(Postponed) Fuck the Closet: Coming Out as Kinky
This training is postponed due to a health issue with one of our presenters. We will be in contact if you already purchased a ticket to the training.
Though many point to the similarities between “coming out” as LGBTQ+ and coming out as kinky, the lack of legally protected status, societal taboos, and many possible personal risks can make coming out as kinky a far more complicated and emotionally challenging process. When kink desires and activities are more stigmatized – such as edge play, cuckolding, age play, erotic hypnosis, fur fandom, Master/slave, and 24/7 relationships – stigma from within otherwise kink-positive communities can matter too.
Many therapists have legally related questions, about jobs, relationships, or types of kink activities that might expose their clients to increased risk, and Susan Wright, Executive Director of NCSF- National Coalition for Sexual Freedom will be our guest to share her legal insights. In this course, we will explore what we know and what we are learning about “coming out” and delve into recent research on belongingness, and community involvement. Throughout these two sessions, we will discuss several “coming out” cases and explore strategies for therapists to facilitate their clients’ self-acceptance as well as the ways to assist clients in revealing their kink involvement to partners, families, their jobs, etc.
Recordings of the webinar will be made available to individuals who have purchased tickets to the live event. Recordings are typically made available to registrants within 2 weeks of the end of the training. The recordings will be released with instructions, supplemental readings and materials, and a knowledge test/content evaluation that ticket-holders may use to earn CEs asynchronously, as a homestudy option, if they have not attended the live webinar. Once they are released, asynchronous recordings will be available for one month after release. After one month, access will be closed to all registrants.
Homestudy Supplemental Readings:
Domingue, C.J. (2019). A journey in kink: From shameful fantasy to self-actualization. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167819873238
Learning Objectives
Fuck the Closet: Coming Out as Kinky
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Learning Objective 1
Interpret the impact of internalized kink-phobia and a concealed identity on how therapists work with clients.
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Learning Objective 2
Describe at least two kink roles and relationships that pose higher legal risk and what role therapists have in facilitating risk awareness and prevention for their clients.
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Learning Objective 3
Outline at least five negative impacts on wellbeing that kink clients may experience within their partnered relationships and the kink community and how these impact “coming out.”
Speaker Line Up
Anna Randall, DHS, LCSW, MPH (she/her/hers) the Co-Founder & Exec. Dir. of TASHRA – The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance (tashra.org), an international health research and professional training organization focusing on stigmatized sexual minority populations.
With a Masters in Social Work from Boston University and a Doctorate in Human Sexuality and Masters in Public Health from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, my work over the last 20 years has been to build awareness of the emergence of Kink-sexuality as an scientific area of clinical and research specialty. I work with TASHRA’s worldwide team to create kink community educational programs, mentor healthcare providers, lead professional case-consultation groups, and develop courses and curriculum for healthcare professional continuing education and post graduate programs. As part of our research on the lived-experienced of kink-involved (BDSM & fetish), I am the Co-Principal Investigator on the International Kink Health Study kinkhealth.org and a founder of the MOTE Conference mote-con.org. In my private practice as a licensed LCSW, I specialize in sex therapy with individuals, couples, and other relational configurations.
Susan Wright founded the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom in 1997, and currently serve as Spokesperson and Director of Incident Reporting & Response. She has presented at over a hundred professional organizations, universities, service agencies and community groups on consent, discrimination against consenting adults, and sexuality & the media.
Ms. Wright chaired the successful DSM-5 Revision Project which helped result in the consensual paraphilias being delineated from Paraphilic Disorders in 2013. She also coordinated the SM Policy Reform Project for the National Organization for Women (NOW) that replaced the Delineation of Lesbian Rights with one that embraced diversity of sexual behaviors at the national conference in 1999.
She has also conducted six surveys on discrimination and violence against BDSM practitioners; consent practices and attitudes; and the mental and physical health of BDSM and non-monogamy practitioners.
Her research has been published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Sexual Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Journal of Trauma and Dissociation and Journal of Homosexuality. www.ncsfreedom.org
Richard Sprott received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from UC Berkeley in 1994. His early work was on social and language development in early childhood. Throughout the 1980s, he conducted program evaluations for educational programs for migrant farmworker families and worked in other areas of migrant farmworker education. As a researcher he has examined in detail the relationship between professional identity development and the development of professional ethics in medical doctors, ministers and teachers, and professional identity development in emerging fields of work. He is currently directing research projects focused on identity development and health/well-being in people who express alternative sexualities and non-traditional relationships, with a special emphasis on kink/BDSM sexuality, and polyamory or consensual non-monogamy. He was the President of the Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (APA Division 44) for 2021-2022. He is also the co-author of Sexual Outsiders: Understanding BDSM Sexualities and Communities (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013). Along with Dr. Elisabeth Sheff, he is co-editor of a new book series Diverse Sexualities, Genders, and Relationships from Rowman & Littlefield. Richard currently teaches courses in the Department of Human Development and Women’s Studies at California State University, East Bay and graduate level courses in counseling psychology at various universities, including UC Berkeley Extension and Alliant International University.
Continuing Education
The complete event of three hours is eligible for 3 AASECT CE units. APA CE credit is NOT available for this training.
This program meets the requirements of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for 3 CE credits. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification. Completion of this program does not ensure or guarantee AASECT certification. For further information please contact [email protected].
For further information on CE credit, please contact Richard Sprott at [email protected] directly.
Scholarships and Group Rates
Scholarship Opportunities
TASHRA offers scholarships for attendance to our classes for select applicants. Use the link below to apply for a scholarship to attend this continuing education opportunity. Applications must be submitted at least 1-week prior to the start of the training. We are only able to offer 3-6 scholarships per course. Scholarships will take the form of 50% of tuition being covered. Applicants will be evaluated per their level of need and purpose for pursuing continuing education.”
Application link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSer0jnLFpFLHv8U0Ysfy6Z2dtlSpBTmWDe8c-IAPlwE2B-eUg/viewform
Group rate information:
Group Rates
TASHRA offers discounts on tickets purchased for different sized groups. These can be groups of professionals or community members. For groups of 4-9, members will receive an invoice for 10% off tickets. For groups of 10 or more, members will receive an invoice for discounted 15% off tickets. Contact [email protected] to learn more.
Cancellations and Complaints
Complaint / Grievance Procedure
TASHRA is committed to conducting all activities in compliance with the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) Code of Conduct. TASHRA will adhere to all legal and ethical responsibilities to be nondiscriminatory in promotional activities, program content, and the treatment of program participants. Monitoring and assessment of these standards will be the responsibility of the TASHRA Clinical Training Team and Professional Development Services Manager (richard @tashra.org).
While TASHRA makes every attempt to assure fair treatment for all participants, occasionally complaints will arise about continuing education programs. This does not include complaints or comments received on course evaluations.
The person with a grievance will first try to informally resolve their grievance by contacting TASHRA with the issue concerning the training, its delivery, the evaluation method, technological issue, other student(s), and/or any other concern.
When a participant files a complaint, either orally or in written format, and expects action on the complaint, the following actions and procedures will be taken:
- If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual making the complaint will be asked to put his/her comments in written format. The Professional Development Services Manager will then pass the comments on to the speaker, assuring the confidentiality of the complainant.
- If the complaint concerns a workshop offering, its content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, Professional Development Services Manager will mediate and attempt to resolve the complaint promptly. If the participant requests action, the Professional Development Services Manager is empowered to:
- Attempt to move the participant to another workshop, or
- Provide a credit for a subsequent year’s workshop, or
- Provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.
- Actions 2.2 and 2.3 will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the grieved individual.
- If the complaint is made after the program has occurred or concerns the TASHRA CE programming more generally, the Professional Development Services Manager will address it as follows:
- Request that the complainant submit a written complaint and propose an appropriate remedy.
- Provide the instructor(s) with the opportunity to respond to the complaint and propose an appropriate remedy,
- Review these documents, make a final determination, and decide on any remedy
- TASHRA’s Clinical Training Committee will then consult regarding this grievance in an effort to find fair methods of resolving the grievance.
- If the aggrieved person is not satisfied with the solutions put forth, then they may put their grievance in writing and contact the American Association of Sexuality Educator, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT). The appropriate AASECT personnel can be reached at [email protected].
- TASHRA will abide by any decisions made by the APA or AASECT regarding resolution of the grievance.
For further information, contact the Research Director of TASHRA, Richard A. Sprott, at [email protected] or at 510-919-4488. You can also contact us at
TASHRA, P.O. Box 812, Rio Vista, CA 94571.
Cancellation Policy
Participants may cancel up to ten days before a scheduled workshop without penalty and receive a credit for another workshop or a refund minus $7 for processing costs. If a participant cancels less than ten days before, they will be responsible for payment. TASHRA reserves the right to cancel any event that does not meet our minimum registration of 16 participants within 4 business days of the class. If TASHRA cancels an educational event, participants will receive a credit toward another workshop.
Registration Details
To learn more about the difference in the two ticket prices, please see the ticket descriptions. All ticket holders will receive access to the recordings of the event and be eligible to earn asynchronous CEUs.
Ticket option 1: Licensed Professional – $100.00
Ticket description: This ticket includes 3 AASECT CEUs upon completion of required materials. A recording of the training will be made available to individuals who purchase this ticket and participants will have the opportunity to earn CEUs asynchronously.
Ticket option 2: Non/pre-licensed Professional/no CE credit desired – $45.00
Ticket description: This ticket does not include CEUs upon completion of required materials. A recording of the training will be made available to individuals who purchase this ticket and participants will have the opportunity to earn CEUs asynchronously. This ticket is recommended for community members.