Sex Worker Mental Health with Pineapple Support

Transcript

Speaker1: You're listening to the Wanderlust Swingers podcast with Aussie hosts, Kate and Daryl. If you're curious about exploring your sexuality or the swinging, hot wiping and non-monogamous lifestyle, you've definitely come to the right podcast. Or maybe you just love travel adventures. Either way, we share our personal, sometimes juicy, sexy stories, as well as Swingers Club and event reviews, interviews with other sassy people, and of course, our global swinging adventures. We try to bring you a look into the diverse lifestyle that the swinging and non-monogamous community has. We hope you enjoy. Now let's get into the episode. G'day guys, and welcome back to another episode of the Wanderlust Swingers podcast. Today's episode is all about the sex worker community. With the rise of the number of people joining the sex worker community and non-monogamous singles and couples becoming sex workers, we wanted to provide some insight and help for those who are currently sex workers or who might be considering joining the adult industry. So this month we're doing two bonus episodes and this first bonus episode is all about mental health and sex work. I had the opportunity to interview Leia from Pineapple Support. They're a not-for-profit organization helping online sex workers with their mental health needs. We talk about accessing care, some challenges that sex workers face and why their model of support is not only accessible but non-judgmental. In the past two years, I've personally noticed a jump in the number of people we follow on social media becoming sex workers and joining the adult industry. We've seen couples outed, children targeted and harassed at school, people doxed on social media and content being leaked for free. So even if you're not in the adult industry, I really hope that you find this episode enlightening and that you'll join us on this journey over the next two bonus episodes as we talk about some challenges that sex workers face and how we believe they can seek some support. So today's episode is all about mental health. We also have another bonus episode coming up towards the end of the month where I interview a lawyer who specializes in legal support for the adult industry and sex workers. I'm really excited to share these with you guys and I really hope that you enjoy. I hope that you would listen to this episode even if it's not our normal swinging lifestyle content because so many of us now know people in the adult industry and this might be useful for them. So sit back, have a listen as I interview Leia from the Pineapple Support. I hope that you guys enjoy. Hey guys, and welcome to a bonus episode of the Wanderlust Swingers podcast. I have a very special guest on the line today. I have Leia, who's actually originally from the UK, but is currently based in Ibiza, if I'm not wrong. And Leia is from Pineapple Support. Welcome to the show, Leia. Thank you so much. And you are not wrong. I'm sat in cloudy, grey, slightly drizzly Ibiza. So not the picture perfect postcard view that the world has. Not what I signed up for. Not what you signed up for. Absolutely. So we're going to be talking about Pineapple Support today, which is a very, very interesting organization and one that supports the adult industry and sex workers on a global level. I had the opportunity to meet Pineapple Support a number of years ago, actually at the XBiz Awards in Miami and interviewed one of your lovely support people there on the ground. But I really wanted to come to the founder, the person who dreamt up this amazing support channel yourself, Leia. So perhaps before we get into the actual episode, what I'd like to talk about is maybe a little bit about you, just if you can give us an overarching kind of Leia 101. Oh, goodness. So I've been associated with the adult industry since I was 18, my sort of dancing. Before that in the bdsm community so there's been a tie to adult for my whole adult life i previous to working for working for pineapple support before creating pineapple support i was a professional dominatrix and fetish performer. I make movies and kind of amateur stuff or clips for sale and the little fan sites that were little then, not so little now. Yeah. What else? Sounds like you've lived a lifetime already. Well, yeah, that doesn't include running fashion stores and everything else in between. So yeah, the marriage, that was boring. So a little bit of everything, but Thank you. includes running fashion stores and everything else in between. So yeah, the marriage, that was boring. So a little bit of everything, but a little bit of everything. We're going to talk about Pineapple Support. For anyone out there who's listening, maybe who hasn't heard of Pineapple Support, can you just give us a rundown on what it is and what does Pineapple Support really do? So Pineapple Support is a nonprofit organization. We are registered in the US, but provide care on a global scale. We are working with anyone in the online adult industry. So anyone who works on cam, porn, fan sites, as long as you've got an online presence. We help by providing mental health resources. And that's anything from one-on-one therapy to 24-7 emotional support service run by volunteers. We have support groups, webinars. We recently ran our first in-person wellness day. So anything that was going to help you feel better about yourself mentally, we're all about it. That's really, really, I mean, again, I know Pineapple Support because I had the opportunity to meet in person. And when I did, I really thought this is a really interesting support service, I guess, for people that may have been mentally health-wise overlooked in the past. So I think it's fantastic. I read a little bit about your bio and understand that you had some things happen in your life, people surrounding you, and that's kind of what drove you to create this this support service so it's been running running now for a couple of years if that's correct been four years now wow it's crazy I know yeah fourth anniversary on April 6th wow well congratulations and um so okay so you you've identified there that it's about an online presence so my question really is you have therapists that you work with you mentioned before you've also got volunteers with your therapists are those people similar to yourself do they all have a background in the adult industry or they come from varying backgrounds can you maybe give us an explanation of of how these therapists really work or maybe what some of their specialties are? Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, we work with around 320 therapists at the moment and that's growing consistently. Those therapists are across five continents and I think we have 19 languages spoken between them now, which is absolutely incredible. It means we've got a huge reach to the clients that we can can provide care to we do have a number of therapists who either were in the adult industry or were sex workers in some way shape or form and we have some that are still now working as sex workers alongside being therapists which is absolutely wonderful and it really benefits our clients knowing that they're going to someone that actually really on that base ground level understands what it's like to be in the adult industry the majority of our therapists are from a bdsm background or lgbtq or sex positive so they work with polyamory and alternative relationships so it's it's really for us if you are positive about the adult industry if you want to support our community then we're very happy to welcome you as a therapist and provide you with training and be there if you have any any queries i know one of my very good friends who's a director of the organization, Dr. Jenner, when she first started, she would come with multiple questions just about terminology because when you're speaking with a client, the last thing the client wants is to be giving you a lesson on what this means and what that means. That's not why they're in therapy and that's not why they're coming to PNP support. I heard this term used. Can you please just clarify what this means? So when I go into the next session, I understand because it's a lot of camming terms or, you know, on set terms or whatever else. So, so yeah, we're here to help. And if, as long as you are open-minded, positive about, about sex work, then we're really happy to have you on board. I hadn't thought about that you're absolutely right i mean even when we seek therapy if we're seeking therapy in our own relationship if the therapist maybe doesn't know about the non-monogamous terms and you go in there and like yeah you know i had an mfm or this that and the other then you do you spend a lot of time trying to educate i guess that person on how it works so i hadn't thought about it makes a lot of sense you know if you get a cam model who says to you they were performing and it was a joy for example you know jerk-off instruction like not knowing you know when the person started talking down to them in a derogatory manner that they didn't appreciate and didn't consent to you know you're right I guess kind of going into the well here's what it means would derail the conversation a little bit so hearing that they are educating themselves on some of these terms is is um necessary but fantastic you know i've heard from many performers that just how frustrating it is going to see a therapist and feeling like you've spent the whole of your session that you're paying for educating the therapist and you know on on one hand you've you've got to say how wonderful that therapist wants to learn and isn't, you know, just dismissing what's being said. But on the other hand, that's not why you're in your therapy session. Now, you mentioned actually something there, which I want to touch on. You said you're paying for the therapy session. What is the price of a therapy session with Pineapple Support or how do people access your services? So with Pineapple Support, we work on, I don't want to say i say sliding so it's a co-pay system when you uh apply for the one-on-one therapy through the website you're asked how much you can contribute towards session and that's the amount that you pay because i mean there are people that can afford therapy they just can't find the right therapist so they come to us the maximum we will ever ask from anyone is 100 because that's the maximum that we'll ever pay a therapist. They all discount their rates for us. So yeah, so the client is, I mean, it might be $1, might be $5, might be $50. We don't question it. That's what you pay to your therapist each week and then we pay the rest. It's actually really important that people do contribute if they're able. I mean, if you can't afford your therapy at all, then we will cover the whole cost but it's super important to to pay for your therapy it's part of therapy and people don't put a value on something that's free so people would not turn up for their therapy sessions yeah they just wouldn't put a value on it so it's it's kind of all part of the the process of therapy and healing contributing to your to your own um to your own journey. So basically what you're trying to accomplish here is accessible healthcare for people. So whether or not, like you said, whether somebody is able to contribute the $100, whether somebody is able to contribute $10, you know, it's accessible for those people depending on their circumstances. And I agree with what you're saying in terms of putting in the effort, putting in the work, because you're right. I mean, even as something as simple as, and I don't mean to diminish the value of therapy, but if you look at going to an event, for example, even like a little meet and mingle, or if you mentioned before, you're in the BDSM realm, like a munch and you do a free event, probably 30 to 40% of the people who RSVP aren't going to turn up because they're not really dedicated to that event or that journey. And I think it's, you know, whereas if it's like a $10 thing, you might go, oh, it's $10, whatever I'm going to go. So I appreciate both the necessity of making it accessible, but, you know, having some kind of, I guess, guarantee that you are committed, that you're actually committed to the journey and not just going to blow it off. It is you contributing to your own mental health as well, rather than just just being given something you know it really it shows commitment uh which is you know incredibly important when you're when you're starting to work on your mental health or on your well-being in any way you know that be that going to the gym or or changing your diet or whatever you have to be consistent and you have to put effort in and that's all all part of that it's never going to be it's never going to be a quick fix it's always going to be you know a lot it's a long-term journey you're always improving and working on yourself and that's how life is and how we evolve as people yeah i agree and actually you know as people what would be thinking about some of the people that you are supporting now what are are some of the reasons, maybe the top three reasons, that people may seek out pineapple support help? What are you seeing at the moment for why people are coming to you? Since COVID, anxiety is number one. Almost every single person that comes to us is suffering with anxiety. I think that's just a sign of the times, you know, since everything kicked off in, what was it, February 2020. No one's known what's's going to happen next and it feels like the world's been on an absolute roller coaster and no one knows when it's when it's going to end what's going to happen next which twist or turn or whatever else you know the conflict in russia ukraine at the moment i mean this is this is huge for us here and and in the us where you know something as simple as something as simple as small it's not simple or small gas prices going up well you've got to go and go you've got to drive to work you've got to get your kids from school yeah all the basic necessities everything is going up the electric is going up and so now people are even if they're not directly involved in the conflict or have friends or family involved in the conflict, they're still being affected and not knowing how they're going to be able to afford their whatever, their petrol, their travel, their grocery shop. And then you've got the folks that are caught up in the conflict, which is just unbelievable in this day and age and not being able to access money, not being able to go online and work. So that's something we're tackling at the moment. But that aside, previous to what's been happening the last two weeks i would say the main the main reasons people come to us the main reason people come to us is stigma because the mental health struggles that people have in the adult industry are absolutely no different to anybody else the the difference is that they have no one to speak to and if they go and speak to someone, the likelihood is they get told that it's because they're in the adult industry. Oh, you're feeling this way because you work in porn. No, it's not. I fucking love my job. I feel like this because I'm human. I'm a person and we all struggle. And what absolutely blows my mind and I've heard over and over again is that folks that go to joe blog's therapist the therapist says the same thing to them and if you imagine yourself as a as someone who works in the adult industry and you've been maybe ostracized from your family you keep being you know the society projects their shame onto you in the form of stigma and abuse you if you're feeling like you are less deserving of a person and then you go see a therapist and they confirm this yeah I can imagine that people would be turning up saying things like you know I was really abused online during my cam session today or I had a one-on-one and I was degraded to the point of feeling bad about myself and I can imagine the response would just be well don't be a sex worker anymore. Go and get a quote unquote regular job. And rather than actually tackling the very raw feelings about that worthlessness, they just try to put, I guess, a bandaid over it and just make it an easy fix. Yeah. No. Yeah. Yes. But no, what I mean is people just going there saying I'm depressed. I suffer from depression or I'm anxious because of whatever I'm struggling my relationship not absolutely nothing to do with the job not coming in saying I was struggling in my in my camp show or I had a shitty day on set saying my life I have anxiety my life I have this and actually maybe when they're on cam or they're on set is the only time that they're feeling free and themselves and happy. And yet the therapist will still relate that external feeling to when they're not at work and relate it to the job. That's when it gets really messed up. Yeah. And I don't see that happening when, you know, maybe a lawyer has some anxiety or a stay-at-home mom has some anxiety. They don't just say, well just just quit what you're doing and surround yourself with something else I mean generally that's not how it works right exactly or you just wouldn't yeah you wouldn't relate it to the job you actually treat the the mental struggle rather than trying to have someone change their career and actually leaving the adult industry isn't that easy it's not something you can just do I think it's that's something that a lot of people really need to consider before entering into that industry