Additional Information

• • Target audience

    • This course is intended for psychologists, counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and other mental health and related professionals. 

  • Instruction level - Intermediate

    • It is expected that participants will have basic knowledge of the topic. Less than 25% of the presentation will review knowledge provided in an introductory workshop in this topic area. The remaining time will focus on advanced topics such as new research, specialty topics not typically covered in graduate education, or specific clinical applications. 

  • Recommended Prerequisite

    • Consent as Foundation - Understanding Sexual, Gender & Relationship Diversity

      • This course serves as a foundation for all the courses in this series on GSRD. 
        
        

  • Full description

    • This intermediate workshop builds on foundational knowledge of sexual, gender, and relational diversity (SGRD) and examines clinician responsibilities through an explicitly ethical lens. Grounded in contemporary empirical research, APA and other professional ethical codes, and recent developments such as the 2021 APA Guidelines for Practice with Sexual Minority Persons, the session demonstrates why competence with sexually and relationally marginalized populations—including kink/CPE communities, asexual-spectrum clients, and those engaged in consensual non-monogamy—is an ethical obligation across mental health professions.

Participants review current science on sexual and relational diversity, including depathologization efforts in the DSM, research documenting normative psychological functioning among BDSM and CNM populations, and minority stress processes affecting stigmatized sexual identities. The program then moves into deeper ethical integration: examining relevant ethical principles (autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, integrity, respect for people’s rights and dignity), analyzing common clinical pitfalls, and evaluating how biases, assumptions, and hetero/mono/cisnormative frameworks can create harm even when unintentional.

Through case examples, reflective exercises, and analysis of ethical codes from APA, ACA, NASW, NASP, and AAMFT, participants explore complex practice challenges—including consent and safety assessment, duty-to-protect issues, dual/multiple relationships in marginalized communities, and the use of inclusive language and documentation. The workshop highlights how intake paperwork, demographic forms, and clinic environments can either support client autonomy or reproduce stigma, and introduces strategies for creating sex-positive and affirming therapeutic spaces in both physical and virtual settings.

The session culminates in an applied ethics framework that integrates informed consent (in therapy and in relationships), culturally responsive competence, and the clinician’s responsibility to avoid harm by seeking appropriate consultation, supervision, or referral when SGRD falls outside one’s scope of practice. By the end of the workshop, participants are able to articulate best practices, identify potential ethical risks, and understand the systemic nature of stigma and access barriers that shape client well-being. The program directly meets ethical CE criteria by strengthening the participants’ ability to uphold professional standards, reduce bias-related harm, and provide equitable, evidence-informed care.

• • Presenter 

    • Dr. Rachel Anne Kieran (Psy.D.) is a psychologist, writer, and educator, and the founder of StorieBrook Therapy & Consulting, LLC, an affirming therapy practice rooted in justice, community, and cultural humility. Her clinical work focuses on sexual, gender, and relational diversity (including kink and consensual non-monogamy), neurodiversity, fat and disability justice, and clients from non-majority spiritual and pagan paths.

Dr. Kieran’s practice model emphasizes accessible, bespoke collaboration with clients, including sliding-scale options and a community space designed to be welcoming, trauma-aware, and identity-affirming. Through StorieTree Professional Education, she creates continuing education programs for mental health and allied professionals that center ethics, intersectionality, and dismantling systemic barriers to care.

Her current writing projects include a book on finding and crafting mental healthcare for diverse spiritualities, and related work on “rainbow sheep” identities—those who never fully fit either mainstream or countercultural norms. Across her roles as therapist, educator, and author, Dr. Kieran is committed to the belief that affirming care is a right, not a privilege.

• • Learning objectives

    • After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

      • Describe calls to action from APA  (and other) guidelines relevant to practice with sexually marginalized populations

      • Identify ethical principles relevant to practice with sexually marginalized populations

      • Identify ethical standards relevant to practice with sexually marginalized populations

      • Discuss techniques for addressing consent concerns with sexually marginalized populations

      • Examine ideas for safety planning (and responding to duty to protect) with sexually marginalized populations

      • Identify techniques for indicating sex positive and affirming spaces for marginalized populations in physical locations and online modalities.

      • Identify strategies for reducing stigma on demographic forms, and how this is related to ethical responsibilities for autonomy and respect.
        
        

  • Agenda / structure

    • • Introductions and creating shared working definitions – 15 minutes 

      • AltSex 101: The State of the Science – 45 minutes

        • Understanding sexual and relational diversity – what the science suggests

        • Depathologizing and the DSM

        • Relevant recent developments – 2021 Guidelines

      • What’s Ethics Got to Do With It? – 60 mins

        • Digging into ethical principles and codes

        • What is “competence” in this area

        • Examples, working with assumptions

          • Dual relationships – how kink and rural psychology are the same!

          • When does “do no harm” mean bruises are okay?

          • How much is enough sex? – sexual “dysfunctions” vs. asexuality

      • Consent – it’s for everything! – 45 mins (addresses Ethics codes as well as GA Statutes)

        • Informed consent in sex (and therapy)

        • Re-assessing consent and safety

        • Responding to breaches of consent/safety concerns

        • Creating affirming therapeutic spaces & relationships

      • Questions – 15 minutes
        
        

  • CE information

    • • This is a live program. Full attendance is required to receive a certificate of completion. Certificates of completion will be issued following verified attendance.

      • This program has been approved for CE by the Georgia Psychological Association.  

        • Acceptance of continuing education credit is determined by individual licensing boards. 

          • The Georgia State Board of Examiners of Psychologists accepts GPA-approved CEs for license renewal under Area III for renewal of their licensees. For information on the board requirements in other states, please consult your state licensing rules.

          • The Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists accepts GPA-approved CEs for license renewal as related hours for renewal of their licensees (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(f)(1)).  For information on the board requirements in other states, please consult your state licensing rules.  

      • StorieTree Professional Education has submitted an application for APA Sponsor Approval and is currently in the review process. All StorieTree programs are developed in alignment with the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct and the APA Standards for Continuing Education Sponsors.
        
        

  • Pricing & accessibility notes

    • Standard Price - $90

    • For more information on equity pricing for accessibility, please read the StorieTree Pricing & Equity Policy

    • For more information on StorieTree's ongoing accessibility efforts, please visit our Accessibility page.  

  • Cancellation/refunds - please see the StorieTree Attendance, Participation & Refunds Policy

  • Disclosures - please read the StorieTree Disclosure Policies for more information