KPACT Kink and Polyam Aware Chicago Therapists
Awareness, Professionalism, Advocacy, Compassion, Training.
by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. No one is immune from bias, not even us therapists! Everyone has bias. Therapist bias takes many forms, especially with regards to clients’ sexuality, gender, erotic orientation, etc… Bias ranges from misinformed opinions about BDSM to confusing polyamory with infidelity to other subtle perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. Bias is a part […]
by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. Bias influences all of us — even therapists. In fact, one 2011 study indicates that as many as 50% of clients identifying as polyamorous had seen therapists that they felt lacked cultural competency or were biased. Meanwhile, a 2006 study by Drs. Keely Kolmes, Wendy Stock, and Charles Moser found that […]
by Kate Koester, LCPC Recently, as a way to express his gratitude for deep and vulnerable sharing in a group, a friend of mine spoke these words, in the Lakota language — “Mitakuye Oyasin,” — meaning “we are all related,” or similarly understood as “we are one.” The effect it had on me was visceral […]
by Rami Henrich, LCSW What do you think of when you hear the word marginalization? People living in poverty, persons of color, those who do not share fully in the privileges some of us are enjoying these days? I would say yes to all of the above, and would include a list that would be […]
by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. “Otherness, taken seriously, always invites transformation, calling us not only to new facts and theories and values but also to new ways of living our lives – and that is the most daunting threat of all.” Today, I came across this quote about the quintessential dilemma that difference and diversity pose, […]
by Rami Henrich, LCSW So often in my practice I hear complaints about differing levels of libido in partners. One partner has more interest and desire than the other. What to do? I have to say that frequently I don’t have the answer. That is, I think to myself, “Ok, you want to have a lot of sex […]
by Rami Henrich, LCSW In the last post I started speaking about identity…something I have thought about quite a bit. I’d like to tell you a bit about myself and my struggle with my own polyamorous identity. As I mentioned previously, I have been in a polyam relationship for close to 30 years. Naturally, prior […]
by Rami Henrich, LCSW “Polyamory is an identification that mirrors LGBTQ identification in the sense that it is not something I can control, squash, or stop. I did not make a decision to do this. It is not something that I can stop.“ That’s what Helen said when I interviewed her for a research project in 2011. […]
