Welcome to episode 28 of the Sexology Podcast, my guest today is Dana Nelson who is an American psychologist and counselor living and practicing in Lyon, France (Rhône-Alpes region). In this episode Dana talks about how she became involved in working with inter-cultural relationships, how a person’s cultural background can play into their expectation around sex and the underlying reasons we’re attracted to people from different cultures.
Dana Nelson is an American psychologist and psychotherapist, originally from Northern Virginia, who now lives and practices in Lyon, France. She completed her masters degree and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Penn State University, and worked for a number of years in community mental health as well as university counselling center settings prior to moving to France in 2014. While in graduate school in rural central Pennsylvania (one of the least likely place to meet a Frenchman, you would think!), Dana met her current partner, a French international student working on his PhD in engineering at that time. After 3 years together in the US, they both graduated, and he moved back to France for a job. Then, after 2 years of being in a super long-distance relationship from Pennsylvania to France, Dana decided to embark on her first-ever experience of living abroad and moved to France to join him. They now live together in Lyon, and Dana opened her private practice there last year, where she works with English-speaking expats, intercultural couples, international students, and others living abroad. Dana’s most recent adventure has been starting a podcast of her own, called Mindful Expat, which focuses on issues of emotional wellbeing and resilience for expats, intercultural couples, and others living abroad.
In this episode, you will hear:
- How Dana became involved in working with inter-cultural relationships
- The underlying reasons we’re attracted to people from different cultures
- How modern technology has allowed us to have relationships with people all over the world
- Sexual experiences; how inter-cultural couples rate their experiences compared to couples of the same culture
- The need for honest and open communication when in an inter-cultural relationship
- How a person’s cultural background can play into their expectation around sex
- Learning to be respectful and understanding of a person’s cultural background when in an inter-cultural relationship
- The importance of seeing things from your partners perspective
- Seeing and understanding your partner as their true authentic selves
Resources