Any opportunity I have to share about our amazing journal and the organization that it represents is a delight! In early November of 2018, I was invited to be a part of a “Meet the Editors” panel at the Society for Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) annual conference, which was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On this panel were the Editors-in-Chief (EIC) of several journals, including Cynthia Graham of the Journal of Sex Research, Matthieu Guitton of Computers in Human Behavior, Terry Humphreys of The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, and Michael Seto of Sexual Abuse, to name just some of the panel members. I was by far the most junior of the participants and if I do say so myself the biggest cheerleader of them all.
I so enjoyed sharing about our impact factor, which is now 1.108, and also about some of our most innovative special issues that have happened – like ones focused on technology, bisexuality, gender/sexual/erotic/relational diversity, extraordinary sex therapy, and those special issues that are to come – ones focused on sex work and lifespan sexuality. I was elated to share of our plans to go up for MedLine as we continue to have many submissions and subsequent publications in the area of the intersection between medicine and sex therapy. But, most importantly I was excited to share about you – our readers – and the fact that we were the only journal representation on the panel that is solidly for clinicians who work with people to help improve their sex lives and relationships every day. I was excited to share about the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) and that we are the largest organization in the United Kingdom of our kind, and that our journal publishes pieces from scholars around the globe. I continue to be proud of COSRT and Sexual and Relationship Therapy (SRT) and I was so humbled and honored to share about our journal and my role as EIC on this panel.
Right before the SSSS conference, the field lost one of our most extraordinary sexual and relationship therapists, Dr. Ogden (more information about Dr. Gina Ogden available here: https://ginaogden.com/). Dr. Ogden served as Guest Editor of our Special Issue on Extraordinary Sex Therapy in 2014, which was SRT Volume 29, Issue 1. In honor of Dr. Ogden and her legacy, our publishers have agreed to make this Special Issue free for the month of January of 2019 (weblink to issue: https://tandfonline.com/toc/csmt20/29/1?nav=tocList). In addition, we are including the following brief honorary commentary about Gina and her work, from the former EIC, Dr. Alex Iantaffi, who had a chance to work with her,
“Gina Ogden and I only crossed paths in person a few times but every time we met, I felt a deep and meaningful exchange of ideas and passion for our field between us! Gina was gracious enough, on one of those occasion, to agree to guest edit one of the special issues of Sexual and Relationship Therapy, for which I was Editor-in-Chief at the time. The issue was truly extraordinary, not just because it included non-traditional approaches to our field, but because of Gina’s commitment, expertise and brilliance. Despite being a leader in our field, Gina was always friendly, approachable and humble. Every time I saw her at a conference, she made my day brighter and gave me hope by reminding me that our field could be kind, diverse, supportive and expansive, not through her words but through her own actions. I was incredibly sad the day I found out Gina had died. However, reading her obituary, I was reminded of how extraordinary Gina is and that our field is forever changed because of her existence. I am grateful for Gina’s work but, even more so, for her being and how she impacted both colleagues and clients throughout her work.”
In this issue, the first one of the new year, 2019, we have scholarship that focuses on intimate partner violence, cisgender female infertility and sexual difficulties, forgiveness therapy, posttraumatic growth after sexual abuse, sexual compatibility, out-of-control sexual behaviors, and a few measures – one focused on romantic kissing and another on schema activation in the context of sexual situations. When I look at this range of topics and the countries in which the authors are positioned, I am filled with delight at the global and localized knowledge our contributors are sharing with us, that we are sharing with you, and that we are ultimately sharing with our clinical and supervisory participants. To close, I hope you gain (as I have) from the scholarship in this issue. And thank you for trusting me with such important work like that presented in this issue.