JANUARY Announcements

**Book Launch**

Available 1/28/2020, pre-order any time!

Assaulted with opportunities for pleasure everywhere—from sex to food or exotic escapes—our culture is becoming more depressed and anxious. Research has shown that many people are having less sex, and that those who do have a lot enjoy it less. For more than thirty years, Nan Wise has worked as a therapist helping people gain a satisfying sex life. In recent years, her work has shifted to the study of anhedonia—the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable—and why more people than ever suffer from it.

In Why Good Sex Matters, Wise not only reveals the fundamental problem in how we think about sex and pleasure but also how we arrived at this problematic relationship to begin with. This fascinating book helps us reclaim our innate capacity for joy, fun, exuberance, curiosity, and humor, while showing how reaching our sexual potential makes us smarter, happier, and more productive people. Ultimately, it reveals how a new understanding of sex can lead to a more expansive experience of pleasure in all aspects of our lives.

**Continuing Education Opportunities**

Lifelong Sexuality, Couples Therapy, & SAR

The SAR experience is offered just once a year through ISTI. Experience this personal reflection required for certification and/or 3 days of training with experts and instructors working in the field of sexuality counseling and couples therapy.  Courses include case consultations.

Dates: Feb 5-8, 2020

Location: Chicago School of Psychology, downtown Washington, DC

Cost: $225.00 – $999.00

Registration and More Information: click here

SAR –  **Special – Must register for entire SAR**

• Feb 5 (3 pm – 7 pm)  SAR – Part 1 (with optional evening outing) with Michael Giordano, LICSW
• Feb 6 (9 am – 5 pm)  SAR – Part 2 with Shadeen Francis, LMFT

Thu – Feb 6

• Anatomy and Treatment of Sexual Pain From Puberty Through Childbirth and Into Menopause with Rivka Sidorsky
• Let’s Get Physical: Biopsychosocial Aspects of Sexuality and Aging with Jane Fleishman, PhD, MEd, CSE

Fri – Feb 7

• Introduction to the Integration of Couples and Sex Therapy with Gail Guttman

Sat – Feb 8

• More Tech, More Talking: How Evolving Sex Tech Impacts Fidelity Agreements with Ari Tuckman
• ADHD in Love and Bed: Treating Couples When One Partner has ADHD with Ari Tuckman

For more information or if you have questions, contact tammnynelsonasst@gmail.com

Optimal Sexual Experiences Couples Group Therapy Training

Are you a clinician or therapist who works with individuals or couples distressed by low/no desire? Low/no sexual frequency? Couples distressed by sexual desire discrepancy? Are you interested in training to provide group therapy to enhance couples’ sexual intimacy? Our team offers training for clinicians working with sexual concerns based on our research on Optimal Sexual Experiences.

All the group therapy sessions are to be conducted by two licensed mental health professionals, therefore, we require that you and your co-therapist be trained in unison. Training sessions will be limited to the first 7 pairs of therapists who register.

Dates: March 22-24, 2020, continuing May 3-5, 2020. Each set involves participation over 2 periods of Sunday-Tuesday.

Location: the Embassy Suites Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Deadline for Registration: January 25th, 2020.

To begin the registration, and to ask any questions over email, please contact Ms. Jessica Lafreniere at jlafr075@uottawa.ca indicating your name, your co-therapist’s name and your contact information. Please contact Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D., if you have any questions by phone at 613 563-0846 Monday- Friday, Noon-5:00 PM Eastern time.

This program meets the requirements for AASECT and is approved for 30 credits.

For more information, please click here.

Integrating Sexual Interventions into Couple Therapy

Friday, January 24 – 9 am to 6 pm EST (8 CEs)

Presented by: Barry McCarthy, Ph.D.

Sponsored by:  Modern Sex Therapy Institutes

1920 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. - #211, West Palm Beach, FL

Description:

The traditional model of sexual problems was that sex was a symptom of an individual or couple problem. The belief was that once the core problem was resolved that sexuality would easily become functional and satisfying. In reality, sexuality is complex-multi-causal, multi-dimensional, with large individual, couple, cultural, and value differences. In most cases increasing intimacy and communication does not improve sexual desire and function. In fact, in some cases it increases the sexual problem because there is so much focus on intimacy and mutuality that the couple “de-eroticize” each other and their relationship. The challenge for couples, married or partnered, straight or gay, is how to integrate intimacy and eroticism. Sexual problems need to be addressed directly by recognizing that the new sexual mantra is desire/pleasure/eroticism/satisfaction. Rather than hoping for a bio-medical stand-alone intervention, a comprehensive couple psychobiosocial approach is utilized for assessment and treatment. Challenge the cultural expectation of perfect, predictable sex. Embrace the Good Enough Sex (GES) model which emphasizes the value of variable, flexible couple sexuality, acknowledging the value of both synchronous and asynchronous sexual experiences.

A motivating, empowering learning is that the couple’s sexual style is usually different than their relational style. The couple sexual style balances each partner’s autonomy (“sexual voice”) with being an intimate sexual team who create the right fit  for intimacy and eroticism. A crucial concept is the need for an individualized relapse prevention plan to maintain and generalize sexual gains. 

Objectives:

1. Implement the four-session assessment model for understanding sexual problems.
2. Utilize a comprehensive couple psychobiosocial model for assessment and treatment.
3. Assign and monitor psychosexual skill exercises to build sexual comfort and confidence.
4. Utilize a new model to make genuine meaning of affairs and focus interventions to rebond the relationship or move toward a good divorce.
5. Create an individualized relapse prevention plan to reinforce desire/pleasure/eroticism/satisfaction.

FOR QUESTIONS OR REGISTRATION INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT DR. RACHEL NEEDLE AT (561) 262-4723 OR EMAIL TO DRRACHELNEEDLE@GMAIL.COM

Erotic Empathy® – An Introduction

Saturday, January 25 – 9 am to 1 pm EST (4 CEs)

Presented by: Amanda Luterman, M.A. M.Ed.

Sponsored by:  Modern Sex Therapy Institutes

1920 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. - #211, West Palm Beach, FL

Description:

Mental health practitioners specializing in sex therapy require competence in identifying and treating erotic concerns or erotic empathy. This introductory workshop will present the principles of Erotic Empathy, and foster the creation of individual practitioner schemas for use in clinical practice. Topics and activities will include:

• an introduction to Erotic Empathy
• a sample protocol for practical application
• experiential sessions designed to embody the roles of both practitioner and client

 Objective: Practitioners will synthesize and apply the principles of Erotic Empathy for their own clinical practice. After this workshop, you will  be able to:

1. Explain Erotic Empathy (its components, creation and evolution)
2. Describe the Relationship Shared Values Primer (RSVP) as applicable to cases of erotic disconnection in couples with a history of sexual trauma; a sample protocol for practical application
3. Demonstrate the fictional application, and embodiment of, the roles of both practitioner and client using EE
4. Assess their own comfort with concerns of an erotic identity following the introduction to EE and reflect on what’s next

FOR QUESTIONS OR REGISTRATION INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT DR. RACHEL NEEDLE AT (561) 262-4723 OR EMAIL TO DRRACHELNEEDLE@GMAIL.COM