Course Description

Psychotherapists often express fear about addressing sexuality in the therapy practice. Therapists must create safety for clients by bringing up sexuality and related life stressors. Otherwise, clients often report wanting to talk about sex but feeling uncertain about when to ask their professionals important questions (Timm, 2009). Some sexuality topics include, but are not limited to, sexual shame, childbirth, fertility issues, lack of pleasure during sex, body image, coming out, and host of other issues relevant across the life course. If therapists create this safe space, then clients will benefit from processing and overcoming many traumas besides the big T traumas of sexual abuse. This presentation—led by Quandra Chaffers, LCSW—will also briefly take an intersectional approach by helping therapists to targets oppression based on marginalized sexual identities while understanding how racial background may compound on those targets.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to identify at least three sexual history taking assessment questions that will fit with direct questioning in Phase 1.
2. Participants will be able to demonstrate one container exercise that is sexuality specific for state change.
3. Participants will be able to list at least three somatic and attachment based interweaves useful for blocked processing and sexuality specific.

Presenter(s)

Quandra Chaffers, LCSW

As a trauma specialist, Quandra helps teenagers and adults overcome intimate partner violence and sexual abuse. Quandra is also a kink & poly knowledgeable sex therapist. She specializes in areas of sexless marriages, painful sex, and problematic sexual behaviors. For 4 and half years, Quandra treated on average 90 survivors per year as a Case Manager-Therapist at the YWCA St Louis Regional Sexual Assault Center. As a volunteer of Rape and Violence Ends Now (RAVEN), She co-facilitated batter’s intervention programming for 6 years, working to rehabilitate men who have been abusive.