SEX EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are enrolled in EDSE’s Sex Educator Certification or have submitted an email or application, please add hello@everyonedeservessexed.com to your approved email list and check your spam and junk folders regularly. EDSE emails are frequently filtered — even if we have already corresponded — and we are not responsible for email correspondence you have missed as a result. This is one of many unfortunate realities for sexuality-related businesses in the U.S.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING & FALL 2025!

scroll down for dates & details!

EDSE’s Sex Educator Certification is a comprehensive professional development training that provides an expansive understanding of human sexuality using an intersectional lens that is informed by social, disability, and racial justice frameworks. It takes place 100% live online and can be attended from anywhere with an internet connection.

Our Sex Educator Certification is made for service professionals looking to add essential knowledge, facilitation skills, and justice-centered perspective on human sexuality. This is an opportunity to start or jump-start an existing sexuality education career, complete important professional development, or become an even more valuable resource to your community.

There is no minimum education requirement to attend, and attendees do not need a college degree to qualify. We welcome attendees of all experience levels and from any service-centered field, including established sex educators, clinicians, and pleasure professionals seeking to brush up on their skills and knowledge with up-to-date language, information, and perspectives.

This 13-day training provides a minimum of 60 training hours of foundational information about human sexuality and enables attendees to develop a more expansive, accurate, and culturally aware perspective of fundamental topics. The new, expanded format enables attendees to have a more flexible schedule with shorter training days. Click here for a sample schedule to see what each training day looks like and the content that is covered, and visit our FAQs to learn more about the class format (look for this question: What is the format of each training day?) and our mandatory attendance policy (look for this question: What is your attendance policy?).

The coursework centers empathy, justice, intentional language, and expansiveness while offering tools to help identify the ways power, privilege, and socially constructed belief systems influence the way we think and teach about sex. This means attendees not only receive knowledge, skills, and information, but also essential perspective on human identity and development that will last a lifetime. Ultimately, much of the learning process during this program is also an unlearning process.

Attendees are introduced to multiple models for addressing and responding to sex-related questions and concerns in a concise, compassionate, and nonjudgmental manner with opportunities to practice one-on-one and as a group. This program also leaves attendees with new insight into their own sexuality — a valuable side effect of trainings like this.

The topics that EDSE’s Sex Educator Certification covers includes:

• Kink, BDSM & sexual expression

• Client communication skills & blocks

• Intersectionality & anti-racism in sex education

• Affirmative consent & sexual communication

• Trauma-informed sex education

• Identity-affirming sex education

• Critical thinking in human sexuality research

• Teaching exercises, tools, & tips

• Safer sex, harm reduction, & risk awareness

To complete EDSE’s Sex Educator Certification, attendees must:

• Be present for all training days. This is not negotiable. To learn more about this attendance policy, please read #18-23 on our FAQ page.

• Complete a written quiz (provided after the final training day).

• Complete a verbal review (scheduled after the final training day).

• Complete the EDSE x ANTE UP! Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR). This program is co-facilitated with Dr. Bianca Laureano of ANTE UP! and is offered three times a year. Learn more about our SAR here.

certificate holders are required to renew their certification every 3 years.

To renew their certification and be included in EDSE’s database of Certified Sex Educators, certificate holders must complete 18 continuing education (CE) hours and follow EDSE guidelines. Click here to learn about the renewal process and what is required of certificate holders.

FAQ: Do I have to renew? Can I simply take the program to enhance my learning?

Absolutely! The knowledge and experiences gained during the certification program are invaluable, and we have many attendees complete the program in order to build skills and proficiency with the subject matter without the need or desire for a Certified Sex Educator title. These kinds of attendees receive a Certificate of Completion once they have completed the program requirements.

The time, money, and energy spent completing our program have value beyond a Certified Sex Educator title, and a Certificate of Completion is a legitimate representation of that effort and expense.

FAQ: What happens if I don’t renew my certificate?

Certificate holders who choose not to renew their certification with EDSE:

• Will not be included in the database of EDSE Certified Sex Educators.

• Do not have authority to refer to themselves as a Certified Sex Educator, unless they received the designation from a different program.

• Will be required to complete the EDSE Sex Educator Certification a second time, should their certification lapse longer than 6 months and they wish to obtain a Certified Sex Educator title.

Spring 2025 schedule:

MARCH 1-2 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. PT
(includes 2 10-min. breaks & 1 40-min. lunch)

MARCH 14-16 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. PT
(includes 1 10-min. break & 1 40-min. lunch)

MARCH 28-30 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. PT
(includes 1 10-min. break & 1 40-min. lunch)

APRIL 11-13 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. PT
(includes 1 10-min. break & 1 40-min. lunch)

APRIL 26-27 FROM 10 A.M.-4 P.M. PT
(includes 2 10-min. breaks & 1 40-min. lunch)

Fall 2025 schedule:

sept. 13-14 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. PT
(includes 2 10-min. breaks & 1 40-min. lunch)

sept. 26-28 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. PT
(includes 1 10-min. break & 1 40-min. lunch)

oct. 10-12 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. PT
(includes 1 10-min. break & 1 40-min. lunch)

oct. 24-26 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. PT
(includes 1 10-min. break & 1 40-min. lunch)

nov. 8-9 FROM 10 A.M.-4 P.M. PT
(includes 2 10-min. breaks & 1 40-min. lunch)

COURSE DETAILS:

Sessions will be held every other week for a total of 13 training days and 60 training hours. This program qualifies for 60 AASECT CEs.

Location: Online via Zoom (no account required). You will need access to a reliable Internet connection and video chat capability.

Cost: The rates listed below do not include the discounted cost of the Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR), which is mandatory for certification attendees to complete. Please read #17 in our FAQs to learn more about why this SAR is required.

When you fill out your application or payment form, you will be asked to select which tuition rate you choose:

• Standard Rate: $4,995 or $353.75 USD/month for 12 months (after $750 deposit)*
  This is the cost and value of the certification. Select this if the cost will not prevent you from meeting your housing, food, transportation, childcare, and other basic needs, even though it might mean you have to temporarily cut back on some non-essential spending. If you are an employee of a company that is funding or supporting your tuition, you must pay the Standard Rate.

• Equity Rate: $3,495 or $228.75 USD/month for 12 months (after $750 deposit)*
  Select this if paying the Standard Rate would mean your basic monthly needs, like housing, food, transportation, or childcare, would not be met or that your financial stability would be put at risk. There are no seats remaining at this price for Spring 2025 and 2 seats for Fall 2025. If you choose this option but can genuinely afford the Standard Rate, you are taking this option away from someone who genuinely needs it. This rate is NOT available to employees of companies that are funding or supporting their tuition.

• Accessibility Rate: $2,995 or $187.08 USD/month for 12 months (after $750 deposit)*
  Select this rate if you are unemployed or underemployed, on disability or government assistance, or struggle to make ends meet, and paying the Equity Rate would prevent you from meeting your housing, food, transportation, childcare, and other basic needs month to month. This is available only to people experiencing financial hardship who, without it, would not have the means to attend. There are no seats remaining at this price for Spring 2025 and 2 seats for Fall 2025. If you choose this option but can genuinely afford the Standard or Equity rates, you are taking this option away from someone who genuinely needs it. This rate is NOT available to employees of companies that are funding or supporting their tuition, regardless of student status.

*A $750 USD deposit is required upon signup. Deposits are non-refundable unless you are not accepted into the program. Visit our FAQs to learn about scholarship guidelines, no-interest payment plans, and more about this program.

For more about these tuition rates and whether you qualify, please refer to FAQ #26.

Payment plans: To confirm a 12-month payment plan with us, please submit a Payment Plan Authorization form following signup. Email this form to hello@everyonedeservessexed.com. Your payment plan will not be confirmed until we receive this form filled out entirely.

If you do not want a payment plan but wish to pay your remaining balance at a later date, please submit a Remaining Balance Authorization form following signup. Your remaining balance will be charged on the 1st of the month prior to Day 1 of the training, unless otherwise confirmed with EDSE.

Scholarships: In each cohort, EDSE offers two $3,745 partial scholarships available only to queer or transgender Black, Indigenous, Brown, Asian American Pacific Islander, and People of Color. This is a need-based scholarship reserved for folks who, without financial aid, would not be able to attend this program.

Applications for Spring 2025 scholarships open Oct. 1, 2024, at 12:01 a.m. PT and close Oct. 31, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Applications for Fall 2025 scholarships open March 1, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. PT and close March 30, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Program Bundles: You now have the option of bundling your certification tuition with other EDSE programs to save time and money as you build your career or take it to the next level!

• Certification + Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR)** = Tuition + $475 (You save $50 off regular price!)
  If you set up a payment plan for this bundle, do not sign up for the SAR yourself. You will be asked to select which SAR you want to attend on the General Application. If you select “I don’t know,” you will not be added to any of our scheduled SARs until you email us. Please see #18 in our FAQs for more on this.

• Certification + The Sex Ed Accelerator = Tuition + $1,695 (You save $300 off regular price!)

• Certification + Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR)** + The Sex Ed Accelerator = Tuition + $2,170 (You save $325 total!)
  If you set up a payment plan for this bundle, do not sign up for the SAR yourself. You will be asked to select which SAR you want to attend on the General Application. If you select “I don’t know,” you will not be added to any of our scheduled SARs until you email us. Please see #18 in our FAQs for more on this.

**It is required that attendees of EDSE’s Sex Educator Certification attend this SAR to complete their training. Your certificate will be mailed to you once you have attended the entirety of this SAR.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a foundational course on human sexuality. As with any course of study, there is no way to “complete” an education in human sexuality, and no single training is enough to cover all the intricate, fascinating, and evolving components. Recommendations for continued education will be provided on the final training day.

What does attendees’ tuition go toward?

Your tuition goes toward operating EDSE as an education organization registered in the state of Oregon and the costs of purchasing or creating teaching materials, developing and updating curriculum, quality control, completing daily administrative duties, managing our CE provider status, and other “invisible” costs related to running a small business of this kind. EDSE does not utilize unpaid labor from interns or volunteers, and we do not balloon class sizes in order to inflate profit. (Each certification maxes at 15 attendees.)

Our lead educator, Anne Hodder-Shipp, is compensated for running EDSE, handling admissions, creating and maintaining program content and resources, managing each certification, hosting the certification, and teaching every certification day. Our education assistant, Alice Silk, receives a flat fee for providing support during each certification, as well as mailing attendees’ certificates. We contract 10 additional educators for each certification, and they receive a flat fee for each 60- or 90-minute section they teach.

If you bundle your tuition with the Sexual Attitude Reassessment, your additional $475 is split equally between the co-facilitators (Anne Hodder-Shipp and Dr. Bianca Laureano). If you bundle your tuition with The Sex Ed Accelerator, 15% goes to EDSE for operations costs and the remainder is paid to Anne Hodder-Shipp for creating, maintaining, and hosting the coaching program, as well as for the two private one-hour sessions with her that are included.

This program meets the requirements of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for 60 CE credits. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification. Completion of this program does not ensure or guarantee AASECT certification. For further information please contact info@aasect.org.

This certification covers the following AASECT Core Knowledge Areas:

A. Ethics and ethical behavior.

B. Developmental sexuality from a bio-psycho-social perspective across the life course.

C. Socio-cultural, familial factors (e.g., ethnicity, culture, religion, spirituality, socioeconomic status, family values) in relation to sexual values and behaviors.

D. Issues related to sexual orientation and/or gender identity: heterosexuality; issues and themes impacting lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual people; gender identity and expression.

E. Intimacy skills (e.g., social, emotional, sexual), intimate relationships, interpersonal relationships and family dynamics.

F. Diversities in sexual expression and lifestyles including, but not limited to, polyamory, swinging, BDSM and tantra.

G. Sexual and reproductive anatomy/physiology.

H. Health/medical factors that may influence sexuality including, but not limited to, illness, disability, drugs, mental health, conception, pregnancy, childbirth, pregnancy termination, contraception, fertility, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infection, other infections, sexual trauma, injury and safer sex practices.

I. Range of sexual functioning and behavior, from optimal to problematic including, but not limited to, common issues such as: desire discrepancy, lack of desire, difficulty achieving or maintaining arousal, sexual pain, penetration problems and difficulty with orgasm.

M. Pleasure enhancement skills.

N. Learning theory and its application.

O. Professional communication and personal reflection skills.

P. History of the discipline of sex research, theory, education, counseling and therapy.

What kinds of people take this course?

We believe that building comfort, familiarity, and confidence in sexuality topics like gender, healthy relationships, anatomy and body autonomy, and identity is valuable and essential for any adult who has influence or impact within their community. Anyone can be a sex educator or incorporate sex education knowledge and communication skills into their life and work, and having access to this information is more important than ever.

As of 2023 in the U.S., only 38 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) have laws in place that require sex education and/or HIV education be offered in schools. Of them, only 17 states require that the sex education being provided is medically accurate. This means that in 33 states, it is legal to provide false, biased, and fear-based mis-education to kids and teenagers, who carry the misinformation, fear, and shame with them well into adulthood, often passing it on to the next generation. With this certification, EDSE supports and equips adults of all experience levels and professions with the tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to disrupt this cycle.

Decades of research has proven how harmful and detrimental inaccurate sex education is, yet it remains the most commonly funded and approved form of sex ed in the U.S. Accurate and expansive sex education can be hard to find and difficult to introduce into schools, districts, and institutional settings, but EDSE believes that the more adults we can equip and prepare for this work, the more effective we can be at making incremental change from the ground up. Learn more about the core values of EDSE’s founder and lead educator Anne Hodder-Shipp.

The EDSE team has trained and works with professionals from a variety of service-centered fields, including:

• Healthcare providers

• Social services professionals

• Youth mentors

• Non-profit sector professionals

• Mental health practitioners

• Educators & advocates

• Parents and caregivers

• Nannies and childcare workers

• Sex workers

• Case managers

• Writers, researchers & bloggers

• Treatment & recovery professionals

• Adult industry professionals

• Clergy, religious leaders & church members

• Local political figures

• Schoolboard and PTA members

Have questions about the program? Please visit our FAQs page. If your question is not answered there, please email us at hello@everyonedeservessexed.com.

By the end of EDSE’s Sex Educator Certification, attendees will have:

• An exponentially more expansive understanding of what sexuality is comprised of, beyond sexual orientation and gender identity, and how to explain it to others.

• Valuable new perspective and understanding of sexuality topics that de-centers the medical industrial complex, pathology, and western concepts of “normal.”

• More confidence in their ability to respond to sexuality questions in a bias-aware, non-judgmental manner.

• Essential awareness of the ways power, privilege, and oppression inform our experiences of pleasure, safety, bodily autonomy, connection, community, and our sense of self.

• Manageable solutions to dealing with feelings of imposter syndrome, fear of making mistakes or saying “the wrong thing,” fragility and insecurity, and “not knowing enough.”

• A broader perspective and understanding of the ways white supremacy culture and patriarchy have informed western concepts of human sexuality and sex, including gender, biological sex, purity, beauty, femininity, masculinity, and more.

• A stronger understanding of how and why sex, sexuality, sex education, and more are political topics.

• A head start on building an effective referral list that includes professionals, service workers, and healers of all kinds, and how to determine the qualifications and appropriateness of a referral beyond simply looking at their credentials.

• Valuable critical thinking skills that they can apply to almost everything in their professional and personal lives, including searching for resources, research, and teaching materials.

• Practical tools for responding to questions and providing information effectively.

• Perspective and awareness of their own sexuality, power, privilege, and experiences of oppression and how they impact and inform their work.

• A built-in community of like-minded individuals who feel passionate about sex education, liberation, and contributing to positive incremental change.

• and so much more! Check out what past attendees have to say about their experience. <3

What past attendees say about our Sex Educator Certification: