The purpose of this course is to equip counselling and psychotherapy professionals with sufficient knowledge and skills to be able to confidently address common sexual concerns in therapy.
At the end of the program the participants will be able to effectively bring up, identify, and discuss common sexual concerns with their clients, de-escalate the conflict and pressure sexual discord puts on client’s relationships and either offer a treatment or refer to a physician when necessary.
Why talk about sex in therapy?
Because nobody else will - cultural and societal restrains
because your clients want you to
to add a very marketable ‘string’ to your practice.
Do you need to be a specialist to talk about sex in therapy?
Only 5 to 10 per cent of our clients who bring up sexual concerns may need to talk to a specialist; most concerns can be addressed in competent sex-positive therapy.
All you need is willingness to open and maintain a conversation about sex and a vocabulary to go with it.
What you will learn in the course:
How to talk about sexual pleasure and arousal and where to start
Messages that form our relationship with our sexual desire: from our families, our cultures, our society, our belief system/religion
Sex ‘education’ from porn—place it where it belongs
Changing our relationship with labels we put on barriers to pleasure
Building sufficient vocabulary to talk about pleasure and arousal
'Not tonight, dear'—addressing discrepancy in sexual desire—the most common presentation in every sex therapist’s practice.
It’s hard to have good sex in a bad relationship (‘who loads the dishwasher?])
“I don’t feel like sex, what is wrong with me?”: de-pathologising any level of sexual desire
Consider the effects of trauma on sexual arousal
‘Wifely duty’: holding the tension between 'my sexual needs are not met’ and ‘my body is my autonomy’ in the context of monogamy.
Vaginal penetration and its discontents: common issues experienced by female-bodied humans across lifespan, such as vaginismus, childbirth, menopause, effect of trauma on sexual arousal.
Ejaculation and its discontents: common sexual issues experienced by male-bodies humans, such as premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, erectile dysfunction (failure to gain or maintain erection) and ‘performance anxiety.’
Celebrating pleasure: working with alternative relationship structures, queer sexual expressions, and the kink community.
- Alternative relationship structures, aka open relationships, polyamory, swinging and any other form of ethical non-monogamy
- Working with clients on LGBTQIA+ spectrum
- Will you work with someone who is kinky (and what does that mean?)
This is a 7.5 hour online course which runs once a week via 5 x 1.5 hour interactive webinar sessions
Trainer: Anya Grichina
MSciMed (HIV, STI & Sexual Health), USyd; BCoun, ACAP.
Anya is a counsellor and an educator. She splits her time between her private practice in Surry Hills, Sydney, and teaching counselling at the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC). She specialises in relationship and sexual health counselling, working with couples and individuals. She also works with clients with intellectual disabilities, using adjusted psychotherapy modalities and positive behaviour support plans. She is acclaimed as an engaging and inspiring presenter whose seminars often change the way her students look at and feel about counselling and psychotherapy practice.
This course counts towards 7.5 hours of Category A CPD.
To see when this course is running next and to register, please see our events list.