The Power of Touch: The Sensate Focus Model in the Practice of Psychotherapy

Title of Event: The Power of Touch: The Sensate Focus Model in the Practice of Psychotherapy

Description of Event:

Why Sensate Focus?
When training to become a Sex Therapist, we are learning how to work with the intimate relationship between the body and the mind. Emotional states (some from the present, others carried from the past) follow us into the bedroom and play themselves out in our physiology. Day-to-day stress, deep trauma, attachment wounds, sociocultural factors, feelings of insecurity, “performance pressure,” and/or relational discord can all interfere with the unfolding of the arousal process and, in some cases, can lead to sexual discomfort, avoidance, or dysfunction. Sensate Focus aids the clinician in identifying these barriers to intimacy and embodiment and then engages them via touch exercises that are prescribed for the client to do at home. Each exercise builds on the next bringing the client(s) into closer contact with themselves, their partner(s) if present, sensation, learning, and possibility. The end result? Resolution of “sexual dysfunction;” greater ease in identifying and communicating sexual needs; a mindset of ongoing sexual curiosity, discovery, and expansion; and a more nuanced, intimate understanding of the dynamicism of our sexual selves and relationships.

Sensate Focus 20 Hour Competency Training:
The Competency Training, led by master educator and Certified Sex Therapist & Supervisor Paula Leech,  takes participants deeply into the philosophy and conceptual underpinnings of Sensate Focus as a diagnostic and treatment methodology. This kind of deep understanding is pivotal in confidently identifying and shaping the appropriate SF exercises for each client or relationship as well as feeling armed with the ability to thoroughly explain the “method to the madness” each step of the way.

This class counts toward AASECT Sex Therapy Skills Training: (A) Theory and methods of sex-related psychotherapy

Date of Event: 10/2-26-12/11/26

Time of Event: 12:00-4:00 PM ET

Location: Online synchronous (live-streaming)

Sexuality Counseling (SC) Training:

SC1. Theory and methods of personal/individual counseling.

Sex Therapy (ST) Training: 

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

Presenter/Speaker: Paula Leech, LMFT, CST, CSTS

Company/Organization Sponsor: Institute for Sexuality Education & Enlightenment

Contact Name: Amy Sallee

Contact Email: info@instituteforsexuality.com

Event Website: https://classes.instituteforsexuality.com/offers/HFvxkH7p/checkout

AASECT Approved CEs: 20