zel Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 When I tried to explain asexuality (in the abstract, not just relating to me) to my therapist, their response was to ask that if I'm not attracted to any gender if I might not be into animals!? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
straightouttamordor Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 How did you take that query ? I'm going to a session in May with a counselor that my doctor refered. I was wondering how the topic would be greeted myself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DesiButters519x Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 No offense but what kind of fucking response is that? I would be so offended honestly... it's like they want to force you to be "into" something? I think overall it will be hard to find a therapist that will understand and know of Asexuality. I am soon going to start my own road with a therapist, and I pray that I find one who will understand, but I very much doubt it. Anyways, I am sorry this happened honestly, They should have tried to understand the term overall, instead of asking rather idiotic questions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RoseGoesToYale Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Um... so basically they thought asexuality meant the same thing as bestiality? How on earth could anyone come to that conclusion?? I would definitely recommend looking into other therapists. You might have the best luck with pro-LGBTQ therapists. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Inmotus Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Woooowwwww. Seriously though, wow. Apparently it's so hard to believe that someone doesn't want that kind of relationship that they MUST want to have sex with animals. Naturally. This makes me more nervous to try to find a post-college therapist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Xenobot Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Honestly, I would recommend sending that therapist an email with a link to AVEN's home page so that they can become more knowledgeable about the topic. Just recommend it to them in friendly terms: "I thought you might be interested in seeing this," or whatever. They may very well be confused/ignorant about the topic, but not necessarily discriminatory or anything, you know? It was definitely weird of them to jump to zoophilia of all things. They're not all like that though, thankfully. I started describing what I felt about sex in a peer support group to work my way towards bringing up asexuality directly, and before I got there, the therapist who leads the group said something like, "It's not my place to label you, but have you looked into asexuality?" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
semi Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 This is an interesting piece of information. I myself am motivated to pursue graduate school in hopes of becoming a therapist and was unsure of the type of competition out there. It is unfortunate to hear something like this happened to you though but this actually motivates me further to make it through all the studying and to finally go out into the world as someone who is sensitive to issues pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community. I was thinking of studying gender and sexuality further in my studies to help ground myself in these sorts of topics and try to help out within the LGBTQ community. Sorry I ended up talking about myself just now instead of you but I just wanted to let you have deeply motivated me to push towards this goal. And I also wanted to let u know there are indeed therapists out there who are more so knowledgeable of gender and sexuality issues than others, and that I am hoping to increase the knowledge of these types of issues in the market of therapists hehe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YamiCake Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 I don't know what my reaction would be to that. I don't know if I'd laugh at how stupid that sounds or just walk out. What a ridiculous assumption. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hermit Advocate Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 I think you need a new therapist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zel Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 I'm guessing I was a bit awkward about explaining it and focussed on genders, and that she might have intentionally provoked me... but yeah, still insulting in any case. Thanks all for the support ! 9 hours ago, semi said: Sorry I ended up talking about myself just now instead of you [...] Hey, np! Special thanks to you on behalf of all of us, actually. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Xenobot Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 12 hours ago, semi said: This is an interesting piece of information. I myself am motivated to pursue graduate school in hopes of becoming a therapist and was unsure of the type of competition out there. It is unfortunate to hear something like this happened to you though but this actually motivates me further to make it through all the studying and to finally go out into the world as someone who is sensitive to issues pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community. I was thinking of studying gender and sexuality further in my studies to help ground myself in these sorts of topics and try to help out within the LGBTQ community. Sorry I ended up talking about myself just now instead of you but I just wanted to let you have deeply motivated me to push towards this goal. And I also wanted to let u know there are indeed therapists out there who are more so knowledgeable of gender and sexuality issues than others, and that I am hoping to increase the knowledge of these types of issues in the market of therapists hehe You and me both. Hopefully in the next few years we'll both be out there providing a safe therapeutic environment for LGBT+ individuals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
borkfork Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 11 hours ago, Xenobot said: You and me both. Hopefully in the next few years we'll both be out there providing a safe therapeutic environment for LGBT+ individuals. I thought I had it bookmarked, but apparently not. I ran across the blog of a therapist who described being at a seminar or something. Someone asked a speaker about asexuality and the speaker proceeded to use to definition for bisexuality. edit: http://lacamft.org/4-things-everyone-should-know-about-asexuality/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Xenobot Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 28 minutes ago, borkfork said: I thought I had it bookmarked, but apparently not. I ran across the blog of a therapist who described being at a seminar or something. Someone asked a speaker about asexuality and the speaker proceeded to use to definition for bisexuality. edit: http://lacamft.org/4-things-everyone-should-know-about-asexuality/ "A few months later, there was a post on a message board I follow where a therapist was asking for advice about a couple she was seeing where one person identified as asexual and the other did not. The responses to this thread were horrifying: They ranged from “well the asexual person should just have sex anyway” to “you should probably refer to a hypnotherapist who can uncover the trauma at the root of the asexual person’s lack of sexuality” to “the sexual person should really just leave”." *deep breath* ...my hatred of bad therapists will only make me stronger. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zel Posted April 1, 2017 Author Share Posted April 1, 2017 On 29/03/2017 at 5:06 AM, prib23 said: How did you take that query ? I'm going to a session in May with a counselor that my doctor refered. I was wondering how the topic would be greeted myself. I just told them that no, I'm not into any kind of weird fetishes... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Allegra Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Wow, so sorry you had to experience that. I hope they were just oblivious and not willfully being intolerant. This kind of thing is one of the reasons I'm considering shifting my career into the counselling direction, because it's so important people have open, nonjudgmental counsellors available. Not saying everyone is going to enter their careers knowing about everything, but it's the willingness to learn to better support clients and explore with clients that can make the difference. Though of course going to a therapist who's aware already can be so welcoming and encouraging! I hope you find someone who can be helpful to you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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