We have talked about relationships to ourselves, our families, community, sex, and romance. And we saved the most loaded topic for last: money.

In this final full episode of Queer Hearts Healthy Starts: Breaking Toxic Relationship Patterns, Renae sits down with Patrick Armano-Amato, CRPC, AWMA, Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch, for a conversation that is equal parts practical and deeply personal. Because for LGBTQ+ folks, money has never been just about money.

They get into the history that explains why so many queer people never learned to plan for a future, how internalized shame shows up in spending, saving, and avoidance, the very real financial cost of being queer when it comes to family building and legal protection, what couples can do right now to safeguard their financial rights as marriage equality faces new threats, and what a healthy, values-aligned relationship with your money can actually look like.

This one is grounded, honest, and genuinely useful. Whether you are partnered, single, building a family, or just trying to figure out where to start, this conversation is for you.

Queer Moment of Joy Guest 1: Gabriella Layne Her/Hers @strutsocialwithgabby

Queer Moment of Joy Guest 2: Casi Schwisow She/They

Guest Bio :

Patrick Armano-Amato, CRPC™, AWMA™, is a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles who is dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, families, and community leaders navigate life’s financial decisions with confidence. His practice focuses on creating personalized financial investment strategies that reflect each client’s unique goals, relationships, and definition of family.

Beyond his advisory work, Patrick is deeply involved in the LGBTQ+ community. He serves as Vice President and Board Member of the Los Angeles LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Board of Advisors for APAIT, and serves as Vice Chair of the LA Pride Business Council at Bank of America. Through his professional and volunteer work, he is passionate about expanding financial education and helping people build lasting financial security while supporting the communities they care about.

IG: oliveb0y

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-armano-amato/

Email: patrick.armano-amato@ml.com

Website: https://advisor.ml.com/sites/ca/century-city-ca/patrick.armano-amato

Host Bio:

Renae Johnson, LPCC, ATR-BC (they/them) is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Board-Certified Art Therapist, and the Founder of Open Space Therapy Collective, a group practice offering affirming, social justice-driven mental health care for the LGBTQ+ & QTPOC community. With clinical expertise in complex trauma, identity development, and creative expression, Renae blends therapeutic depth with a commitment to equity and inclusion.

In addition to their clinical work, Renae produces community wellness events like Queerly Connected and is a founding board member of the LA Queer Coalition, creating spaces where queer and trans people can gather, heal, organize, and celebrate.

As a speaker, consultant, and activist, Renae is passionate about building systems of care that honor the full humanity of queer and trans individuals—and equipping healthcare and wellness providers with the tools to do the same.

To find more from us visit:

Website: https://www.openspacetherapycollective.com

Instagram: @openspacetherapycollective

TikTok: @openspacetherapy

Spotify: @MyTherapistisOut

Apple Podcasts: @mytherapistisout

YouTube: @openspacetherapycollective

You have done the work of figuring out who you are. But have you done the work of figuring out what you actually want?

In this episode of Queer Hearts Healthy Starts, OSTC Clinical Director Kristen Crowe (they/them) sits down with queer somatic sex and relationship therapist Anna Mayer (she/her) to talk about what it really means to queer your sex life and your relationships. Not in the sense of following a new script, but in the sense of questioning every script you were handed and building something that actually fits.

They get into embodied consent, the difference between uncomfortable and unsafe, why so many of us are still following rules we never agreed to, and how your body has been trying to give you information this whole time. They also talk about where to start when you genuinely do not know what you want, and why that is a completely valid place to be.

This one is honest, practical, and genuinely liberating.

Queer Moment of Joy Guest 1: Cejae Escudero She/Her @zzjaescudero

Queer Moment of Joy Guest 2: Sam Weller He/Him @yeahsamweller

Guest Bio :

Anna Mayer, MA, LPC, R-DMT (she/her) is a queer somatic sex therapist and relationship counselor based near Boulder, Colorado. She uses embodiment, humor, a liberatory mindset, and practical tools to empower anyone who feels cut off from their pleasure and passion. She especially loves working with queer folks, recovering people-pleasers, couples, and polycules. At its core, her work centers around helping people connect more deeply to themselves – body, mind, heart, and spirit – and move through anything that is keeping them from expressing their genuine desires and embodying their most vibrant life.

Website: http://www.annamayercounseling.com

Instagram: @every.body.loves.counseling

Host Bio:

Kristen Crowe (they/them), BC-DMT, LPCC, CST, is the Clinical Director of Open Space Therapy Collective, a LGBTQIA+ group practice rooted in community and care in Los Angeles. A somatic therapist and certified sex therapist, Kristen works with individuals and people in relationship, and provides clinical supervision to junior therapists through an affirming, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist lens. They bring that same embodied, justice-forward approach to the classroom as an adjunct professor in the Expressive Arts Therapy program at California Institute of Integral Studies.

Outside the therapy room, Kristen is the founder of Soul on Fire Dance, a queer-friendly adult dance studio built on the belief that movement, inclusivity, and community are acts of liberation. Whether in session, the classroom, or on the dance floor, Kristen is deeply invested in helping people come home to themselves.

To find more from us visit:

Website: https://www.openspacetherapycollective.com

Instagram: @openspacetherapycollective

TikTok: @openspacetherapy

Spotify: @MyTherapistisOut

Apple Podcasts: @mytherapistisout

YouTube: @openspacetherapycollective

Keywords: queer relationships, embodied consent, pleasure, sexuality, relationship therapy, self-discovery, LGBTQ+