Certified Clinical Sexologist, LMFT
Dr. Thelma Tennie, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), and Certified Clinical Sexologist is the owner of a successful private practice, Dr. Thelma Tennie and Associates, LLC. She is licensed in Florida, Ohio, Maryland, and her hometown Washington, DC.
Dr. Tennie was born in Washington, DC, her father’s parents are of Jamaican descent and her mother’s of Native American. As a licensed practitioner she assists business professionals and couples in managing life’s daily stresses and debilitating anxieties. Her areas of expertise include sexual trauma, relational/sexual satisfaction, polyamory, sexual dysfunction, and infidelity.
In 2015, Dr. Tennie founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Healing Arts Institute of South Florida International, Inc. where she supervises and mentors master’s- and PhD-level therapists. Healing Arts also provides mental health services for children at no-cost and offers a sliding fee scale for adult clients. As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Healing Arts Dr. Tennie strives to deliver on its mission of “Inspiring Hope, Health, & Mental Well-Being”.
In 2020, Dr. Tennie founded Healing Arts Institute of Clinical Sexology, a graduate institution of higher education. This institute is approved by the Florida Department of Education to Provide a doctoral degree (PhD) and Certificate in Clinical sexology. The residential program offers an affordable doctoral degree and certificate allowing greater access and training to master-level licensed therapists across the country.
Dr. Tennie holds a bachelor’s in Psychology, a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy, a PhD in Clinical Sexology, and completed all coursework for a second PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy (ABD-All but Dissertation).
Dr. Tennie has over eleven years of experience providing trauma therapy and over ten years’ experience in research on the early diagnosis, treatment, and importance of early psychoeducation regarding autism.
Dr. Tennie’s wide-ranging interests have led to studies in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Early Childhood Sexual Education, and a previous certification as a Broward County certified schoolteacher in adult Social Science. In 2016 and 2017, she was nominated by Nova Southern University as alumni of the year.
She has presented internationally at The Normal University in Beijing, China, on the prevalence of autism in the US and China; at The National Sex Conference in Munich Germany, on Polyamorous systems; and Nationally at The Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians and Columbia College Chicago on Sex Education, and St. Thomas Virgin Islands on polyamorous systems.
Dr. Tennie is a Florida state Qualified Supervisor for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Interns and Licensed Mental Health Counselor Interns. She is a professional member and approved supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapist (AAMFT), the Association of Black Sexologist and Clinicians, the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) and the American Board of Sexology (ABS).
Most recently, she is author of a Mindfulness daily reflection Journal; a relationship workbook for couples, Our Relationship Business Plan: A complete workbook to learn about yourself and your partner; and co-author of a premarital counseling workbook for couples wishing to marry or get their existing marriage back on track, Our Marriage Business Plan: A complete workbook to learn about yourself and your partner. All three are available on Amazon.