Helping Couples Bridge the Gap Between Erotic Differences

Title of Event: Helping Couples Bridge the Gap Between Erotic Differences

Description of Event:

This training will provide clinicians with a clear, balanced framework for working with couples who experience differences in sexual interests, erotic preferences, fantasy, novelty, kink, BDSM, or comfort with exploration. Participants will be introduced to foundational terminology, including kink, BDSM, fetish interests, fantasy, vanilla sexuality, power exchange, and consent, while learning how to distinguish consensual erotic diversity from pathology, coercion, or abuse. The training will also examine how shame, secrecy, disclosure injuries, cultural and religious messages, gender expectations, and attachment dynamics can shape the way couples understand and respond to sexual differences.

The course will emphasize practical clinical tools for helping couples talk about erotic differences with more safety, clarity, and compassion. Participants will learn strategies for reducing shame and pressure, validating both partners, exploring the meaning beneath specific interests, and supporting communication around fantasy, preference, identity, boundaries, and consent. Interventions will include Yes/No/Maybe lists, erotic mapping, sensate-focus-informed approaches, and clinical assessment of whether differences are flexible, negotiable, or potentially non-compatible. Special attention will be given to avoiding both pathologizing and coercive normalization, recognizing when additional support or referral may be needed, and helping couples make honest, emotionally safe decisions about what is workable in their relationship.

Date of Event: August 10th, 2026

Time of Event: 10:00 AM EDT -1:00 PM EDT

Location: Online Synchronous

Sex Therapy (ST) Training:

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

ST3. Theory and methods of approach to intervention in relationship systems experiencing sex and intimacy problems.,

ST7. Practicum Experience: Exposure to treatment of clinical sex therapy cases through direct observation, demonstration, case review or role-playing. eLearning cannot be applied. Applicants must be very clear in their documentation as to how they gained exposure to sex therapy cases.

Presenter/Speaker: Mindy Noe, LCSW

Contact Name: Raiza Queen Calda Enriquez

Contact Email: office@rivkasidorsky.com

Event Website: https://rivkasidorsky.org/workshops/HelpingCouples2026/view

AASECT Approved CEs: 3