Talking About Sex in Session: From BDSM to Inclusive Sexual Scripts

Event Description

Sexuality is often shaped by inherited scripts, messages from family, culture, media, and society, that limit how people understand intimacy, power, and pleasure. For many, these scripts create shame, silence, or stigma, especially around practices such as BDSM or identities that fall outside traditional norms. Clinicians are uniquely positioned to help clients re-examine these narratives and create more empowering, inclusive, and authentic sexual scripts of their own.

In this event, Dr. Joshua Morrison and Dr. Seema Saigal will offer complementary perspectives on sexuality in the therapy room. Dr. Morrison will share insights from his dissertation, Non-Pathologizing Theories of BDSM Etiology, which reframes BDSM as a diverse, non-pathological expression of intimacy and identity. Dr. Saigal will discuss practical ways therapists can open conversations about sex, sexuality, and intimacy, including strategies for working with individuals and couples to re-write limiting sexual scripts.

Presenters

Dr. Joshua Morrison, PsyD, is a licensed…