Lectures
Empowering Sexuality with Somatic Sexology
Objectives:
- Describe how increased somatic awareness connects clients to their identified needs.
- Discuss and reflect on three (3) different ways that empowerment and motivation can be included in our work.
- Understand how societal norms influence sexuality using Gayle Rubin’s Charmed Circle framework.
- Describe common sources of shame related to the individual's challenge areas or presenting concerns.
- Discuss three (3) ways to apply exercises based on understanding Somatic Sexology.
Details:
Through an intersectional lens, we challenge traditional norms surrounding gender, sexuality, and relationships to celebrate diversity. One important part is the understanding and exploration of somatic awareness and its pivotal role in expanding pleasure and sexual experiences.
Audience:
Mental Health professionals, Social workers, Sexologists
- Describe the more profound meaning and function of different sexual and intimate experiences across the lifespan for adult adoptees.
- Discuss how the contemporary narrative surrounding adoptees SRHR is affecting adoptees as a group as well as the different mental health and sexual health consequences this might have.
- Demonstrate an understanding of how different types of attachment styles contribute to sexual health challenges for adult adoptees.
- Demonstrate applying an intersectional analysis to support adoptees in creating awareness around their unique experiences and expressing their narrative and voice.
Adoptees have long been pathologised, with their voices often ignored. The prevailing narrative suggests that emotional and behavioural adjustments should resolve mental health and sexual challenges, a view that has overshadowed the adoptee community for decades. The Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of adoptees remain neglected mainly worldwide. While the link between mental and sexual health is well-documented, understanding of adoptee-specific experiences is limited.
This course offers insights through adoptee narratives, viewed from the perspectives of SRHR within the universal human rights framework. We’ll explore adoption, attachment theory, race, identity, and the unique challenges adoptees face in building intimate connections while also examining the deeper meanings of sexual and intimate experiences.
This course is designed for social workers, mental health professionals, and sexologists who want to understand the sexological challenges related to racism, discrimination, and other societal influences besides the commonly centred psychological attachment theory.
Workshops
Destructive Masculine Norms and Sexuality: A Workshop for All Black Men
Objectives:
- To explore the history and negative impact of masculinity norms and sexual stereotypes and how it impacts Black Men’s mental health and Sexual Health.
- To create awareness and provide strategies for healing, connection and breaking generational trauma around Sexuality and Intimacy.
- To release shame around common sexological challenges and offer actionable strategies.
Details:
This 90-minute workshop will address how societal pressures and sexual stereotypes harm Black men’s mental and sexual health. Topics will include 3 distinct examples (Stress, Anxiety, & Depression) and 3 possible effects on intimacy and close relationships. This session will introduce the history of common sexual stereotypes and will share practical steps to address them if unwished. Attendees will learn practical steps to enhance their well-being and support healthier connections.
Audience:
Black men, organizations that support Black men, community leaders, and advocates for social and community justice. For partners and family members.
Let´s Talk about Sex! - Parent Edition
Objectives:
- To understand the different perspectives on Sexual Health and Sexology that intertwine with Mental Health.
- To understand the importance of Embodiment, the function of Shame and Fear, and how we can release them.
- Understand the connections between developmental psychology, self-esteem and good sexual self-esteem now and in the future.
- Red Flags and how we can recognise them.
Details:
Let’s Talk about Sex—Parent Edition is an insightful and engaging session designed to help parents navigate the complexities of sexual health and its connection to mental well-being. This workshop will explore the vital intersections between sexual health, Sexology, and Mental Health, offering practical tools to understand and support the development of healthy sexual attitudes in children and young adults.
Audience:
Adoptive parents and foster care caregivers.
Black Autistic Men and sexual health
Objectives:
- Understand the deep interconnection between mental health and sexual health within the black community.
- Learn practical strategies to address three common sexual health challenges—erectile dysfunction, varying levels of lust, and sensory overload—and their connection to mental health struggles.
- Recognise the harmful effects of racist sexual stereotypes on individual well-being and explore ways to overcome societal pressures that hinder authentic self-expression.
Details:
This workshop offers a unique space for Black autistic men to engage in the process of healing and self-empowerment with a focus on breaking the silence surrounding mental and sexual health challenges. In the face of ongoing mental health challenges, particularly within marginalised communities, traditional healthcare systems often fail to offer holistic solutions. This workshop offers a conversation and topics rarely approached together for this particular group. We will examine three common mental health issues: erectile dysfunction, varying levels of lust (or lack of sexual desire) and sensory overload (for example, during intimate moments). Suggestions will be given to black autistic men, but they can also benefit parents with autistic sons as well as partners to their autistic husbands.
Audience:
Autistic black men, family members or/and partners to Black men.