Special Interest Groups

AASECT Special Interest Groups (SIG) help you tap into the community and connect with like-minded members all year long. Please reach out to the listed leader below to join a group!

AASECT Gender Diverse Members

SIG Leader: Alex Iantaffi, PhD, MS, SEP, CST, CST-S, LMFT Google Group [1] - please only request membership if you are a Gender Diverse person.

GenderSIG@aasect.org [2]

Are you transgender and/or gender diverse (nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, bigender, etc.) or gender questioning? If yes, this is the SIG for you! Join us for collaborating, peer support, resource sharing, and a touch of activism. We have monthly virtual mirroring sessions, quarterly(ish) virtual full meetings, and a rockin Google Group for ongoing chat and needs. To join the group, please email or gendersig@aasect.org [3]. Looking forward to connecting with you.

Alternative (Alt.) Sex

SIG Leader: Fredrick Zal

AltsxSIG@aasect.org [4]

The professional forum of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists AltSex Special Interest Group. The Alternative Sexuality SIG is a space for members to ask and answer questions, share expertise, and share resources. Only Members in good standing of the AASECT may join this group.

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color)

SIG Leader: Mariotta Gary-Smith, MPH, CSE
Co-Lead: Dr. Bianca Laureano

BIPOCSIG@aasect.org [5]

The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) SIG is an intentionally curated space for AASECT members who identify as BIPOC (a non-White racial/ethnic identities of Black, Indigenous, Latino/x/a/e, Asian, Middle Eastern or another racialized cultural identity). While this is the newest iteration of the POC SIG, we honor the founding AASECT POC SIG members who created the space we now hold. The BIPOC SIG seeks to provide a brave and protected space for its members to share experiences, research and support with one another; to support networking opportunities; and to discuss the visibility and engagement of BIPOC identifying folks within and outside of AASECT.

Book Club

SIG Leader: Steve Ratcliff

BookclubSIG@aasect.org [6]

This SIG meets every other month and seeks to build community between the educators, counselors, and therapists of AASECT through the study and discussion of a diversity of books covering a broad array of topics in human sexuality.

Latine SIG

SIG Leaders: Jacqueline Mendez, MA, LMFT, CST, CSTS, and Juan Camarena, PhD, LMFT, LPCC, CST

latineSIG@aasect.org [7]

The Latine SIG is an intentionally curated space for AASECT members who identify as Latine/x/a/o. It offers a dedicated and protected environment where therapists, educators, and counselors can come together in community to share experiences, deepen connections, and support one another. This space centers the richness, diversity, and complexity of Latine identities across clinical, educational, and research contexts. Our purpose and goals are:

Provide a supportive and affirming community for Latine members within AASECT.
Provide space for Latine members navigating the dual demands of langauge and biculturalism in clinical, educational, and research contexts.
Create space to share culturally grounded practices, frameworks, and research that reflect the lived realities of Latine communities.

MAP

SIG Leaders: Jessica VerBout, M.A., LMFT, CST & Kristin Spooner, LICSW, CST

MAPSIG@aasect.org [8]

This AASECT SIG was created:

To help educate AASECT clinicians, educators, and others on the scope and diversity of the MAP population, and to ease biases or conflicts in professionals working with MAPS and the related issues this population may bring;
To further provide open, safe, and productive dialogue between MAPS and members of the AASECT community since such dialogue is almost non-existent in most if not all social science entities.
In establishing the above for AASECT professionals, foster and encourage research on MAP populations and their various subgroups, especially advocating for more research in the U.S. to further expand professional understanding of this marginalized population;
To establish relationships between AASECT educators, therapists, and the MAP community as a way to improve the mental and sexual health and wellbeing of MAPs.

Medical Sexology

SIG Leader: Daniel Rosen, LCSW-R, CST, CSTS

MedicalSIG@aasect.org [9]

This special interest group is a resource for AASECT members, from medical, mental health, educational, and other backgrounds, as a forum to share and discuss information regarding the medical aspects of sexual health and wellbeing. This includes sexual and reproductive functioning and development as well as the psycho-social-physiological factors of sexual disorders and concerns. The Medical Sexology SIG promotes education for members:

About medical treatments for sexual disorders including pain problems, sexual desire arousal and orgasm concerns.
About medical disorders (i.e. cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, menopause) and both their impact on sexual functioning and treatments to enhance sexual responsiveness.
Informing them as to who else outside of the AASECT community is doing this work, research and training.

We provide meet and greet events at the Annual Conference and online workshops for Medical SIG members as well as some for all AASECT members. We host a quarterly case conference for our members.

We encourage collaboration and contact between medical and behavioral health and education providers. We seek to grow this SIG into a dynamic resource for all AASECT members.

Military and Sexuality

SIG Leaders: Matthew Volker, LMHC, NCC, and Stephanie Green, LCSW

MilitarysxSIG@aasect.org [10]

The Military Sexuality SIG is created for the military and their partners/spouses to share strategies to relationships before deployment, as well as relationships returning from deployment. Resources regarding military and intimacy issues shared at annual Yellow Ribbon events will be shared and discussed.

Psychedelics and Sexuality

SIG Leader: Renée D. Burwell, LCSW, CSTS, CSE

PsychedelicSIG@aasect.org [11]

This special interest group is a resource for AASECT members interested in learning how psychedelic medicines can be incorporated in the healing and exploration of sexuality. Members will discuss ethical concerns and considerations in care when incorporating or integrating psychedelics in practice. This SIG will provide support, share resources, and a space to learn from each others experiences and wisdom.

Sacred Sexualities

SIG Leader: Raven O'Rourke, LCSW, MPH & Rachel E Keller, LCSW-C

sacredsexualitiesSIG@aasect.org [12]

Bring together AASECT members who are interested in Sacred Sexualities. Provide a forum for such members to discuss, explore, learn, and share their experiences practicing Sacred Sexualities. Network with other practitioners and learn what, where, and how others are teaching, educating, and researching new developments in these areas. Discuss ways the SIG can benefit AASECT members and the populations we serve. Currently, we are meeting 4-6 times a year, via Zoom.

Sexuality & Aging

SIG Leader: Melanie Davis, PhD, CSC, CSE, CSE-S

sexandagingSIG@aasect.org [13]

The mission of the AASECT Sexuality & Aging Special Interest Group is to enhance the sexual health, knowledge and well-being of people in mid- and later life by increasing the knowledge and skills of AASECT members who work with them and/or the professionals and caregivers who serve them. We do this by:

Providing a forum to share knowledge related to the intersections of sexuality, aging, and biopsychosocial factors
Networking with others working in or interested in this area of practice
Discussing ways the SIG can benefit AASECT members and the populations we serve
Hosting opportunities for continuing education

Sexuality Educators

SIG Leaders: Alicia Ricketts and Mystkue Woods

SexEDUSIG@aasect.org [14]

This SIG is for all sexuality educators, or people who consider sexuality education as part of their career description, who want to be a part of a community of other educators. This SIG will provide support, share resources, learn from each other’s experiences and wisdom, discuss the issues that are important to us as educators, emphasize the importance of our work, and create a voice that defines our roles separately from therapists and counselors.

Sexuality Disability Justice

SIG Leader: Laura Wolford, PhD, MS CCC-SLP, CSE and Dr. Bianca Laureano

DisabilityandSexSIG@aasect.org [15]

The mission of the AASECT Disability Justice Special Interest Group is to center the lived experiences and needs of disabled people in sex education and sexual wellbeing discussions. We seek to improve the accessibility of sex education and sexual health for all disabled people by accomplishing the following aims:

Providing a forum for members to share knowledge about disability, sexuality, and disability justice organizing
Organizing for accessibility within sex education, counselor, and therapy spaces
Hosting continuing education opportunities to improve AASECT members knowledge about disability and sexuality, as well as improving accessibility of their own practices

The AASECT Disability Justice Special Interest Group accomplishes these goals through:

Centering the experiences and needs of queer, trans, racially minoritized, and femme disabled people
Following the principles of disability justice as laid out by Sins Invalid, including leadership of those most impacted and commitment to cross-disability solidarity
Taking an intersectional perspective related to the confluences of ableism, white supremacy, and cisheteropatriarchy
Honoring the wholeness and worth of disabled people

Sexuality & Religion

SIG Leader: Jennifer Aull, MDiv, LMFT

ReligionSIG@aasect.org [16]

The Sexuality & Religion SIG provides a way for members to connect and actively engage with one another via an online platform and mobile app.

The mission of this group is to:

Promote religious competency among clinicians, counselors, and educators.
Encourage sex and sexuality training for clergy.
Facilitate networking among clinicians, counselors, and educators working with religious clients.
Offer events for religious clients to help foster healing and personal growth.

Somatic Intimacy Professionals

SIG Leaders: Brian Gibney and Michelle Renee

SomaticproSIG@aasect.org [17]

The Somatic Intimacy Professional (SIP) special interest group seeks to create a space for professionals who utilize intimate touch in their practice. These professionals may include, but are not limited to: surrogate partners, somatic sex and intimacy educators, clinical sexologists, and cuddilists. The goals of this SIG are to:

Create open dialogue among SIPs in order to discuss professional and ethical boundaries or each modality, especially with respect to work that intersects with other AASECT professionals.
Provide education to the larger therapeutic community regarding the theory, practice, and professional and ethical boundaries of various somatic intimacy professions.
Aid in informed policymaking with respect to the collaborative practice between SIPs and the broader therapeutic community.

Student

SIG Leaders: Vernice Puryear and Emily Morehead

studentSIG@aasect.org [18]

The Student SIG provides a way for student members to connect and actively engage with one another. This group serves as a forum to share and discuss information regarding the various aspects of navigating a range of academic programs.