Important Changes to our Institute

As of NOW, the Institute of Authentic Tantra® Education has changed our public-facing DBA to The Institute of Holistic Sexology. The corporate changes will come into full effect on September 1st, 2025.

To date, IATE has been a trailblazer in the field of sexual wellness. 

The ATCP was the FIRST Tantra Certification program to offer:

• First year-long Tantra Certification Program
• First Multi-year Tantra Certification Training
• Government-accredited credentials
• Additional sexology certification with the American Board of Sexology (ABS)
• ASSECT approved credits

And now, we are thrilled to announce a new pathway of certification in the field of Holistic Sexual Wellness.

On October 1st, 2025, registration will open for the world’s first—and still only—government-accredited Holistic Sexology Certification, which is also pending submission for AASECT accreditation.

This program will offer government-reviewed and approved education and training for sex educators, coaches, and healers, enabling them to achieve essential core knowledge credits to become AASECT-certified sexuality counselors and ABS-certified Holistic and/or Clinical Sexologists.

So what does this mean for our current Tantra students and graduates?

First of all, please know that we would NEVER make any changes within IATE that would jeopardize your investment in your certification. IATE is GOVERNMENT-accredited and reviewed. This means we MUST operate within the guidelines of PTIB with any changes or adjustments we make to our school or professional training programs. PTIB guidelines are designed to protect YOU, our students, from institutional f*ckery. So even if we were inclined to generate bad karma by harming students (which we are NOT), the rules and regulations of PTIB would prevent us from doing so.  

So, that being said, how does this affect your certification?

Simply put, it does not.  IATE is the parent company of IHS. IATE is a government-accredited training institution. We are merely changing our DBA (Doing Business As) name to IHS. Our reasons for doing this are outlined in this week’s episode of Tantra Talks, with the full details shared in our first relaunch episode of Sex Is Medicine, which drops Thursday, September 4th. 

The official IATE corporate website will continue to be hosted at authentictantra.com in perpetuity.

If you are registered or registering for Phase 2, this change in DBA will have no impact on your training or certificate. Your certification credential will be issued by the Institute of Authentic Tantra Education, which remains the ONLY government-accredited Tantra Training Institution in the world.

The 2026 Phase 2 ATCP will be the LAST Tantra Certification class offered through IATE or IHS.

 As of December 2026, Alaina and I, Devi Ward Erickson, will no longer be certifying practitioners in the Authentic Tantra® sexual healing methods of Tibetan 5 Element Tantra. Nor will we license this content for anyone else to offer certification in these methods. We will share the full scope of how and why we came to this decision in our first episode of Sex Is Medicine, on 9/4/25 

Do current students and graduates need to take the HSC program?

No, you don’t need to take the program, but you might want to. This is a GOOD program. Like, really, really good. However, it is not Tantra, and the HSC program will NOT certify practitioners in sexual healing and/or Tantra methods.

That being said, this program will be a great addition to your Tantra certification. This new program is being designed to fulfill the core knowledge requirements for sex educators, practitioners, coaches, and healers to attain AASECT certification.

The Holistic Sexology Certification Program will be a year-long training, priced for accessibility. We will be offering the full-year training to licensed graduates of the ATCP at a deeply discounted rate.

Are you currently enrolled in Phase 1 and wondering which way to go?  

If you want to teach the methods you have learned in Phase 1, we HIGHLY recommend that you complete Phase 2 in order to be certified to teach these methods. There are NO Tantra healing methods included in the Holistic Sexology Certification Program, and you will legally be unable to teach or utilize any of the methods you learned in Phase 1 in a professional setting without completing Phase 2 of the training.

Once you have completed Phase 2, you can take the HSC for a deeply discounted rate. Once again, all licensed graduates of the ATCP, in good standing with IATE, will be able to enroll in the year-long HSC at a deeply discounted rate, because we value you and your investment in our school.

Please note that the HSC program curriculum and accreditation process are still being finalized. The full, government-approved syllabus will not be available until enrollment opens in October 2025.

If you are currently enrolled in Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the ATCP, please send any questions you may have to your primary instructor. We’re delighted to schedule a call with you to clarify any questions or concerns.

Authentic Tantra® is a path of evolution and transformation. After a decade of offering the most highly accredited and cutting-edge Tantra Certification training program in the world, we are excited and delighted to share our growth and evolution with you in any way that is congruent with our deeply held values, ethical views, integrity, and alignment with our spiritual practice.

If you are curious about the inner workings behind Alaina and my decision, along with Dr. Erickson and The Team, join us on September 4th for our first episode of Sex Is Medicine Relaunch. We’ll share the heart and soul of this evolutionary choice.

Thank you so much for your ongoing interest and support of this work. We value your choice to stay connected.

You can learn more about why this change was initiated in the video below…