SSSS Western Region 2009
Sexual Ontogeny: A Lifelong Work in Progress
Abstracts
SATURDAY, May 9 - Plenary
8:45 am
Middle-aged male sexuality-Viagra falls
Michael Castleman, MA, Author
A decade after Viagra took the world by storm, sales of Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra have gone flaccid. The reasons shed new light on a subject rarely discussed before Viagra's approval-older men's sexuality. Pundits predicted that older men would flock to erection drugs. But only 10 percent of men over 50 have even tried erection drugs, let alone refilled prescriptions. This plenary explores why. Reasons for not refilling prescriptions include: lack of effectiveness, side effects, the fact that the drugs are not aphrodisiacs, and the fact that the drugs don't repair damaged relationships. Why do so few older men even try erection drugs? Because after 50, sex evolves away from intercourse. Older couples no longer need erections, nor drugs that facilitate them. Older men learn that erection is not necessary for orgasm, that quality lovemaking depends less on erection than on whole-body sensuality, and that even with lubricants, intercourse is often uncomfortable for older women. As a result, many older couples opt for sex without intercourse-so they don't need erections. How ironic that it has taken drugs entirely focused on erection and intercourse to show the world that older lovers move beyond them.
SATURDAY, May 9
4:00 - 4:30 pm
Aging Lesbians' Needs and Priorities: Results of an Online Survey
Paige Averett, PhD; & Carol Jenkins, PhD
This presentation will present the findings of an online survey that was conducted with older lesbians. Utilizing a feminist orientation the authors call attention to this understudied population and the, at minimum, triple threat of marginalization that can occur for older lesbians. To fill one of the many gaps in the literature, the study is a national online survey of lesbians over the age of 55 (n= 353) that included questions about health care, social services, social relationships, family relationships, sexuality, health, issues of discrimination, the aging experience and needs for the future. The call for participants was posted on numerous lesbian and aging websites as well as announced through various relevant list-servs. The survey was based upon Kehoe's (1989) questionnaire and Sue Dibble's (n.d.) survey of African American lesbians and was finalized by the leadership of the online community, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. The survey provided the opportunity for both quantitative and qualitative responses. The focus of this presentation will be on the results in regards to sexuality, which includes topics such as coming out, orientation, sexual behaviors, romantic/sexual relationships. The strengths and resiliencies of the participants will be discussed, as well as the policy implications.
FRIDAY, May 8
1:30 - 2:00 pm
The Political Necessity of Nuance in Rape and Sex Offender Discourse
Breanne Fahs, PhD
This paper explores the clinical, psychological, social, and legal importance of nuance in rape and sex offender discourse by asking the following key question: How do our current definitions of "rape" and "sex offending" obscure the degree of severity of these acts, both for the perpetrator and for the victim(s), and why does this matter? To address this question, I will consider two phenomena-women refusing to label coercive sex acts as "rape", and the increase in arrests and convictions of male "sex offenders" who have not yet committed crimes-as examples of why we must nuance our linguistic, legal, and social understanding of rape and sex offending, particularly as it relates to the construction of young women's sexuality. Drawing on clinical case material, legal battles in the United States, social battles between French intellectuals and the French government (as a key example), and feminist theory, I will outline the various benefits, particularly for social justice, that we might see from shifting our relationship to rape and sex offending discourse.
FRIDAY, May 8
11:15 - 11:45 am
Sexual Literacy: A Framework for Discussing Transmasculine Indentity
Richard Garcia, BA, San Francisco State University
This project demonstrates how sexual literacy can be used as a framework when designing research. I will discuss my proposed project, which is to conduct one- on- one semi-structured interviews with FTM (female to male) transgender persons over age 18 about sex, sexuality, and gender throughout the transitioning process, by using a sexual literacy framework. This presentation will illustrate how a sexual literacy framework emphasizes sexuality as it develops through the lifespan. Specific attention will be paid to fluidity, and how relational, cultural, and physical aspects are involved. Also, this research framework discusses the importance of positive aspects of sex and sexuality, like pleasure and desire, rather than solely disease prevention or a medical model. The implications for using sexual literacy as a framework when designing a research project involve a reexamination of the way work with populations previously described as 'marginalized' or 'vulnerable' is conducted.
SUNDAY, May 10
9:00 - 9:30 am
Finding Voice: A Sex Education Curriculum for Adolescent Girls
Elizabeth Greenblatt, MPHc, San Francisco State University
This study investigates how sexual pleasure and desire are addressed in sexuality education curricula and how young women communicate sexual desire. The study was conducted to inform a new sexuality curriculum which explicitly addresses sexual pleasure. I conducted individual and group interviews with 12 sexuality educators from community-based organizations and three health teachers from private girls' schools. I also conducted two focus groups with 24 adolescent girls recruited through Planned Parenthood. Adolescent subjects ranged in ages (between 16 and 20) and race/ethnicities (50% white, 17% African American, 17% Latina and 17% unknown). Focus group questions focused on girls' experiences talking about sexual pleasure/desire. Data was recorded during interviews and focus groups in note form and was analyzed thematically. The main themes discovered were: 1) sexual pleasure and desire are insufficiently covered in sex education and 2) adolescent girls need safe spaces to discuss desire and pleasure openly.
FRIDAY, May 8
2:00 - 2:30 pm
Brief Sexual Encounters: Embodying Oppression and Resistance
Darrel Higa, PhD, University of Washington
Little is known about the lived experiences and meanings of anonymous sex from participants' perspectives. Using embodiment and strengths perspectives, the aim of this study was to understand these experiences and meanings using a narrative approach. The data originated from a study where 17 men were interviewed about their anonymous sexual experiences. Two interviews were analyzed using a holistic-content framework. "Tim" was Caucasian and HIV-positive while "Westin" was Asian and HIV-negative. The findings indicated both the flexibility and consistency of sexuality over time, and suggested that brief sexual encounters were both remnants of, and resistances to oppression. Tim's narratives possibly reflected internalized homophobia while Westin's stories hinted at embodied racism. Understanding a person's story as a whole and seeing how linkages between subjectivity and oppression become embodied reduces the tendency to blame individuals for current behaviors, and increases the capacity for empathy. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.
FRIDAY, May 8
11:15 - 11:45 am
Stressors and Strengths of Sexual Minority Youth
Darrel Higa, PhD, University of Washington
Previous research indicates that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth are at greater risk for health and mental health related problems compared to heterosexual youth. Less is known about the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors that create these health and mental health disparities. Moreover, few research studies on LGBTQ youth have included constructs and models that also focus on their strengths and resiliencies. Using IRB-approved recruitment methods, we recruited youth from LGBTQ youth groups across Washington State that varied in size and availability of LGBTQ services to participate in focus groups and individual interviews. A total of 68 youth participated in the study. Researchers analyzed the data using a consensual methods approach. Results will identify the factors that contribute to the vulnerabilities and resiliencies of LGBTQ youth, and will provide new directions for future research and intervention.
FRIDAY, May 8
3:00 - 3:30 pm
Consistencies among the Features of Sexual Orientation
Julia Mackaronis, BA; Donald Strassberg, PhD, University of Utah
The present study explored the degree of consistency between an individual's self-identified categorical sexual orientation (heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual) and three dimensions of orientation (sexual behavior, sexual fantasy, and romantic attraction), and whether this consistency varied as a function of gender, categorical orientation, and orientation dimension. Retrospective ratings of categorical sexual orientation as well as ratings of sexual behavior, sexual fantasy, and romantic attraction were provided by 566 men and 409 women (491 heterosexual, 156 bisexual, 328 homosexual). Associations between the categorical and dimensional ratings were computed for the time period age 31-35. We found that (1) self-identified categorical sexual orientation was rarely completely consistent with the various dimensions of orientation, and (2) the degree of consistency among these elements varied as a function of sex, categorical orientation, and dimension of orientation.
SUNDAY, May 10
8:30-9:00 am
Infant and Child Sexuality: Love's First Steps
Remi Newman, MA, Sexuality Educator, Private Practice
From the moment they are born, infants are learning about their bodies, learning how to love and who to trust. They are developing one of the most significant aspects of their personality-their sexuality (Moglia & Knowles, 1997). Yet what do we as sexologists know about this early development? Most sexuality educators are working with school age children and adults, and often when someone begins sex therapy they have already reached adulthood, therefore the infant and toddler years may be overlooked. There is also a lack of scientific and sociological data on child sexuality due to the unwillingness to fund such research (Martinson, 1994; Money, 1999). The presenter will review the research done since the 1970s on infant and child sexuality and discuss implications for sexuality educators, researchers and therapists.
FRIDAY, May 8
2:30 - 3:00 pm
Feminism and Pornography: Building Sensitive Research and Analytic Approaches
Natalie Purcell, MA, MPA, University of California, Santa Cruz
This paper uses the experience of the UCSC Feminism and Pornography Research Cluster to reflect on the methodological and theoretical orientation of existing research on pornography, sexual violence, and freedom of sexual expression. With an eye toward building critical yet sensitive research agendas and stronger dialogues across difference, the paper interrogates how feminists have examined and talked about pornography, and how their personal stakes and emotional investments in the topic have shaped what gets studied or ignored, how findings are interpreted and reported, and how pornography researchers and activists communicate or fail to communicate with one another. The history of the sex wars and the contemporary stakes of pornography research indicate that relating responsibly with fellow researchers, subjects, and interested publics will demand attentive engagement with the multidimensional and multidirectional suffering caused by the sex wars, by pornography, and by its repression.
SATURDAY, May 9
4:30 - 5:00 pm
Heterosexual Receptive Anal Intercourse (HRAI) Reported by Women in Los Angeles County
Grace L. Reynolds, DPA, Dennis Fisher, PhD, & Lucy Napper, PhD, California State University, Long Beach
Background: Heterosexual receptive anal intercourse is an understudied behavior in adult women.
Methods: The 2004 Los Angeles Countywide Risk Assessment Survey (CRAS) was administered to 2126 participants (682 female). Respondents included women who reported engaging in heterosexual anal sex (HRAI) (n=149) and those who did not (NoHRAI) (n=533); the modal age was 19 years.
Results: The majority of women reporting HRAI in this sample were of Hispanic/Latina ethnicity (73/149; 49%). Bivariate analysis revealed women who report HRAI are more likely to use all drugs listed on the CRAS (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, crystal methamphetamine, crack, LSD, GHB, Ecstasy, heroin, other opiates, and speedball compared to women who did not report HRAI. The HRAI women reported main and other sexual partners, but reported negative attitudes towards condom use with other partners.
Conclusion: More research is needed to identify characteristics of women engaging in HRAI, and the event-level contexts in which HRAI occurs.
FRIDAY, May 8
3:00 - 3:30 pm
Sexually Explicit Cell Phone Video/Picture Communication
Jordan Rullo, MS, University of Utah
The present study focused on deriving at least a preliminary sense of the prevalence of the transfer (via cell phone) of sexually explicit videos/pictures among high school students. We surveyed recently graduated high school students. Participants were asked four questions concerning their experience with sexually explicit cell phone communications. Results revealed that 13% of men and 18% of women we surveyed had sent a picture of their genitals (or breasts, if female) to someone else's cell phone; 9% of men and 2% of women had sent a picture they took of someone else's genitals (or breasts) to a third person's cell phone; 40% of men and 26% of women had received a picture of someone else's genitals (or breasts) on their cell phone; and 17% of men and 3% of women had forwarded a picture they received of someone else's genitals (or breasts) to a third person's cell phone.
FRIDAY, May 8
1:30 - 2:00 pm
Introduction of the Multi-Dimensional Sexual Esteem Scale
Kathleen Scoggin, MA, San Francisco State University
No measure currently exists to measure self-esteem related to sexuality that addresses the varied and different facets of sexuality and is designed to be used with more than one population. This presentation introduces the Multi-dimensional Sexual Esteem Scale (MDSES) which assesses overall sexual self-esteem and breaks down into subscales addressing major components of esteem related to sexuality. The MDSES was created through online surveys administered to SFSU psychology undergraduate students as well as the general Internet using population advertised via popular social networking sites including facebook.com, livejournal.com, and craigslist.org. Using factor analysis and hierarchical linear modeling, preliminary data reveals several domains of sexual esteem relevant across genders, sexual orientations, and other demographic groups. The study also establishes base means for different demographic populations and compares MDSES to established related scales as a preliminary look at construct validity.
FRIDAY, May 8
10:15 - 11:15 am
From Strangers to Spouses: An Investigation of Relationship Status and Sexual Arousal
Christina Scott, PhD, Angelberto Cortez, Jr., BA, Vanessa M. Snyder, BA, & Jacob Voogd, BA, St. Mary's College of California
Two separate studies examined sexual arousal responses in four hundred and twenty-five male and female undergraduates at a Catholic liberal arts college. Sexual narratives were designed to be "equally appealing" to men and women by including a clear relationship and mutual sexual enjoyment between characters. Study One explored responses to sexually explicit versus suggestive narratives and Study Two focused on a explicit narrative, in which the characters were either in a married, committed, or one-night stand relationship. Participants in both studies completed pre and post-test measures of sexual arousal. In Study One, women reported a significant arousal from pre-test to post-test for both the suggestive and explicit narratives, while only men in the explicit condition reported a significant change in arousal level. Although no significant difference between relationship status was found in Study Two, both men and women demonstrated a significant increase in sexual arousal levels across all conditions.
FRIDAY, May 8
2:00 - 2:30 pm
Mating Strategies: What Personal Ads Tell Us about What Men and Women Really Want
Don Strassberg, PhD, & Brittany English, BA, University of Utah
Over 15 years ago, we created four equivalent (except for a few words) female seeking male (FSM) ads and placed them on free Internet personal ad sites. The ads were as follows: a control ad, an ad in which the writer described herself as lovely...very attractive and slim, another describing her as sensual and passionate, and a fourth in which she's self-described as financially independent...successful [and] ambitious. Contrary to our prediction, the ad describing the financially independent/successful/ambitious woman, and not one describing the slim/very attractive woman, produced, by far, the most responses. In the present study, we replicated our earlier design using the same four FSM ads. This time, the ad describing the slim/very attractive woman produced the most responses. Of four male seeking female ads also placed, the one describing an accomplished attorney produced the most responses, beating out the ad where the man describes himself as good looking.
SUNDAY, May 10
9:30-10:00 am
College Students Mentoring At-Risk High School Students
Dani Sumner & Kate Boyer, California State University, Monterey Bay
Positive Outcomes for Successful Teens through Planning, Outreach, Needs Assessment, and Education (POSTPONE) addresses the need to reduce the rate of teen pregnancies among local high schools within special populations. California State University of Monterey Bay (CSUMB) acts as a resource providing college students the opportunity to work as educators with high school students. The POSTPONE program was initiated by the Counseling Center at CSUMB. College students are required to participate in one of the service learning site programs recommended to them within their subject concentration. The POSTPONE program is designed to target the most important aspects of sexual education. The concentration consists of human development, healthy relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, society, and culture. POSTPONE provides a more extensive foundation to sexually healthy behaviors, is facilitated by college students, and is unique in comparison to the average health science education classes in most high schools.
FRIDAY, May 8
10:15 - 11:15 am
Fellow Travelers: A Pictorial History of the American Radical Faerie Movement, 1979-2008
Mark Thompson, MA, Author, Cofounder of Black Leather Wings
This presentation will define the faerie movement, recount some of its highlights and pitfalls, and discuss how it has grown over the past three decades, from the mud ritual in the Arizona desert to the leather faeries of today. This lecture will be accompanied by an unique collection of snapshots all taken by the author. There will be an opportunity for audience questions. The author has recently published the first ever book documenting the radical faerie movement in America, entitled "Fellow Travelers."
FRIDAY, May 8
2:30 - 3:00 pm
It's like wanting a sweet juicy orange and when you bite it it's sour: Situation Affect and Condom Use
Danielle Young, MA; Brandi Schmeling, MA, University of Hawaii
Though intentionality (stated intent to use a condom) remains one of the most reliable predictors of condom use, a recent meta-analysis showed the correlation between intention and condom use to be less than .5. This suggests that disregarding situational affect creates an "intentionality gap," or the space between what intention and behavior. The current study gathered qualitative data from an internet sample (N= 264) to investigate situational barriers to condom use. Using an open-ended question about a time participants intended to use a condom but did not, responses were solicited to investigate situational barriers to condom use. Almost all participants described some form of situational barrier regarding condom use. Grounded theory analysis produced four major themes: arousal/heat of the moment, alcohol, availability, and other forms of birth control. Discussion suggests that situational factors must be accounted for in future theoretical and applied research.
See the final program for specific times.
CE focus: general
Film fest.
Winston Wilde, DHS, private practice.
The films that are presented, in part, or in whole, provide the participant with new or added information to enhance best practices in therapy and/or education. The items were selected for their relevance, and currency. At the end of this session, participants will be able to provide a description of how a film section may be used to enhance professional practice or education.
Specific films and related information:
"Annie Sprinkle's Amazing World of Orgasm" 2004. 57 minutes. Get ready for an entertaining and eyegasmic journey with Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D, the porn star turned transmedia artist and sexologist. The film, directed by Annie Sprinkle and Sheila Malone, features interviews with twenty-six "orgasm experts" from various walks of life. The interviews are intercut and layered with a lively collage of archival film clips, sexual imagery, and special effects. The soundtrack includes original music and soundscape by Sheila Malone.
"Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision" 2008. 70 minutes. Cut is about male circumcision from an Orthodox Jewish surgeon's point of view. Cut is a documentary film by Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon which examines the subject of male circumcision from a religious, scientific and ethical perspective. Using cutting-edge research, in addition to interview footage of rabbis, philosophers, and scientists, Cut challenges the viewer to confront their biases by asking difficult questions about this long-standing practice.
"Harsh Beauty" 2005. 54 minutes, Hindi with English subtitles. Alessandra Zeka. Existing as they have for centuries, the eunuchs (hijra) are considered the third gender, neither men nor women. Harsh Beauty follows over a four year period the lives of Jyothi, Usha and hira bai, three very different eunuchs who live openly as women, and want to be accepted for what they truly believe themselves to be. This documentary uses a verite' approach, creating intimate and personal accounts of their lives. Set against the vibrant energy of the Indian metropolis of Mumbai, Harsh Beauty takes a glance into a society rarely seen and often misunderstood. This exquisite film includes footage from the hijra annual Koovagam festival, and a puja ceremony.
"Different From the Others" 1919 (restored 2004). 50 minutes, silent with English intertitles. One of the first gay-themed films in the history of cinema, Different From The Others was banned at the time of its release, later burned by the Nazis and was believed lost for more than forty years. Using recently discovered film segments, still photos and censorship documents from different archives, Filmmuseum Muenchen has resurrected this truly groundbreaking silent film. Co-produced and cameo appearance by Magnus Hirschfeld. Fictional account of gay life in Germany between the world wars.
Transgender shorts:
"Harry Benjamin, M.D. 1885-1986" 2007. 13 minutes. Mark Schoen. Documentary on pioneer of transsexual identity Dr. Harry Benjamin, author of the groundbreaking book "The Transsexual Phenomenon" who died at 101. A three hour memorial service at the New York Academy of Medicine was taped and edited, some of the speakers being John Money, Christine Jorgenson, Richard Green, Renee Richards, and many others. This is a unique opportunity to see and hear these prominent sexologists share their memories and perspectives of Dr. Harry Benjamin.
"XXXY" 2000. 18 minutes. Porter Gale and Laleh Soomekh. Documentary on intersex folk. In this short documentary, Kristi Bruce and Howard Devore, both born intersex, talk eloquently and straightforwardly about their experience of a medical model based upon shame, secrecy, and forced "normalization." Physician Jorge Daaboul (Director of Pediatric Endocrinology at Oakland Children's Hospital in California) joins their call for an end to secrecy and mutilating genital surgery on intersex children.
"Binary Bathrooms" 2004. Paris. 10 minutes. Student documentary researching discrimination faced by gender variant individuals, particularly accessing public restrooms. Features interviews with several transpeople regarding their experiences. Discusses a solution to the problem: gender neutral bathrooms.
"Trannymals Go To Court" 2007. 12 minutes. Dylan Vade and Abe Bernard. Since most court cases involving transgender people discuss genitals at great length, the filmmakers thought it appropriate that these genitals should speak for themselves. "Trannymals" is a fairy tale with a cast of eight fierce and fiery talking genitals who expose harmful legal practices, speak up for gender self-identification, and spread unapologetic tranny pride. Very politically au currant, and extremely hilarious.
Thursday, May 7 - PreCon A
1:00 - 4:00 pm
3 hours CE
Focus: general
Neuroscience & Human Sexuality
Lucy L. Brown, PhD; Dept. of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
This session will explore what can be learned from neuroscience about human relationships and sexuality. Dr. Brown will present what is known about brain imaging studies of emotion and cognition, discuss the major brain systems involved in lust, romantic love, and attachment, and how they were discovered. At the end of the session, participants will be able to 1. explain how brain imaging studies are being used to further the study of human sexuality; 2. identify the brain systems that are involved in long-term romantic love relationships; 3. explain the current thinking in the role that sex frequency plays in maintaining love relationships.
Thursday, May 7 - PreCon B
1:00 - 4:00 pm
3 hours CE
Focus: Therapy
Pain and Sex: A Physical Therapist's Perspective
Elizabeth McBride, MSPT, Private Practice
This session will cover the etiology and pathophysiology of pelvic floor dysfunction. The components of a physical therapy evaluation and treatment plan will be explained through videos, photos, and illustration of manual techniques. At the en of the session, participants will be able to: 1. identify patients who will benefit from physical therapy; 2. identify how to find specialize pelvic floor physical therapists; 3. explain how to work in a multidisciplinary team to maximize patient outcomes.
Thursday, May 7 - Presidential Plenary
(7-7:30 is opening remarks)
7:30 - 8:30 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: General
Sexual Ontogeny
Carol Rinkleib Ellison, PhD, SSSS WR President, Private Practice
This session will consider the multi-dimensionality of that aspect of self we call sexuality and present an overview of the development of sexuality as a lifelong work in progress. Informed by the Ellison/Zilbergeld Survey of more than 2,600 women, Dr. Ellison will discuss how we experience and express our sexualities as we move through our lives. With an emphasis on sexual self-acceptance, she will consider how we attempt to solve the mysteries of sex and sexuality, the role of shame, influences of attachment and our families of origin, changes in contexts and behaviors over time, and the uniqueness of individual experience. At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify four different dimensions of sexuality that change over the lifespan.
Friday, May 8 - Plenary
8:45 - 9:45 am
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Behavioral Messages For Youth To Prevent Pregnancy and STD: What Should They Be?
Douglas Kirby, PhD, Education, Training and Research Associates
Currently many sex education programs emphasize abstinence and condoms or other forms of contraception for youth who do have sex. However, these emphases are inadequate and there are other behaviors that have a large impact on STD risk. Dr. Kirby will review the content of current message, their impact on pregnancy rates and their limitations. He will identify additional behaviors that need to be targeted to reduce STD risk that are largely ignored by programs. He will identify criteria for effective messages and recommendations for different organizations promoting them. At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify three additional behaviors that need to be targeted to reduce STD risk among youth.
Friday, May 8
10:15 - 11:15 am
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Gay Male Psychosocial Development: A New Model of Eight Tasks and Challenges Across the Lifespan
Daniel Alonzo, PsyD; Phillips Graduate Institute
There have been numerous attempts in the professional literature to examine the stages of identity development as a gay man acknowledges his sexual orientation. However, the literature has not included a continuous psychosocial model that describes the tasks and challenges that gay men face across the entire life span. This session reviewed the existing literature and interviewed experts in the community to arrive at an original, cohesive, psychosocial model of milestone tasks and challenges encountered by gay men throughout their lives. This model describes a flexible framework that can be applied to gay men across different life circumstances, cultural variables, generational changes, and individual trajectories. The purpose of this new framework is to serve as a non-pathologizing description of gay male experiences and gay male sexuality, a useful guide for researchers and clinicians as they work to understand the significant markers in a gay man's life. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe the psychosocial model of eight milestone tasks encountered by gay men throughout their lives.
Friday, May 8
1:30 - 2:30 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: therapy
New Perspectives On Sex Therapy & Sexual Evolution
Stella Resnick, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice, Beverly Hills, California
The sex drive is affected by the developmental challenges of each age period. Yet, traditional sex therapy is based on a model of normative sex and a standard of functioning and performance that often neglects the evolutionary opportunities of fulfilling sexual expression across the lifespan. This session begins by reviewing modern evolutionary perspectives, what constitutes an evolutionary model for sexual health and healing, and how significant age-related developmental challenges impact sex. It examines the evolutionary perspectives of attachment research that sheds light on the sex drive and contrasts this model with traditional concepts like lovemaps and the human sexual response cycle. It concludes with implications for a more comprehensive sex therapy that focuses on response to emotional and physical stress; how unresolved family attachments transfer to, and inhibit sexual desire for, a mate; and how reframing sex therapy, not as problem-oriented but as personal sexual evolution is particularly effective. At the end of this session participants will be able to identify how unsolved issues from family attachments can transfer to, and inhibit, sexual desire for a mate.
Friday, May 8
2:30 - 3:30 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Film & Discussion: The Maxwell Multiple Climax
Brandon Maxwell, Independent Film Producer; Director, Dammit Jim Pictures, LLC; and Rae Larson, MS, DHS, LMHC, FAACS; Seattle Institute for Sex Therapy, Education, & Research
Whatever you picture when you hear the words "sex instruction for guys" toss it. The Maxwell Multiple Climax is an entirely new genre. Shot on film and mastered in HD, it's a 29 minutes of 'R-rated 'action-comedy and animations: an image explosion that titillates you into absorbing the very tantric shortcut at hand. Think John Landis' Kentucky Fried Movie meets sex ed. Sex instruction has not been popular with men because it makes them painfully self-conscious. The MMC provides a comfortable place to learn. The MMC provides information that breaks The Tantra down to three steps that yield have proven successful for the majority of men who have used it. Discussion will include information on using the film for sex education and sex therapy purposes for both men and women. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe three pieces of information from the film that can be used in their own professional work.
Friday, May 8 - Plenary
6:00 - 7:00 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Sex in the Sea
Steven Webster, PhD; Director of Education and Senior Marine Biologist, Monterey Bay Aquarium (1981-2003)
Sexual reproduction is the rule among marine mammals, fishes, invertebrates and seaweeds. However, abiding by that rule involves a dizzying array of variations on the theme, Dr. Webster will provide examples to illustrate a broad array of variations on the theme of sexual reproduction. He will include the animals with the record for penis length to body size (barnacles), the record for eggs per year among fishes (the mola mola), the fishes that start out male an then become female (Nemo and other damselfishes), and those that do it the other way around (wrasse). At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe three current findings about sexual behaviors among sea creatures.
Saturday, May 9 - Plenary
9:30 - 10:30 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Passion through the lifespan: Historical Psychological Perspectives
Elaine Hatfield, PhD and Richard Rapson, PhD; University of Hawaii
Most theorists assume that the passage of time will have a tremendous negative impact on passionate love and sexual desire. Passionate love is said to decline fairly quickly, while compassionate love is thought to remain fairly stable (or actually increase) over time. This session will provide an overview of the way in which men and women viewed passionate love and sexual desire from 1500 to the present, taking into consideration what we know about changing lifespans. We will describe a series of modern-day studies in which men's and women's feelings about passionate love were assessed from the time they began dating, through early marriage, to a time almost 60 years later. In these studies, time did have a corrosive effect on love-but to our surprise it appeared to have an equally detrimental effect on both passionate and companionate love. Pessimists will lament the decrease. Optimists will celebrate the fact that even after 60+ years of marriage, for some couples both passionate and companionate love remain high. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe the relationship between time, passionate love, and companionate love.
Saturday, May 9
11:00 am - Noon
1 hour CE
Focus: therapy
The Integration of Arousal and Orgasms in existing interventions for pelvic pain
Heather Howard, PhD; Private Practice
This session will explore the intersection of chronic pelvic pain and sexuality, and the potential for sexual response to augment healing for patients with pelvic pain. Information will be presented from a study that used unstructured interviews to document the phenomenon of living with chronic pelvic pain from a patient perspective. A pilot study using case study methodology to document the ways in which three couples managed to integrate a three-week home-based intervention for pelvic pain will be described. This intervention entailed a partner performing intra-vaginal myofascial trigger point release on a female diagnosed with high-tone pelvic floor dysfunction while she was in a state of arousal or orgasm. Findings included the perception by participants of a close relationship between pleasure and pain, and a propensity and ability for pain sufferers to utilize pleasure and sexual response to augment healing. At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify appropriate situations in which the intervention method may be considered when dealing with pelvic pain clients.
Saturday, May 9
11:00 am - Noon
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Aging Kinky: A Panel Discussion on BDSM through the lifespan
Charles Moser, past SSSSWR President; Olga Perez-Stable-Cox, MA, MFT, Private practice, Professor, Orange Coast- College; Mark Thompson, MA, author, Cofounder Black Leather Wings
As minimal amounts of research have been conducted on BSDM practitioners, there are still no data on how aging effects kinky folk, nor on how being kinky effects aging. Being as that we are the Western Region, there are plenty of expert opinions to be culled from our own body. This moderator is assembling a panel of esteemed colleagues, each with decades of experience being both kinky and sexologists. They will explore personal observations of their own individual ontological developments as well as their observations of the phylogenises of the BDSM communities. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe the current and needed research on aging in the BDSM communities.
Saturday, May 9 - Plenary
Noon - 1:00 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: general
The Best is Yet to Come: a Call For Sexual Optimism as We Grow Older
Gina Ogden, PhD and ISIS Principal Investigator
Sexual experience changes with age, but not always in the gloomy ways we've been warned by media, medicine, and research financed by pharmaceutical companies.. This session focuses on optimism rather than dysfunction. Dr. Ogden's clinical experience and her nationwide survey, "Integrating Sexuality and Spirituality" (ISIS) will be discussed. Findings on late-life desire, arousal, and satisfaction from women of diverse sexual and spiritual orientations, including women whose histories reveal abuse, religious persecution, dominator relationships, and fear of aging will be presented. The session will describe the late-life sexual perspective that does not focus just on a decline into physical limitations but rather inclusion of physical sensations, emotional feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual meanings into a rich, complex, and joyous perspective. A wide spectrum of experiences and images are offered along with a call for further research--beyond performance, beyond hormones, beyond the medical model that polarizes function and dysfunction, and beyond the cultural cliches that polarize men and women. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe two approaches to sexual experience that become more pronounced with age.
Saturday, May 9
3:00 - 4:00 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Radical Sex Education: the Adventures of the Love Art Laboratory
Annie Sprinkle, PhD; Love Art Laboratory, & Elizabeth Stephens, MFA; University of California, Santa Cruz
Two artist/sexologists set out to sex educate adults of all ages through visual art, theater and performance art. Four years ago they created the "Love Art Laboratory." In this session they will share their ideas, adventures, and findings, illustrated with a slide show. Examples will be drawn from the Free Sidewalk Sex Clinics, the Breast Cancer Ballet, Hairotica, the Extreme Kiss Workshop, Making Love with Marcel Duchamp, Exposed, and The Dirty Sex-ecologists. Ways for sex educators and sex therapist to think (even further) outside the box and be ever more creative will be explored. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe an approach to integrate art into their own professional work.
Saturday, May 9
3:00 - 4:00 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: Therapy
A Mind-Body Approach to Female Sexual Dysfunction
Diana Wiley, PhD, Seattle Institute for Sex Therapy, Education and Research
Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is the leading female sexual complaint. It is age-related, progressive, and highly prevalent. HSDD is a part of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) which includes arousal, orgasmic and/or sexual pain disorders. This presentation reports on work at two women's wellness clinics that served primarily perimenopausal and menopausal women. Presenting complaints included diminished vaginal lubrication, pain and discomfort with intercourse, decreased arousal, and difficulty with orgasm. At UCLA and at the Sklar Women's Wellness Center, our teams used mind-body approaches. Both clinics offered a multifaceted, comprehensive and collaborative team approach for treatment. This presentation will examine the treatment options, including individual talk therapy, couples' therapy, and sexual medicine-including the role of bio-identical hormones. Success stories were abundant for our female patients-and, ultimately, for their partners. The author will present cases illustrating the many satisfying outcomes realized through these multi-disciplinary mind-body approaches to assessment and treatment. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe the mind-body approach to female sexual dysfunction.
Saturday, May 9
4:00 - 5:00 pm
1 hour CE
Focus: therapy
Sex and Spirit-Bringing Back the Sensual Nature that Heals
Gina Ogden, PhD, author and ISIS Principal Investigator; Suzie Heumann, author and CEO/President of Tantra.com; Lucy Brown, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; & Linda Savage, PhD, Marriage and family therapy private practice
This session draws different fields of inquiry to address the longing for the sacred in our sexual relationships--for a return to desire, connection, creativity, and celebration to post-millennial lives that are too often fragmented. Four seasoned sexuality professionals, each with years of practice in exploring the relationship between sex and spirit will address cultural definitions that separate us by gender, orientation, and performance. We address clinical issues that concern desire, love, honesty, empathy, and goals--beyond the classifications of function and dysfunction. We address the role of ritual, ceremony, and religion, including Tantric ancient and contemporary practices. We address survey research that supports touch, orgasm, intimacy, and the potential for personal and relational growth. We address laboratory findings that shed light on or sensual natures as expressed through our brains, blood, and hormones. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe four techniques that may be used to evoke the integration of sexual and spiritual experience.
Saturday, May 9
7:15 - 9:15 pm
2 hours CE
Focus: therapy
Film, Panel and Discussion: Boyhood Shadows: I Swore I'd Never Tell
Stephen L. Bravemen, DST; Private Practice, Monterey California; Sky Colegrove, BA; Monterey County Rape Crisis Center; Claire Mounteer, Executive Director, Monterey County Rape Crisis Center, Regina Kulik Scully, Executive Producer
"Boyhood Shadows: I Swore I'd Never Tell" is a new documentary, soon to be released, which explores the recovery of 20 men who have been sexually abused as children. The film started as a healing project for participants in the Men's Group at the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center and grew into a full-length motion picture produced by the newly formed Boyhood Shadows Foundation. The documentary sets out to educate the public about the pain men, who were sexually abused, and their loved ones, experience, debunk myths about males sexually abused as children and the hope and healing that comes through appropriate, tailor-made therapy groups. The film features 10 SSSS and AASECT members as well as non-affiliated people across the U.S. a panel discussion, with Q&A. will follow this rare advanced showing of the film. At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify three pieces of information from the film that can be integrated into their own professional work.
Sunday, May 10
8:30 - 9:30 am
1 hour CE
Focus: therapy
Surrogate Partner Therapy in Midlife Sexual Exploration: Possibilities for New Therapeutic Applications in Transsexed and Bisexual Individuals
Marilyn Lawrence, PhD & Elise Turen, PhD; Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality
Historically, there has been a direct correlation between what society deems normative and what sex therapy provided individuals seeking assistance in their expression of sexuality. Heteronormative standards dictated the role of sex therapy and its uses, ofering very little to sexual sub groups outside its bounds Presently, due to many reasons, a shifting paradigm in sexology is accompanying an expanded awareness of the efficacy of sex therapy for transexed and bisexual individuals. The established modalities of sex therapy may be enhanced by the availability of the internet as well as work with surrogate partners. Surrogate partner therapy and sex therapy can be made more readily available to explore the renegotiation of erotic meaning and sexual orientation. At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify three new therapeutic applications of surrogate partner therapy.
Sunday, May 10
9:30 - 10:30 am
1 hour CE
Focus: Therapy
The Effects of Chronic Pain on Sexuality and Self Esteem in Women
Judiann Simon, PhD; Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality
Innovative techniques in health care have led to medical advances in treatment of illness or injury for people of all ages who might have otherwise died. However, short-term treatment or surgical procedures cannot always achieve a cure or complete restoration of function and often leave recovering individuals with chronic limitations or pain. Approximately one out of three Americans eventually leads a life that is challenged by chronic pain. Using an in-depth personal questionnaire, and six interviews conducted by this author at three medical facilities, information from 38 women at different stages of the life cycle (21-55 years of age) is detailed. Additionally, literature reviews from historical, medical, socio-political and cultural perspectives provides clinicians an opportunity to better understand the far-reaching implications on the biopsychosocial and sexual aspects of the women's lives, especially women of color and sexual minorities. The women emphasized a profound desire to see their quality of life improve, including an expansion of options for sexual activity and intimacy. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe three treatments for chronic pain that is linked to sexuality.
Sunday, May 10 - Plenary
10:50 - 11:50 am
1 hour CE
Focus: general
Normal Childhood Sexuality: An Oxymoron?
Suzanne Frayser, PhD, Past SSSS President, Private consultant
Published scientific findings and focused discussions of normal childhood sexuality are rare in the U.S. society. The emphasis in popular media, theory, and therapeutic practice has been on abuse rather than normalcy. Why do we not acknowledge this elephant in the room? To answer this question requires an articulation of the cultural contours of the issue framing it within the broader contexts of cross-cultural data and human evolution. In the U.S., a reproductive model of sexuality, supported by a negative and restrictive view of sexuality, has pervaded thinking about sexual development; this has resulted in lack of attention and/or condemnation of childhood (pre-productive) and older adult (post-productive) sexuality. Researchers receive little funding to explore a "taboo" activity. Nevertheless, caretakers in other cultures embrace and even encourage sexual awareness in children and adolescents. The evolution of human sexuality would lead us to expect learning about sexual behavior as a normal part of childhood. We can learn more about our cultural biases by defining normal childhood sexuality in a human perspective. At the end of this session, participants will be able to explain how and why U.S. culture has focused the meaning of childhood sexuality on abuse and abnormality.
Sunday, May 10
1:00 - 3:00 pm
2 hours CE
Focus: education
Developing Scientific Presentations for Professional Continuing Education: What is needed.
Sharon McNeely, Ph.D., Northeastern Illinois University
Professionals are trained to think and work within their fields of study. Unfortunately, when it comes to then sharing their learning, and important findings with others, this thinking may actually lead to miscommunication or misunderstandings about the nature of the work, and the importance of the work to sexology. This session will overview the meaning of "scientific" from different perspectives, and describe the process used to determine when presentations meet the criteria for being professional continuing education, as determined by continuing education sponsor approval organizations, and our colleagues from various fields. At the end of this session, participants will be able to describe the criteria to determine scientific relevance as it meets the standards for professional continuing education.