Yana Tallon-Hicks, LMFT
is a couples & relationships therapist and a consent, sex & sexuality writer and educator living in Western Massachusetts. Her work centers around the belief that pleasure-positive & consent-based sex education can positively impact our lives and the world.
workshops
Yana’s workshops for youth & workshops for adults work to create a welcoming & comfortable space to explore crucial aspects of our holistic, sexual selves such as pleasure, communication, consent & the body. Her workshops such as Consent & Cookies, Polyamory & Open Relationships, Hitting the Spot: Pleasure-Based Sex Education, and Pleasure-Based Consent have taken place at Duke University, Marlboro College, Oh My Sensuality Shop, Hampshire College, Smith College, Bennington College, Brandeis University, and Simmons University, along with a growing list of other colleges & universities across New England and the U.S..
Her popular workshop Consent Cookies: A confidence-building workshop for teens has been taught at various high schools & teen youth groups. Though much of her published sex advice is written for an adult audience, Yana also has years of experience working with teens. Her workshops for youth are tailored to be approachable & age-appropriate and focus on essential components of healthy sexuality and relationships for young people including consent, communication, safer sex & body-ownership.
For a consultation about content & pricing for an original, tailored or predesigned workshop for your group of teens or adults, please contact her here. Or, sign up to receive email notifications about her upcoming, open-to-the-public workshops happening in the Pioneer Valley.
THERAPY
Yana brings her unique comfort with and knowledge of sex and sexuality issues to the individuals, couples, and relationships she works with in her private therapy practice in Brattleboro, VT. Yana works with clients from all backgrounds and relationship styles, especially including LGBTQQ couples & those in non-monogamous relationship structures.
Yana holds a Masters Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from Antioch University and her Bachelors degree in LGBTQQ and sexuality studies from Hampshire College. She uses the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in her work with flexibility and an open mind to each person’s individual experience of the world around them.
Therapy for triads, polycules, and other non-monogamous relationship styles is always negotiable.
Read more about Yana’s therapy offerings & book an appointment here.
online coaching sessions
Online Coaching Sessions are either a 45-minute (individual) or 60-90 minute (2+ relationship partners), confidential, video call via Zoom.
Online Coaching Sessions are perfect for folks seeking sex, sexuality, or relationship advice who want more personalized, extensive, and immediate advice than the sex column has to offer either on a one-time or ongoing basis.
Online Coaching Sessions are not therapy. They are one-on-one coaching video chats designed to give the client brief, advice-driven insights on a particular situation or dilemma.
Online Coaching Sessions are also a great fit for anyone who is interested in this field of work and wants to “pick my brain” about being or becoming a sex educator and/or therapist. Find out more about which topics are well-suited for Online Coaching Sessions and/or schedule one here.
SPEAKING
In May 2016, Yana was invited to speak about her sex education work in Vienna, Austria as part of TEDxVienna Salon where she addressed issues in modern sex education, the importance of consent, and what mainstream pornography adds to the conversation for young people. Watch the full video of her TEDxTalk, “Is the Porn Brain our new Sex Educator?” here.
She can be hired to speak for your audience on this and other topics relevant to her work around consent, pleasure-based sex education, and on becoming an independent sex educator and writer. You can invite her to your group or classroom either in-person or via live Skype or pre-recorded video.
WRITING
Yana’s written sexpertise uses humor & wit to treat our sexual hangups, growth & education as a natural, fun part of our everyday and is published in her sex column, The V-Spot in the Valley Advocate and in other local & national publications such as Teen Vogue, Curve, Bitch, Autostraddle, The Toast & Mashable. Her sex and relationship writings are available for both syndication and freelance publication.
In 2022 her first book Hot + Unbothered: How to think about, talk about, and have the sex you really want was published by HarperWave.
EDUCATION
Yana holds a Masters Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from Antioch University and her Bachelors degree in LGBTQQ and sexuality studies from Hampshire College. She was initially trained in human sexuality education by Dr. Carol Queen at the Center for Sex & Culture and Good Vibrations Valencia after receiving a CLPP Reproductive Rights and Activist Service Corp grant in 2007. Upon finishing her internship and undergraduate degree, she worked as a sex educator/sales associate at female-friendly sex toy shops Good Vibrations and She Bop, where she was trained extensively about sex toys, anatomy, sexual health, and human sexuality.
TL;DR
Yana is a couples & relationships therapist as well as a consent, sex & sexuality writer and educator for both teens & adults.
Keep in touch!
TESTIMONIALS
I left your workshop feeling empowered about my vulva! I left feeling more confident in explaining what I like or may like- especially the times that just showing doesn’t quite cut it. I appreciated your laughter throughout – I felt safe and comfortable to ask questions. Thanks again for doing what you do. I’m not sure where I would have had the opportunity as an almost 30 year old person to go to a workshop like what you held, I’m grateful you’re doing it the way you are.
Vaginas for Curious Beginners, Oh My Sensuality Shop, October 2015
As an undocumented Trans Colombiana, I found Yana’s Hitting the Spot workshop to be exciting , refreshing, comprehensive, and scientifically accurate. She was inclusive of a variety of different sexual experiences and was intentional about creating a safe and positive learning environment for everyone in the room, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. Her approach to teach sex education with a focus on pleasure was revolutionary and something I am excited to incorporate in my own organization. She presents and shares information from a place that abolishes the fear mongering tactics that are often used in Sexual Education spaces.
Hitting the Spot, CLPP Conference, April 2016