ISHPA!
Photos and thoughts from the Future of Sexual Health Psychology Summit!
Speaking at the ISHPA Future of Sexual Health Psychology Summit was a big highlight for this year! It was an honour to be counted among such passionate, intelligent and dedicated speakers who all provided nuanced and vigorously critical viewpoints. I’m proud to be repping sex worker perspectives in the field of Sexual Health Psychology, and I’m grateful to ISHPA / SHIPS for recognising the value of our work in the front lines of the erotic industries and their ongoing commitment to sex worker (and general queer / neurodiverse) inclusion in their practise.
This is more of the constructive dialogue and exploration that we need to have in our society, especially as we stand at the intersectioon of the recognition of the ongoing systemic issues of patriarchy, colonization and the solutions that we can find together for real change.
There’s a defensiveness that comes up at times when speaking on Sex work and sex positive related topics; when it feels like if we give an inch then the other side takes a mile; where it feels like you have to toe a line of positive outlook to not lose the precious ground that the our industry has gained with decriminalisation in the face of extremist anti-sex groups and moralising hysteria.
We lose the nuance, we lose the meat of the discussions, we lose the ability to actually address the systemic issues within our industry, of the effects of the patriarchy, of being able to find a way forward when we can’t speak authentically of our experiences and the complexity of navigating the narratives in an everchanging landscape.
We must be able to be free to face all aspects of our erotic spaces, the good, the bad, the ugly and the transcendent in honest open dialogue in a space of non-judgement, where we’re actually talking TO each other as opposed to yelling at each other, where we’re not looking to win the argument but to reach a new consensus.
The field of therapy and psychology should be THE space of non-judgement, and it’s sad that so many practitioners are judgemental in ways that make their clients feel unsafe. ISHPA and SHIPS really do create a space where it feels ok to just be ourselves, and in that space to have the big conversations free of fear and judgement, and filled with openness and understanding.
I’m glad to have been in this safe space and to provide my personal perspectives and to push for platforming more sex workers into positions of knowledge, as sex educators and important resources whose experiences and teachings can be seen as the valuable societal contributions that they are.
Thanks to astrid.harkin @drsarahashton @drkarenfreilich @neurokinnection @lauren.french.sexologist #CassieLieschke #CampbellInce for the great chats and your support, I look forward to more excellent conversations in the future!