Welcome to The Holistic Counselor Podcast, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Human.
I'm your host, Diana S. Rice, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional, and curious soul who's always asking why. This podcast merges faith, psychology, and whole-person healing—helping you feel loved, understood, and equipped to walk out your God-given purpose.

If you're new here, I encourage you to go back and listen to past episodes—including Episode 77, Reclaiming Biblical Sexuality After Trauma & Purity Culture with Dr. Carol Tanksley. Every conversation is a doorway to deeper understanding, and your reviews help others just like you find this content. If you feel led, please leave a quick rating and review on your favorite podcast platform.

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About Today's Guest

Today I'm joined by Kristen Miele, founder and owner of Sex Ed Reclaimed—a faith-based, age-appropriate sexual health curriculum for Christian families with kids ages 3–18. With over 115 biblically grounded video lessons, Kristen equips parents to have ongoing, grace-filled, and practical conversations about sexual health, consent, body safety, relationships, and more.

Kristen holds degrees in Public Health, taught human sexuality at a large secular university, and has served internationally as an educator. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, their two daughters, and two cats.

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What We Talk About in This Episode

• Why sex education is not a one-time talk, but a lifelong conversation starting at a young age.

• How purity culture, silence, and shame have impacted generations—and how to break the cycle.

• The importance of parents doing their own inner work before teaching their children.

• Talking about body parts without shame and using correct terminology.

• Addressing pornography, masturbation, and consent from a biblical yet non-legalistic perspective.

• How to approach topics like abortion, gender identity, sexting, and sexual safety with truth and compassion.

• Using real-life teachable moments from media, music, and daily life to start conversations.

• Equipping kids to make informed, faith-aligned choices in a hyper-sexualized culture.

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Direct Quotes from the Episode

From Diana S. Rice:

"This conversation is not a one-time thing. It's something you start at a very young age, age-appropriate, and you keep building on it."

"Many adults haven't dealt with their own experiences of how they learned about sex—and that gets passed on to the next generation."

"Fear is false evidence appearing real. We want to help people face everything and rise."

"It's not about what you believe or what I believe—it's about the listener having critical thinking, getting the information, and finding the help they need to be a healthy member of society."

From Kristen Miele:

"I was in a place of grief, and the Lord brought beauty from ashes—which is what He does."

"You have to look into yourself first before you can do this really well. That means prayer, journaling, conversations, maybe counseling—especially if trauma is part of your story."

"My curriculum does not do do's and don'ts. I'm very anti-legalistic sex ed. I teach in a way that gives the option of free will—because that's how God works with us."

"If you don't explain why you're turning something off, your kids will go find the answer elsewhere."

"We're literally here because of sex. If anything from this podcast resonates, don't leave it here—go do something about it."

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Resources & Links Mentioned

• Sex Ed Reclaimed Curriculum – Faith-based, age-appropriate video library for ages 3–18: www.sexedreclaimed.com

• STOP Acronym for Kids – Shut your eyes, Tell an adult, Open your mind to something new, Play something else (for when encountering inappropriate images)

• Episode 77: Reclaiming Biblical Sexuality After Trauma & Purity Culture with Dr. Carol Tanksley