Cultural Competence with BDSM Clients

Author and therapist  Dossie Easton is presenting a seminar on February 4th in Corte Madera, CA, called  Voices from the Margins: Cultural Competency with BDSM Clients, that is geared towards therapists and professionals who wish to expand their understanding of BDSM in order to help better serve their clients. Register before January 21 to get a discount, details on the seminar are here below.

Voices from the Margins: Cultural Competency with BDSM Clients

Saturday, February 4th, 2012, 9 am to 4 pm
Town Center Community Room
770 Tamalpais Drive
Corte Madera CA 04925

The goal of this seminar is to increase participants’ understanding and knowledge about BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism) practices, and lifestyles, including reality-based knowledge of what BDSM players actually do and how they negotiate consent and plan for physical and emotional safety. Participants will learn a psychodynamic approach that will help them understand why people are drawn to these practices and how they might use the support of therapy to unpack the narrative or personal mythos enacted in their play with power and eroticism.

Participants will learn how to maintain a nonjudgmental stance, ask respectful questions and create a safe environment in their consulting rooms so that their BDSM clients will feel free to share their realities and discuss their issues in the therapeutic encounter. Participants will be able to:

………….Understand their clients’ sexual practices without judging them and assess how they
handle safety, negotiation and consent.
………….Make an informed decision about their cultural competence to treat such clients or seek
consultation and further information versus when it would be best to refer to a specialist.
………….Welcome discussions of their clients’ sexualities as an important part of their therapy and
honor their clients’ sexual choices.

Further information about Ms. Easton’s practice and writings can be found at www.dossieeaston.com