Sex Addiction: A relational approach - Manchester Workshop

Training from Become Psychology

This is the fourth run of this workshop: rated excellent by 96% of previous participants. Making theory practice links throughout, this workshop will draw on the application of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) theory and practice to focus on relational approaches that can be incorporated into the assessment, formulation and intervention for sex addiction. The workshop will be accessible to therapists working across different modalities, including CBT therapists, and no prior knowledge of CAT is needed.

Sex addiction: A relational approach to assessment, formulation, and intervention, and how to engender affirmative sexual desire.

• Workshop presented by Dr Robert Watson, Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapist & Supervisor, & Vice-Chair of the Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy. 
• Early bird £95 until 7th September then £115 (includes lunch). 
• This is the fourth run of this workshop following its successful debut as part of the CPD program of the Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy. 96% of past participants rated the workshop as excellent. 
• This workshop is aimed at both qualified and trainee clinical/counselling psychologists, psychiatrists, GUM/HIV specialists, psychotherapists and counsellors who wish to develop their skills in this area of work and/ or deepen their relational understandings of the issues relevant to this client group.
• On one level, addiction means behaviour that repeats. The core focus of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is the formulation of limiting or harmful patterns of behaviour that repeat in life, and therefore CAT offers many useful approaches to the relational assessment, formulation and intervention for sex addiction. 
• Making theory practice links throughout, this workshop will draw on the application of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) theory and practice to focus on relational approaches that can be incorporated into your clinical work. The workshop will be accessible to therapists working across different modalities, including CBT therapists, and no prior knowledge of CAT is needed. 
• Addictive sexual behaviour, including the excessive use of pornography, can be highly distressing and lead to secondary harmful consequences for health, relationships, work and emotional well-being. Nevertheless, a traditional addictions model seems ill suited to the task of helping clients express their sexual desire in ways that enrich rather than diminish their sexual and emotional health. A relational approach offers us many useful ways of understanding sexually addictive behaviour as an attempt to limit or stop characteristic patterns of relating with self and others that give rise to difficult feelings about self - such as I am a failure, unlovable etc, and the perceived risks of vulnerability, such as the vulnerability of living up to expectations, or to be loved and accepted. 

Interventions need to mobilise our client’s resources to aid their understandings of the emotional and relational drivers behind their patterns of sexual behaviour that repeatedly limit or harm them in some way. These formulations are needed to enable clients to find exits from the patterns that trap them repeatedly. Interventions also need to empower clients to make new choices in how they connect with and express their sexual desire. 

Drawing on clinical material throughout, this workshop covers the principal issues to consider through the stages of assessment, formulation, and intervention. It will highlight the key challenges and pitfalls to avoid during these stages when working with out of control sexual behaviour. Coverage will be given to the specific issues to consider when working with distress associated with “Chemsex” in gay men.

Learning objectives:

1. Provide participants with the key questions to consider during assessment, including when to decide to incorporate harm minimisation strategies at an early stage to reduce the risks associated with sexually transmitted infections and drug use. 
2. Learn ways to increase client motivation and reduce ambivalence towards change at an early stage. 
3. Consider the key aims during formulation and intervention, and how to respond to common challenges in these phases.
4. Develop clinical skills for identifying and formulating emotional and relational factors associated with addictive sexual behaviour, and how these can be used to inform interventions. 
5. Facilitate reflection on how to start the process of helping your clients develop an enjoyable and affirming relationship with their sexual desire, free of shame, enabling clients to express their sexual desires in a way that does not limit or harm them.

Presenter:

Robert Watson is a Clinical Psychologist with 17 years’ experience in Sexual Health and has extensive experience in public and private settings working with clients with complex psychological presentations. He is an accredited CAT therapist and supervisor and is the vice-chair of ACAT. He has been working with clients with out of control sexual behaviour, including gay men affected by “Chemsex” problems, since the beginning of his CAT practice. He has published academic articles and presented at ACAT conferences on the issue of Out of Control Sexual Behaviour.

For further details and booking please head to Eventbrite HERE