Dr. Nan Wise

Dr. Nan Wise is a behavioral neuroscientist, licensed psychotherapist, certified sex therapist, relationship specialist, and author with over 30 years of clinical experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Rutgers University, where her groundbreaking fMRI research explored the neural correlates of female genital stimulation, imagery, and orgasm.

From 2014 to 2024, Dr. Wise served as a part-time lecturer and researcher at Rutgers-Newark and is currently a board member and instructor at the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute. Her work integrates affective neuroscience, body-based therapies, and the biopsychosocial model to treat sexual dysfunction, trauma, and mood disorders.

Her award-winning research, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Sexual Medicine Reviews, and Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, investigates how the brain processes pleasure and sexual function. Dr. Wise emphasizes the vital role of core emotions in health, warning of a “pleasure crisis” marked by rising stress, mood disorders, and declining sexual satisfaction.

Her acclaimed book, Why Good Sex Matters (2020), explores the neuroscience of pleasure as a key to resilience and well-being. A popular speaker and media expert, she has appeared on The Today Show, Nightline, Discovery Channel, and numerous top-rated Podcasts such as Shameless Sex. She contributes regularly to Psychology Today, AARP, and Pure Wow, and has been featured in Huff Post, The Atlantic, Glamour, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, among many other publications.

Committed to trauma healing and public education, Dr. Wise illuminates how understanding our emotional brains can transform individual and collective health.