FEBRUARY Announcements
SSTAR 47th Annual Meeting - in person and including a virtual option!
April 28-May 1, 2022 - Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Chicago, Illinois
Sexual Healing: Pleasure and Positivity in our Modern World
This program is designed for a broad range of medical and mental health professionals with an interest in the care of people with sexual concerns, as well as for sex researchers/scholars and trainees in sexology, psychology, and other medical and mental health disciplines. Take advantage of this remarkable opportunity to hear from top notch speakers and network with professionals in your field at the SSTAR 2022 Annual Meeting! The SSTAR Annual Meeting offers members and non-members the opportunity to share ideas and learn from one another. Registration is now open!
Announcing the late-breaking call for abstracts - deadline March 1, 2022.
Late-breaking post presentation abstracts are now being accepted for consideration at the annual meeting. Accepted abstracts will be presented in poster format. Click here for the details. Questions and abstract submissions should be directed to Jennifer Vencill.
We encourage you to register now! CLICK HERE to register directly online. Or please CLICK HERE to download the registration form.
Scholarships
SSTAR is foremost committed to fostering clinical sexuality practice and research. In order to fulfill this mission, SSTAR is dedicated to being a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who work in the field of human sexuality, including Black, Indigenous or other Persons of Color (BIPOC), individuals from the LGBT2SQ+ communities, and students as well as early career professionals.
SSTAR recognizes that payment of conference registration fees can be an economic hardship and is therefore offering 3 scholarships for the 2022 Annual Meeting of up to $785 each to attend 2 preconference workshops, the annual meeting on Friday and Saturday and post-conference Ethics workshop on Sunday. Applicants need not be SSTAR members. The deadline for scholarship entries is March 1, 2022.
The SSTAR scientific program committee will review all requests and notify every applicant by March 15, 2022.
Click here for the application form.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Support SSTAR and gain exposure for your institution. Click here for all the details.
**Virtual Training**
Sensate Focus in Sexual Health: Touch, Mindfulness & Somatic Healing
Type: webinar link provided upon registration
Date: Thursday, March 10th, 2022 9am-5pm Central
Cost: $300 for professionals; $250 for students/retirees; $200 for groups of 5+
For more information, please go to www.sextherapiststlouis.com
By the end of this workshop, Participants will be able to:
• Describe Sensate Focus and it’s relationship to the practices of mindfulness and somatic touch
• Analyze when and how to use Sensate Focus touching suggestions
• Identify how to integrate Sensate Focus into relationship counseling/therapy and sexual medicine
• Apply Sensate Focus suggestions to various populations and sexual concerns
• Explain commonly encountered problems in assigning and processing Sensate Focus
• List interventions useful in addressing commonly encountered problems
Writing and Publishing Course by Tammy Nelson
Join me in my new Writing and Publishing Course. We start February 8th and meet for 4 group sessions online over four months. We will review your project, share ideas, and read out loud. You will receive direction, prompts, instructions, and guidance, along with supplemental individual sessions and red-line editorial feedback.
There is no other course that gives you as much support, for both beginners and advanced expert writers. Join now, group size is limited. Assignments between sessions can help you start writing, expand or finish your book.
Whether you are writing to publish nonfiction, a memoir, or a clinical book or article, this course will help you to feel motivated, break through your writer’s block, and maybe even land you a publishing contract.
Are you ready to submit your finished product to a literary agent or publishing house? Curious about self-publishing?
This course will help you decide what your best course of action will be for your project and offers free resources, guidance, alternatives, ideas, and motivation.
Register today as spaces are limited!
Couple Sexuality after 60
Counseling couples on sexuality over 60 is unfamiliar territory for most therapists. On March 11th, 2022, Dr. Barry McCarthy, will present a 4-hour workshop on the topic of Sexuality and Aging. He will discuss scientifically validated information on the topic. Using a variable, flexible approach to couple sexuality based on the Good Enough Sex (GES) model, Dr. McCarthy places the essence of sexuality in pleasure-oriented touching, not individual sex performance. He will confront sexual myths and provide scientifically substantiated information on sex and aging.
- Synchronous • Live CE Course • March 11th, 2022 • 9:30 am EST• Approved for 4 CE•
This intermediate-level course will include lecture, discussion, clinical vignettes, and psychosexual skill exercises.
Dr. Barry McCarthy, a Diplomate both in Clinical Psychology and Sex Therapy, a Certified Couple Therapist, will explore sexuality and aging, dysfunctions, treatment models and ethical considerations based on his new model of sexuality and aging.
Sponsoring Organization: Bookshelf to Couch
Modern Sex Therapy Institutes
Title: Diversity in Sex Therapy
- Presenter: Shadeen Francis
- Saturday, February 19 | 9-6 pm EST (8 CEs)
Title: Using Critical Race Theory to inform Sex Therapy and Mental Health Practice
- Presenter: James C. Wadley, Ph.D, CST-S
- Sunday, February 20 |9:00-11:00pm EST
Title: Unpacking Power, Privilege, and Contradictions of Identities in some Consensual Non-monogamy Relationships and Practice
- Presenter: James C. Wadley, Ph.D, CST-S
- Sunday, February 20 |11:15-1:15 pm EST (2CEs)
Title: Understanding Contraceptive Methods: How Today’s Methods Work and Their Efficacy
- Presenter: Martha Kempner
- Wednesday, February 23 | 12-3pm EST (3CEs)
Location: Online live webinar and video recorded for asynchronous learning after
For more info. or to register, contact Dr. Rachel Needle at info@modernsextherapyinstitutes.com or (561) 262-4723.
ISTI - Sexual Attitude Reassessment
Challenge the notion of normal. What are your boundaries around human sexuality? Join us February 23-25, 2022, for the 14-hour SAR presented live online by the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute.
Register online: https://drtammynelson.com/
This SAR will focus on exploring the “edges” where discomfort and biases emerge. Participants watch videos, attend lectures and participate in discussions around potentially provocative sexual behaviors. You have the opportunity to reflect on presentations in peer workshops with expert guidance. Additionally, participants learn how to confront their own biases when they experience countertransference that clouds their judgment.
Sexuality professionals need to maintain an awareness of changing individual and societal attitudes around sex to effectively work with their clients. The Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR) is an experiential, group-based process that challenges understandings about the intersection of social identity, intimate pleasure, and kink.
Feb 23: Wed (2 pm – 6 pm ET) - Michael Giordano, LICSW
Feb 24: Thu (10 am – 1 pm ET) - Tammy Nelson, Ph.D.
Feb 24: Thu (2 pm – 6 pm ET) - Reb Holmberg, LE
Feb 25: (10 am – 1 pm ET) - Tammy Nelson, Ph.D.
For more information or if you have questions, contact Tammy's assistant: admin@
Go to www.ISTItraining.com for more info.
ISTI – Certified Sex and Couples Therapist Certification
The Integrative Sex Therapy Institute is now accepting applications for Spring training for the Certified Sex and Couples Therapist (CSCT) certification. ISTI also offers tandem training for the AASECT certifications. Training includes synchronous and asynchronous webinars, group and individual consultation and supervision, AASECT application assistance, and access to a multitude of resources.
For more information on the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute: https://www.
For more information on the certified sex and couples therapy certification: https://drtammynelson.com/
To enrol in the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute: email registrar@
The mission of The Integrative Sex Therapy Institute (ISTI) is to provide cutting-edge courses with training by the top leaders in the field; to provide the relationship skills students need to be informed and compassionate sex and couples therapists or coaches who provide the inspiration, connection, and healing needed in the world today.