becoming interested in the primary care of rural dwelling sexually diverse people, her research focused on heart failure and the mitral valve. She has presented at national and international conferences and coauthored 18 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Aidan Sunassee is a sexologist, sexuality researcher and educator, and active member of the kink community. His facilitation style is trauma-aware, grounded in inclusive practices, and informed by both personal experience and academic research.
Aidan is affiliated with the APA Division 44 Taskforce on Kink and BDSM, serves on the research, community education and clinical training team at TASHRA, and is an educator at the Center for Positive Sexuality. His independent research focuses on trauma play and explores how pleasure, power, and relational dynamics intersect with healing in kink spaces.
Beyond his research, Aidan has developed and led community education programs on kink, consent, trauma awareness, and ethical non-monogamy.
Reni Forer (she/her) graduated from U.C. Berkeley and is now a medical student at the University of Michigan. She is also currently completing a certificate in Sexuality Education & Counseling through the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Her research and education interests include sexual and gender minority health, sexuality, mental health, and the intersection of those three topics.
Reni is dedicated to advocating for patients that identify as LGBTQIA2S+ and/or kinky, through culturally responsive clinical care and education of providers and patients alike. Through her research with TASHRA, she hopes to be able to guide other healthcare professionals to be more kink-informed and less stigmatizing towards patients with alternative sexualities.
Angie Wootton is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Welfare and Affiliated Faculty of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY. Wootton’s mixed methods research focuses primarily on characterizing and seeking remedies to persistent mental and behavioral health disparities in the LGBTQ+ community, primarily among sexual minority women, transgender and gender non-binary people, and those experiencing multiple intersecting forms of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion based on sex, gender, and sexuality. This work takes a strengths, resilience, and trauma recovery focus to identify and promote promising new pathways to holistic wellbeing for multiply marginalized LGBTQ+ people.
Julie Lehman, LMFT, (they/she) operates a private practice of sex therapy/psychotherapy in San Rafael, CA. They
work predominantly with folx who have marginalized sexualities, genders, and bodies
around issues related to identity and intimacy. This includes prominent work with kink,
consensual non-monogamy, sex work, queerness, gender diversity, neurodivergence,
and diffability. They are specialized in working with attachment trauma and minority
stress, and they are trained as a Level III AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic
Psychotherapy). Julie has a background in biological anthropology, medical research,
and Yoga instruction that informs their work still today.
Julie serves on multiple professional boards, offers clinical consultation, leads
sexological research, and enjoys building multidisciplinary networks of care to more
holistically support client needs.
Private Practice Contact Info:
[email protected]; www.lehmantherapy.com
Research Contact Info:
[email protected]; www.tashra.org/the-kink-flourishing-study
PASHN Contact Info:
[email protected]; https://www.pashn.org/
Kristine Chadwick, PhD, has 30 years of experience conducting mixed method community-level and education research. She now extends her research skills to the field of sexology, in which her areas of interest include the use of kink to manage chronic pain/illness and/or heal from trauma, “kinky” as an intersectional identity, and the dynamics of consensual nonmonogamous relationships. In addition, she teaches healthy relationships courses to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and conducts community workshops on various aspects of human sexuality. Now operating her small, woman-owned research consulting firm, she started her career working at university-affiliated research centers, followed by more than two decades at nonprofit research firms. She earned her doctorate in psychology at the University of Rhode Island, with concentrations in community psychology and evaluation research.