Client Sexuality and Clinician Implicit Bias

Every single person has a relationship with sexuality, whether they are asexual or very sexually experienced; it follows that everyone that we work with as therapists has a relationship with their sexuality. Therefore, it is imperative that we are committed to staying abreast of current research and remain culturally curious. As ethical practitioners, this commitment to learning and growing as practitioners means that we gain more cultural competence and are then able to offer tailored support.

It is equally important that we be willing to acknowledge our biases and unintentional areas of incompetence, so that we don’t inadvertently cause harm to our clients whose relationships with sexuality don’t align with social expectations or norms. Both our training and socialization leads us to assume that everyone is cis-gender, hetero, and monogamous. Everyone is taught that there are certain sexual behaviors that are “normal” and others that are “not.” It is imperative that therapists acknowledge and address these biases, so we can be ethically supportive of our clients.

Based on current estimates, between 5-20% of the population identifies as LGBTQ+, kinky, and/or non-monogamous. Because these identities correlate with higher rates of mental health issues, that means that an even larger percentage of our clients could be queer, kinky, and/or non-monogamous. It is an ethical mandate that therapists and other mental health practitioners commit to becoming culturally competent in these identities, so that they can achieve two ethical standards of care: 1) offer ethical, sex-positive support AND 2) reduce the incidences of harm that can occur to these already vulnerable populations.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Course attendees will:

• Learn how socialization and clinical training can lead to assumptions about sexual normativity that harm our clients
• Begin to identify their personal biases and/or areas of growth pertaining to sexuality
• Identify ways that clinical training leaves out key pieces of sex positivity and how this impacts clients
• Understand the correlation and higher rates of comorbidity for these populations
• Recognize the ethical need to be a sex-positive therapist
• Identify misconceptions pertaining to kinky and non-monogamous identities and understand their roots in oppressive culture
• Identify ways that having a non-normative sexual identity correlates to higher rates of mental health issues
• Recognize, identify, and apply terms and concepts pertaining to LGBTQ+ culture and identity
• Learn basic terms, concepts, and misconceptions pertaining to kinky and non-monogamous identities and practices
• Identify ways that clinical training leaves out key pieces of sex positivity and how this impacts clients
• Identify areas of growth and need for more knowledge
• Understand history of stigma and its impact on queer individuals
• Leave feeling more culturally competent in these identities, with tools to explore with clients and resources for further learning
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EPDC CE Hours: 6

Presenter: B. Lourenco, LMHC

B Lourenco is a licensed mental health counselor, educator, advocate, and activist. B has been working in community support for 15 years and is committed to social change on all system levels. Seeing mental health as a way to serve the community, she earned a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology, with a Systems Emphasis, in 2015 and began her private practice in 2017. B has also worked in the public school system, providing support to students with behavioral issues that made attending school challenging for them. Highly trained in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), B became a district-wide expert in supporting neurodivergent students. It was during this work that she began to be critical of the current models of support for neurodivergence, including ABA. Making the shift from the medical to the affirming model has allowed her to finally identify her own neurodivergence, including Autism and ADHD. Combining her lived experience of neurodivergence, along with years of anti-oppression work, B is passionate about helping others untangle themselves from harmful practices and align themselves with those that instead support marginalized communities. In addition to her work in neurodiversity, B is also a sex and relationship therapist, specializing in ethical non-monogamy and kink exploration. She has been a speaker on panels and podcasts, as well as facilitating therapeutic workshops in her area of Washington State.