Petey Horton
Graduate Level Intern
In-person at Alexandria, with telehealth across Virginia
Meet Petey
Petey is a sex educator and therapy intern who helps make topics that are often treated as “taboo” feel easier to talk about. She works with individuals and couples around intimacy, pleasure, sexuality, identity, communication, consent, sexual health, and the ways culture, trauma, shame, and relationships can shape our experiences.
-
Sexuality is a meaningful part of life, but it can also be surrounded by shame, misinformation, cultural expectations, and conversations many people were never taught how to have.
Petey creates a supportive, culturally responsive space where clients can explore those experiences openly and without apology.
Her work is pleasure-inclusive, LGBTQIA+ affirming, kink-allied, and grounded in helping people better understand their bodies, identities, relationships, desires, boundaries, and values.
-
Sexuality & sexual wellness
Intimacy & pleasure
LGBTQIA+ identity exploration
Gender identity & sexual orientation
Consent & communication
Relationship skills
Sexual shame & stigma
Sexual health education
Reproductive health
Body autonomy & body image
Trauma & sexuality
Kink-affirming care
Culture, religion & sexual values
Digital intimacy & online sexual spaces
-
Petey’s approach is strengths-based, person-centered, and client-led.
She draws from culturally responsive and anti-oppressive frameworks while recognizing the ways systems, identity, and lived experience can influence sexual health and well-being.
Depending on the needs of each client, her work may also incorporate somatic and mindfulness-informed techniques, Narrative Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, existential and humanistic approaches, harm reduction, and evidence-based psychoeducation.
Petey’s goal is to help clients feel informed and empowered while making choices that reflect their own values, needs, and realities.
-
Petey is especially passionate about helping clients work through sexual shame, stigma, and misinformation.
She enjoys supporting people as they explore identity, reclaim sexuality after difficult or traumatic experiences, strengthen sexual communication, develop clearer boundaries, and deepen intimacy and connection within relationships.
Petey is also committed to making sexual health education more accessible to people and communities that have historically been underserved or excluded from traditional sex education.
-
Petey earned her bachelor’s degree in Studio Art and Medical Bioethics from Wake Forest University in 2022 and completed an associate’s degree in Biology while still in high school.
She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Wake Forest University.
Petey also brings a wide-ranging background outside of counseling. She is a certified NREMT, licensed ER tech, and advanced open water SCUBA diver.
Looking ahead, she hopes to continue deepening her work in sex therapy and sexual wellness, including eventually attending an AASECT conference.
-
Petey has visited nearly 40 countries and has lived in three, with Madrid, Spain holding a special place as her home away from home.
She also has a dog named Shoes.
And Petey would like the record to show that she has adorably tiny, fairy-like hands. If you happen to notice them, apparently you should make a wish.
Ready to get started?
Our First Impressions Team can answer your questions, walk you through next steps, and help connect you with the Healthy Minds provider who may be the best fit for your needs.