Jump to content

Presentation to Human Sexualities class for counseling students


Nada_Skeleton

Recommended Posts

Nada_Skeleton

A friend of mine in a graduate level counseling program recently reached out to her network to solicit presentations on queer sexuality for one of her classes. I volunteered to do one on asexuality. So, on October 25th (during Ace Awareness Week ;) ), I have an opportunity to teach a group of up-and-coming counselors how to interact with ace clients!

 

I would love some input from other ace folks about what content I should include in my presentation. I'm doing some Ace 101, the ace spectrum, and some mythbusting, but what else should I throw in?

 

I'm particularly interested in hearing from those with a background in counseling/mental health and/or those who've gone through therapy. What do you think other counselors should know about ace people? What do you wish yours knew? Basically, what's the most important content to cover in a presentation aimed at soon-to-be mental health professionals?

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not a mental health professional by any means, but something you should include in your presentation is that aces aren't fundamentally damaged or trying to hide something else. Sure, we have troubles that directly deal with our orientation, but most of our problems exist regardless of our being ace.

Link to post
Share on other sites

IT IS NOT THE SAME AS CELEBACY! This is such a common misconception, in and out of the medical community, this REALLY needs to be addressed up front. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ooh!! As a Psychology student and a person who has gone through therapy, this topic definitely interests me!

 

I would add in some studies made on asexuality, in order to give your presentation some academic validity. There aren't many out there (you can point that out), but some of my favourites are:

Asexuality: Prevalence and Associated Factors in a National Probability Sample (Anthony F. Bogaert, Brock University) (x)

Asexuality: Classification and Characterization (Nicole Prause and Cynthia A. Graham, Ph.D., Brunel University London) (x)

Asexuality: A Mixed-Methods Approach (Lori A. Brotto, Gail Knudson, Jess Inskip, Katherine Rhodes, Yvonne Erskine, University of British Columbia) (x)

(You can easily find all of these on Google Scholar. They all have free pdf links on the side)

I know that if I was one of those counselling students, academic studies would definitely help me grasp the concept of asexuality.

 

Furthermore, I would add in a personal anecdote or two from an actual asexual. There are thousands of them to be had here on this very website, so as long as you ask for permission first, I'm sure you'll be able to use a few of them! Actually, now that I think about it, you could also interview a few asexuals and ask them what asexuality means to them. That personal touch would make your presentation stronger and remind the students that, yes, while asexuality is rare and relatively unknown, it is real and people do identify with it.

 

Let's see, what else? Maybe you could add some examples of media representation? That could work in several ways: the students would be able to understand asexuality further if they know those characters, and they could also tell their future asexual clients about these representations in order to validate their identities! The best example I can come up with is Todd from BoJack Horseman. He explicitly states that he is asexual - I believe he's the first fictional character to say that - and it's an essential part of his identity from Season 4 onwards. In your presentation, talk about how asexuality is gradually gaining more media representation as the term becomes more well-known.

 

Finally, include some links to websites and books about asexuality; definitely include AVEN and these forums! You could also add some fictional books for them to read on their own time. My personal recommendations are 'Let's Talk About Love' by Claire Kann and 'Tash Hearts Tolstoy' by K.E. Ormbree.

 

Hope that helps! Good luck with your presentation! 😊

 

APA-style bibliography for the academic studies:

 

Bogaert, A. F. (2004). Asexuality: Prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample. Journal of Sex Research, 41(3), 279-287.

 

Prause, N., & Graham, C. A. (2007). Asexuality: Classification and characterization. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(3), 341-356.

 

Brotto, L. A., Knudson, G., Inskip, J., Rhodes, K., & Erskine, Y. (2010). Asexuality: A mixed-methods approach. Archives of sexual behavior, 39(3), 599-618.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Nada_Skeleton

@Duke Memphistopheles @Kumoku Great points! Those were actually some of the first things I was planning on going over. One of major points I remember from the few psychology classes I've taken (which I double checked with a counselor friend) is that something is only a problem to be solved if it causes a person distress, so I'll definitely impress on them that asexuality is not an issue to solve, nor is it reducible to mere behaviors (i.e. not having sex). Furthermore, if asexuality is "causing" a person distress, it is much more likely that the prejudice or ignorance of others towards their asexuality is the real culprit and not necessarily their being ace, as has been observed with other minority populations.

 

@Annika Moth Thank you so much for the thorough suggestions! Those studies sound great. Have you read Bogaert's book, Understanding Asexuality? I found it to be an approachable yet thorough treatment of ace people through multiple lenses, including the psychological, the physiological, and the cultural. It's somewhere between a textbook and a pop science book in terms of density, so I was going to recommend that one to the class. I hope I have a chance to read and use the articles you suggested before next week. Unfortunately, October has been quite hectic for me ("Hey, let's volunteer to do a presentation, too!"), so I'm not sure whether I will yet.

 

By the same token, I doubt I'll have the time to interview any other ace people for testimony I can include in my presentation. I'll be drawing quite a bit on my own experiences as an ace/demi person, which my friend clarified in a follow-up email recently is more what her class is looking for: people to represent their populations by sharing their own stories about what their identity has meant for them. I'll have half an hour to talk about asexuality in both a broad and personal sense, then half an hour to field questions from the class.

 

I'm a huge fan of Bojack, so I dig the example. I believe there was a show from New Zealand several years back that was the first to feature an explicitly ace character? I need to verify that. I'm curious about the other works of fiction you mentioned; I'll have to check those out.

 

You gave some feedback on what would have been valuable to you as a counseling student hearing  a presentation on asexuality, but what about as somebody who went through counseling, if you don't mind me asking? Is there anything you would have liked your therapist to know about asexuality upfront? This feels like a great opportunity for some advocacy on behalf of ace people who might come to these students for counseling post-graduation, so I want to make sure I seize this chance to prevent any stumbles before they can occur.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On ‎10‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 12:17 AM, Nada_Skeleton said:

...What do you think other counselors should know about ace people? What do you wish yours knew? Basically, what's the most important content to cover in a presentation aimed at soon-to-be mental health professionals?

For me, I'd say that I wish professionals would listen to clients and ask them questions about their past and their feelings, their reasoning behind their thought processes and decisions, rather than being judgemental towards clients (especially teens and young adults, rather than acting cold towards them) or making, quick rash decisions towards trying to immediately shove medication towards a client they've only just seen for the first time (and after only 10-15 of staring at the client, barely speaking to them) and without even talking to them or getting to know them (shoving a huge, several page questionnaire on a client that seems to have 500 questions, especially a teen or young adult, and repeatedly rushing in on them a few times, asking them if they've finished answering everything in 20 minutes, before the office's closing time isn't helpful; it hurts client to get the feeling that professionals don't really care about helping them or their job).

 

The connection to asexuality is that, as a teen, I was only able to answer a few questions on the huge, intimidating questionnaire, related to about never having had sex or dated; afterward--without even speaking to me much or asking any questions about me, my past, or personality, the psychiatrist recommended that I be given medication (it's kind of hurtful if a professional's solution is to just shove medication on an abuse victim who's rightfully feeling angry, frustrated and tired of being abused and trying to express and explain that to their abuser; medication doesn't help cure their emotional anger and problem, if they're still living with an abuser. The abuser is the one with the problem, not the victim being abused).

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...