KPACT Kink and Polyam Aware Chicago Therapists
Awareness, Professionalism, Advocacy, Compassion, Training.
You Asked, We Answered For years, KPACT therapists have used the private Google group to find referrals to other kink- and polyamory-affirming mental health practitioners but also when looking for informed and aware doctors, lawyers, massage therapists, physical therapists and others who are kink- and polyamory-affirming. KPACT therapists have wanted a professional directory where they […]
Our May KPACT presenter, carrie sarah kaufman, shared with us a poem she wrote on the intersection of kink, healing and disability. Ihave been so conditioned to give care if i want to receive it. Tobetray myself to meet my needs.Disabled,i have heardIam a burden in every relationship. WheelchairMommy with chronic pain Iknow the power in my vulnerabilityIknow the wisdom […]
Richard Sprott discusses the Kink Practice Guidelines Project and shares his best clinical practices. by Richard Sprott, Ph.D.For many years, therapists and counselors who worked closely with the BDSM/kink communities—on the front lines of helping people who are kink-identified or practicing BDSM—have often served in relative isolation. They have honed their clinical judgments and approaches, figuring […]
Hello, my name is Jen Rafacz and I am a co-lead on the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 44 Consensual Non-monogamy Task Force working on the Inclusive Demographic Forms Campaign. I am really excited to have been asked to write about this campaign…
Eli Sheff, PhD is a sociologist and researcher who has compiled the only longitudinal study on polyamorous relationships. For over 20 years, Dr. Sheff has followed, interviewed and published her findings about polyamorous families to gain and share perspective about what polyamory looks like, and how it affects people. On July 6th, Dr. Sheff joined […]
To be mindful is to be in a state of open, nonjudgmental awareness of whatever is happening in the present moment. With its roots in Buddhism and popularized in the Western world by John Kabat-Zinn and others, mindfulness has been used to support clients in a variety of contexts as they work toward improving their mental and physical health.
by Worner Leland, MS, BCBA, of Upswing Advocates As a clinician, it is important to build competency in transgender care, but it may be difficult to know where to start. In our last blog we presented some gender-affirming clinical skills you can incorporate into your practice. Here are some additional skills to best serve your […]
by Elisabeth A. Sheff Ph.D., CASA, CSE This fifth and final blog in the series on children in polyamorous families focuses on custody. The first looked at age-dependent experiences and why the kids are in such great shape, and the second detailed some of the advantages and disadvantages in polyam family life. Third in the series […]
by Worner Leland, MS, BCBA, of Upswing Advocates Whether someone thinks a lot about their gender or has never given their gender identity much thought, everyone has a gender identity. Cisgender means: having a gender identity that matches the gender assigned to one at birth (from the Latin prefix “cis” meaning “on this side of”). […]
by Elisabeth A. Sheff Ph.D., CASA, CSE In this fourth part of the series on children in polyamorous families I offer a sneak peek into my preliminary findings from my ongoing research on polyam families with kids. Part one explains the age-dependent experiences that children experience in polyamorous families, part two of this series explores the advantages […]
This is the fourth in a series of articles about the intersections of polyamorous identities and psychotherapy, adapted from Rami Henrich and Cindy Trawinski’s article in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, “Social and therapeutic challenges facing polyamorous clients,” as well as supplemental materials that didn’t make it into the final research paper. In this installment, we […]
by Elisabeth A. Sheff Ph.D., CASA, CSE This is the third in a series of blogs on children in polyamorous families. The first looked at the age dependent experiences of children in polyamorous families and why they appear to be doing so well, and the second detailed the advantages and disadvantages these children identified in polyam family life. Third in […]
