Kama Integrates Sexuality Education With Psychotherapy Solutions

Designed to optimize sexual health and pleasure, the app features an easily browsable library of original, sex-related content and tutorials. The wellness and self pleasure-and-care focused media draws on a holistic approach to sexual behavior combining neuroplasticity with psychosexual therapy, somatic awareness, and “ancient wisdom” to deliver mindful practices and instructional content geared toward empowering healthy sexuality within an inclusive mix of individuals from different age groups, sexuality and gender identities. The founder, Chloe Macintosh, describes her creation as “Like Headspace for the body.” Macintosh was formerly an architect at Foster and Partners, the co-founder of London-based homeware and furniture brand Made.com, and most recently chief creative officer of Soho House’s ownership company, Membership Collective Group. She spent twelve years researching sexual pleasure and wellness in all its global forms before launching Kama, which raised the largest pre-product seed funding round in its category this past October 2020. 

Kama’s mission is to improve how users experience love, sex and intimacy in their daily lives; from exercises designed to maximize orgasms to expert educational content, the sexual wellness app addresses sex and intimacy education through both physical advice and tips, while also providing access to licensed psychosexual therapists to provide additional guidance and support. The app believes that pleasure is health, and was founded on the premise that despite the overwhelming amount of sexual content on display and encountered in consumers’ day-to-day lives, very little of what is experienced is educational, or unfortunately even positive – just imagine all the people out there learning how to have sex from porn. 

The app’s platform is beautifully designed, as would be expected given the creative, design-centric background of the founder, featuring pastel colors and “family friendly,” anthropomorphic-to-the-point-of being-almost-unrecognizable, penis and clitoris mascots. Kama’s meditative and explorative sessions focus on wellness and wellbeing by highlighting the role pleasure can play in self-care and sex life, by promoting the benefits of being getting out of your mind to be more comfortable in your skin and body. There is nothing seedy or squeamish about the content, although certain instructionals do trend new-age enough that some more recalcitrant users may scoff at the reflexology and Reiki-inspired sessions. Orgasm is not the goal of most of the sessions, just a happy outcome, and much of the platform’s content focuses on bringing users into a closer, more confident relationship with their bodies by becoming more familiar with the various elements and mental states of pleasure, from physical flexibility and erogenous cues, to emotional strength and mindful wellbeing. By prioritizing sexual desire and improving sex education with a focus on not just function but pleasure and comfort within one’s own body, Kama hopes to change the dialogue around self-care and emotional wellbeing.  

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This article originally appeared in PSFK’s research paper, Enhancing Consumer Self-Care.