Mitchell Tepper
Introduction (2-3 lines)
I am a sexuality educator and coach dedicated to helping people with disabilities and chronic conditions optimize their sexual function, response, and expression post-injury or illness.
Mitchell Tepper, PhD, MPH, Director and Producer of the documentary Love After War: Saving Love, Saving Lives, is an internationally recognized expert on sexuality and disability and author of Regain That Feeling: Secrets to Sexual Self-Discovery. Dr. Tepper grew up with Crohn's Disease and acquired a spinal cord injury at age 20. He went on to earn his undergraduate degree in Finance from Bryant University, his Master’s in Public Health from Yale University, and his PhD in Human Sexuality from the University of Pennsylvania. Tepper brings his academic credentials and his lifetime of first-hand experience with a chronic condition and disability to his work as a Sexologist and now filmmaker.
Dr. Tepper founded his own company, The Sexual Health Network Inc., and became a pioneer in the delivery of sexual health information and advice online beginning in 1996. He has been providing sexuality education, counseling, and coaching to people with disabilities for over 30 years. Dr. Tepper has also taught classes at Yale University School of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine while providing continuing education and training to thousands of health care professionals in the United States and around the world.
In 2006, Dr. Tepper joined Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher as a faculty member in the Center of Excellence for Sexual Health at Morehouse School of Medicine. In that role, he had the honor of working on behalf of wounded veterans since speaking at the Road to Recovery Conference for wounded veterans that same year. Through spearheading the Wounded Troops and Partners: Supporting Intimate Relationships Conference in Washington DC in 2008, he was successful in getting the issue of sexual health and intimacy for wounded warriors on the national radar. He subsequently worked with the VA to help develop their Chaplains Best Practice Award Marriage Enrichment Retreats and held a joint research appointment with the Atlanta VA Medical Center.
In 2014 Dr. Tepper provided staff training to the Sexual Health and Intimacy Work Group at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and assisted the Bob Woodruff Foundation in organizing their High Impact Collaboration Conference, From Injury to Intimacy. Dr. Tepper has published peer-reviewed articles in medical and sexual health journals on comprehensive sexual health care for catastrophically injured warriors.
Dr. Tepper is a past Board Member for the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Sexuality and Disability and as President of United Spinal Association Atlanta. Inc.
Dr. Tepper has been featured on CNN, Discovery, PBS and in popular press, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, GQ, AARP, and HuffPost Live.
