JSJ Therapy presenting at CARAS conference

It’s almost time for alternative sex therapists and researchers to get together and talk about big ideas in the field.

All are welcome to attend the upcoming CARAS Conference in Chicago on May 24th.  I’ll be presenting with Awen Therapy on the topic entitled :

Using the D/s Dynamic to Reach Therapeutic Goals In and Out of Session

This is such an important group of individuals who are looking to bridge the gap between therapy-research-and-community. This is going to be a great conference, join us!

JSJ Therapy — speaker at WAMFT Conference 2011

JSJ Therapy is proud to announce another presenting engagement at the annual WAMFT conference in April. The two hour workshop topic is:

Sex Positive Therapeutic Approaches to Alternative Sexuality.

This seminar will be providing other therapists with innovative ideas and approaches to working with alt-sex clients. This discussion is expanding off of the many years of work that JSJ Therapy has done with clients to support and encourage growth towards accepting themselves and others within the scope of  love, relationships, and sexuality.

For a brief overview of these ideas you can find them in the CARAS organization website.

I’m looking forward to helping others within the field to better understand and work with alt-sex-clients.

JSJ Therapy in the Media

I’m so proud to be a continual part of CARAS Community Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities). The most recent newsletter for the organization is out and Jasmine St. John MS, LMFT has a write up on doing therapy with alt-sex clients from a strengths-based perspective.

You can view the pdf for the article here:   New Approaches to Alternative Sex Therapy (page 3)

Therapy has historically been a confusing and sometimes a contentious subject for individuals involved with alternative sexualities. The medical model approach to alternative sexuality finds its strength in perpetuating societal norms, by defining some behaviors as normal, and normal as healthy. The focus of this therapeutic approach was often directed towards curing the client of so called “pathology” which included  fetishes, kinks, and desires. Needless to say, this approach has negative consequences that discourage people wishing to embrace their non-traditional preferences from seeking out therapy and This medicalmodel approach al so l imi t s , di s suades , or deters opportunities for new developments in thetherapeutic field. Fortunately, there are changes, albeit slow ones, occurring in the field of therapy. These changes have implications for potential clients and therapists alike. (read more)

JSJ Therapy will also be involved with CARAS in research, conference speaking engagements, and educational materials for graduate counseling programs.