Gird Your Loins: Dr. Celeste Holbrook Delivers the “Sex Talk” You Never Had but Deserved

Episode 77

Today’s conversation will have you clutching your pearls and purity rings! In this episode, we’re diving headfirst into the hilarious, cringe-worthy, and ultimately healing journey of escaping purity culture to find a healthier, happier relationship with sex.

Our guest today is Dr. Celeste Holbrook, the cool, no-nonsense friend we all wish we had to help us unpack the weird rules, whispered anxieties, and just plain awkwardness that so many of us grew up with. Dr. Holbrook is a sexologist and educator whose work centers on helping women overcome sexual shame and rediscover a healthy, joyful, and shame-free sex life. After growing up steeped in purity culture and experiencing painful sex after marriage, Celeste began the work of unlearning harmful narratives and rebuilding her sexual self. Today, she helps others do the same—through coaching, courses/ workshops, and in her new book, Missionary Position: A Slightly Irreverent Guide to Sex After Purity Culture. Her candid, compassionate approach has made her a trusted voice on sex, faith, identity, and healing.

If you’ve ever wondered why your sex ed felt more like a PSA on fire safety, this is the episode for you. Join us as we laugh through the misconceptions, bust some myths, and figure out how to reclaim sex as the enjoyable gift it was always meant to be. 

Highlights include: 

• Unpacking women’ s complicated relationship with pleasure
• Dr. Holbrook prescribes the best sexy-time soundtrack
• Review of the four inner missionaries (the Analyst, the Assassin, the Healer, and the Explorer) – the archetypes that define our individual approach to sex 
• Celeste reveals a surprising fact that both golf carts and ejaculate have in common
• How the combination of purity culture, patriarchy and capitalism are the oppression cocktail for sex
• And the conversation veers off course when the trio discusses an exercise that uses Jason Mamoa to evaluate their sexual ethics