A therapist who is Kink Aware recognizes that BDSM, Polyamory, Swinging and other alternative sexual and lifestyle practices are part of the normal sexual spectrum and is able to distinguish healthy sexual play from non-consensual abuse. Kink Aware Therapists (KAT) have additional postgraduate training about alternative sexual expression via, books, articles, continuing education, seminars, websites, etc.
Program Objectives:
Understand the ethnographic concepts of open relationships, alternative relationships, communities and their role, as a medical provider, in their care.
Understand the difference between healthy polyamory and unethical non monogamy
Learn therapeutic interventions and common issues seen with kink
Ethical and Legal Issues related to kink
Evaluation of the science and research of kink
Special topics and ethical challenges when working with alternative relationship styles and kink clients.
Understand the fundamentals of Gender Spectrum Care
Power Exchange Fundamentals
BDSM Play Fundamentals
Marketing and Business Practice
Program Requirements:
- 18 years of age or older
- Completion of school application process
- Recommendation from instructor of work supervisor
- For therapist recognition, the student must be a licensed therapist
Level 1 Certification: Fundamentals of Kink
KTCI 101 – FUNDAMENTALS OF KINK – 6 Hrs
This course is designed to give medical and mental health professionals an introduction of the various types of alternative relationship and sexual cultures that they will encounter in their medical or therapeutic practice. It will also present the current position of sexual medicine and research in the United States.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
KTCI 102 – KINK COMMUNITIES AND CULTURE – 6 Hrs
This course is an ethnographic examination of kink culture and subcultures of the kink communities.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
Price: $300
Level 2 Certification: Ethical Non Monogamy Fundamentals
KTCI 103 – Ethical Non-Monogamy I: Fundamentals and the Science of Open Relationships
This course is a foundation class for understanding and navigation of various non- monogamous relationships.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
KTCI 104 – Ethical Non-Monogamy II: Working with Open Relationships
This course will focus on how to work with non-monogamous clients. Ethics, pathology, interventions and case studies will be included. Course includes tools and interventions used with Ethical Non-Monogamous Clients.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
Price: $300
Level 3 Certification: Power Exchange Fundamentals
KTCI 105 – Power Exchange Relationships I: Fundamentals and the Science of Kink
This course will discuss power exchange relationships, their etiquette, and dynamics.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
KTCI 106 – Power Exchange Relationships II: Working with D/s Relationships
This course will focus on how to work with clients participating in D/s relationships. Ethics, pathology, Interventions and case studies will be included.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
Price: $300
Level 4 Certification: BDSM Play Fundamentals
KTCI 107 – BDSM Play: The Scene, Equipment and Community Etiquette
This course is an introduction to BDSM scenes, equipment and etiquette.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
KTCI 109 – Negotiation, Boundaries, and Contracts
This course is an introduction and examination of negotiation techniques; boundaries and relationships/ play contracts as they related to clients who participate in kink related activities.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
Price: $300
Level 5 Certification: Rules, Laws, and Ethics and Intimate Partner Violence
KTCI 108 – Kinky Laws, Rules, and Ethics
This course is an examination of professional ethics and laws as they relate to working with kinky clients.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
KTCI 402 Intimate Partner Violence: Hidden Victims of Sexual, Gender, and Relationship Minorities and Special Populations
The Mental Health Community’s efforts to address domestic and intimate partner violence (DIPV) have often neglected members of the kink, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) populations and men. Heterosexual women are primarily targeted for DIPV screening, community support and intervention despite the similar or greater prevalence of DIPV in GLBTQ+ individuals and its detrimental mental and physical health affects. In this course we will highlight the burden of DIPV in KLGBT relationships, discuss how LGBTQ+ and traditional heterosexual relationships, discuss how LGBTQ+ and traditional heterosexual DIPV differ, and outline steps clinicians can take to address DIPV in their LGBTQ+ patients.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
Price: $300
Level 6 Certification: The Gender Spectrum
KTCI 500 Fundamentals of the Gender Spectrum
Gender is more than the mainstream binary: male and female. The gender spectrum also includes non-binary, queer, transgender, and gender fluid. KTCI 500 explores the fluidity of gender and the ways it is expressed throughout the world.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
KTCI 501 The Gender Transition Protocols and Experience
This course describes the experiences of various individuals undergoing or who have gone through gender reassignment surgery or body modification to closer to their true self. Learning the protocols will help the kink aware professional understand how to identify the symptoms of gender identity disorder and body dysmorphia as it pertains to gender. The combination of protocols and experiences provide a blue to help guide an individual who identifies as transgender, gender fluid, queer, or non-binary.
Class Hours: 6 Hrs
Price: $300
Board Certified Kink Aware Therapy Professional
Practical Work
Video Analysis
Clinical Supervision
Advanced Business and Marketing
Price: $TBA