Clinical Round Table 17 - Sex-positive, Affirming Treatment for People with Intersecting Sexualities and Marginalized Identities

There is a dearth of information on how to treat patients from sexual and gender minority groups, despite growing research into this area over the past decades. Some of the literature on the topic examines which subgroups should be considered sexual minority communities, and
uses a focus on relationship diversity, health disparities, and sexual identity development to include BDSM/Kink and CNM/ENM-identified people (Hammack, Frost, & Hughes, 2019; Williams, & Sprott, 2022) to do so. Given the intersecting nature of these marginalized communites and their stigmatized, hidden nature, there is not much guidance on how to adapt CBT and other treatment interventions to be more affirming.

This Clinical Roundtable will pay special attention to how stigma affects the treatment of people with multiple minoritized identities (racial/ethnic, gender, social, and sexual orientation), given that the costs of stigma land on BIPOC identified individuals more than others, reflecting larger systems of oppression. Dr. Trevor Hart will present the limited evidence supporting the use of behavioral therapies to treat sexual disfunction among sexual and gender minority people. Dr. Bill Johnson will present a review on Black male sexuality, focusing on the gaps in the literature around sexual pleasure and the scarcity of research on Black kinky, polyamorous, and trans men.Dr. Shveta Mittal will begin with an overview of what's known about therapy with BDSM/kink & CNM/ENM communities, noting inconsistencies in demographic representation of participants in community, clinical, and research settings. Kiana Cummings will delve more deeply into the discrimination faced by Black kinksters within LGBTQ+ spaces, exploring the impact on one's self and community acceptances. This will be followed by a larger discussion with the audience on the experiences of marginalization and oppression that SGM with other minortized identities have to navigate and how to adapt delivery of CBT to be more affirming.