Clinical Perspectives on Kink: Mismatched Desires

Title of Event: Clinical Perspectives on Kink: Mismatched Desires

Description of Event:

This workshop focuses on what happens in relationships when partners are out of sync in their erotic lives, whether one partner is kinky and the other is not, or both are kinky in very different ways. Sexual desire discrepancy is one of the most common concerns couples bring to therapy and is strongly linked to distress in both sexual and relational satisfaction (Dewitte et al., 2020; Rosen et al., 2017; Jodouin et al., 2021). Rather than locating the problem in the partner with less desire or less interest in kink, this program treats desire discrepancy as a relational process shaped by attachment, communication, power, culture, and the meanings each partner assigns to sex and kink. Grounded in current research on desire discrepancy and relationship satisfaction, the workshop will explore how couples navigate differences in sexual and affectionate desire over time and what strategies they actually use to manage those gaps in real life (Clark et al., 2024). We will then bring this work into kink specific contexts, including situations where one partner wants to explore kink, the other feels hesitant, or both are kinky in very different ways.

Date of Event: June 4, 2026

Time of Event: 9am-12pm PT / 11am-2pm CT / 12-3pm ET

Location: Online through Zoom and Recorded

Sexuality Education (SE) Training:

SE4. Theory and methods of approaches to sexuality education with specific populations (e.g., youth, older adults, couples, ethnic/ cultural/ faith-based populations, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities).

Sex Therapy (ST) Training: 

ST1. Theory and methods of sex-related psychotherapy, including several different models.

Presenter/Speaker: Yulinda Renee Rahman, PhD in Clinical Sexology: Therapeutic Modality Creator, Program Developer, Educator, Researcher, LCPC

Contact Name: Office of CE at The Chicago School

Contact Email: officeofce@thechicagoschool.edu

Event Website: https://tcsppofficeofce.com/june_4_2026/

AASECT Approved CEs: 3.0