Description
Book SynopsisThis book aims to equip mental health professionals to integrate discussions of sexual identity, health, wellness, and intimacy into the scope of their client's mental health, ensuring they are well-prepared to incorporate sexual functioning into core assessment, interventions, and treatment.
We exist in societies that are scared to discuss sexual health, identity, and relationships, and the stigma surrounding these topics saturates our mental health professions. Sex, intimacy, and sexual identity have historically been relegated as specialized topics when training new clinicians, which has led to professionals feeling unable and unskilled to speak about a core part of their client's psychological, biological, physical, and relational health. Viewing this as a social justice issue, this book addresses a movement in the counseling field to incorporate sexual health into therapy as well as providing new ways of foundational teaching. Chapters begin exploring the history of sex t
Trade Review
"Sex, Social Justice, and Intimacy in Mental Health Practice identifies the lack of sexual health education in graduate school training programs as a social justice issue. The author challenges the mental health field to create greater access to sexual health services, services that have historically been reserved only for the privileged. Sharing information, cases, and activities from her years of work as both a clinician/sex therapist and an educator, Martinez-Gilliard offers a comprehensive guide to sexual health competency that is a must for any training program wanting to prepare its students to meet the holistic needs of clients and to create a healthier society."
Prem Pahwa, LMSW, CST; Director of The University of Michigan Sexual Health Certificate Program
"In a world where mental health is often seen as completely separate from sexuality, this book opens to the door, welcoming mental health professionals towards recognizing sexuality and supportive treatment of such as a crucial part of practice. Bridging previous work across sexuality, psychology, social work, and other allied fields, Erin Martinez-Gilliard offers an intentional and compassionate guide to everything from building rapport that allows for talk about sexuality to diagnosing sexual challenges, plus a bevy of potential tools and intervention options alongside case studies to support a deeper understanding of how to utilize them."
Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE, ACS; Associate Professor, University of Michigan; Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs
Table of Contents1. The Social Injustice of Specialization 2. Make Room for Yourself 3. Introducing the Topic with Teenagers and Families: Boundaries and Ethical Considerations 4. What Could Go Wrong? 5. Collaborative Assessment Strategies 6. Trauma and Sexual Difficulties 7. Diagnosis and Sexual Difficulties 8. Guiding Clients to Good Enough Intimacy: Medical Difficulties/Diagnosis, Disabilities and Sexuality 9. Stigma, Societal Messages and Sexual Difficulty 10. Helping Create a New Normal: Addiction, Substance Use and Sex 11. Biopsychosocial Treatment Approaches 12. Honoring the Diversity of Sexual Expression 13. Aging and Sexual Transition 14. Networking, Resources, Referrals, and Coordination of Care 15. The Road Forward
