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COURSE DESCRIPTION
This continuing education course is part 1 of 2 in understanding the kink and BDSM community.
The first session provides an introduction to kink and BDSM for mental health professionals. Attendees will develop a shared vocabulary and framework for understanding the diversity of kink practices, relationships, communities, and identities. Topics will include common terminology, relationship and power-exchange dynamics, community norms, consent and negotiation, safety and vetting practices, and some of the many reasons people may participate in kink.
Part 1 is designed as the “101” portion of the workshop, establishing the cultural knowledge and vocabulary that frame the more clinically focused material in Part 2.
Overall Approach
Throughout both sessions, the workshop uses sexual-health and culturally responsive frameworks to support a nonjudgmental, non-pathologizing approach to kink. These frameworks are woven throughout the material, with attention to understanding clients’ experiences in context, asking informed and respectful questions, and considering their boundaries, relationships, goals, and individual circumstances.
The course also emphasizes ongoing therapist self-awareness and recognizing when consultation, supervision, or referral may be appropriate, particularly when clinicians encounter areas of uncertainty or notice that their own reactions or assumptions may affect their ability to provide kink-informed care.
Why Attend Both Parts?
The two sessions are designed as a progression, with Part 1 establishing a foundation that allows clinicians to engage more fully with the material in Part 2.
- Part 1 establishes the terminology, cultural context, relationship frameworks, and community practices that provide a foundation for the clinical material explored in Part 2.
- Part 2 builds on that foundation by providing additional context and frameworks clinicians can draw on when conceptualizing their own clients’ experiences.
Clinicians who already have significant familiarity with kink and BDSM may find that they can engage directly with many of the topics in Part 2. At the same time, kink is a diverse and evolving community, and even those with substantial personal or professional experience may encounter perspectives, practices, or subcommunities that are unfamiliar to them.
Attending both sessions provides the fullest learning experience and an opportunity to deepen and expand existing knowledge.
Presenter Jennifer Rehor, LMFT, CST, CST-S will be joined by a team of licensed psychotherapists from ATC, including Sandra Koellmann, LCSW, CST (AASECT Certified Sex Therapist); Skyler “Skye” White, LMFT, PATC (Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Provider); and Kelly Goldsteinholm, LMFT. Together, they bring diverse clinical perspectives and offer an engaging, evidence-informed training grounded in real-world practice, supervision, and applied clinical experience.
EDUCATIONAL GOAL
This course is designed to introduce mental health professionals to the foundational concepts needed to better understand and support clients who engage in or identify with kink and BDSM practices and relationships.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Attendees will be able to:
- Define and describe key terminology, practices, relationship structures, and concepts within kink and BDSM, including common community norms related to consent, negotiation, safety, and vetting.
- Describe the diversity of kink communities, relationships, and motivations for participation, including ways kink may intersect with other identities, communities, and relationship structures.
- Explain foundational principles of consent, communication, safety, and risk awareness within kink and BDSM, including factors that may support clients’ informed, self-directed decision-making.
OUTLINE/OTHER DETAILS
Title: Understanding the Kink Community: A Culturally Sensitive Overview for Mental Health Professionals (Part 1: Foundations - Understanding Kink, BDSM & Community)
When: Monday, October 5, 2026
Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting (link will be sent in registration confirmation and reminder emails)
Time Breakdown:
11:00am-1:00pm: CE Presentation
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TARGET AUDIENCE
This event is for mental health professionals.
COST
$30 for Chapter Members
$50 for Non-Members
$10 for Pre-Licensed and Students
Guests allowed! If a member or interested in becoming a member, please register independently.
Refund/Cancellation Policy
ACCOMODATIONS & GRIEVANCES
Please email the Education Chair and visit our website for policies.
CERTIFICATES
Course Completion certificates will be awarded electronically in exchange for a completed evaluation form. Please make sure the Program Administrator has your correct email.
Course meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Partial credit will not be awarded.
Participants must be present for the entire length of the workshop to be awarded credit. Participants will not be given CE credit if they are more than 15 minutes late and/or do not stay for the entire length of the workshop.
This course is provided by the San Diego Chapter of the California association of marriage and family therapists (Provider #57330) is approved by the California association of marriage and family therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs. San Diego chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists maintains responsibility for the program and all its content.
Please email the CE Chair.
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