Working with BDSM and Kink
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This training may be taken on its own or as part of a 5-day series leading to a: Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships, more info can be found here: Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships
Dates : Tuesday 9th February 2027
Times: 12pm – 6pm (GMT – UK time) with a 45 minute break for lunch and 2 other short breaks. Please log on for 11.45am for prompt 12pm start.
Trainer : Dr Lori Beth Bisbey, scroll down to see more about the trainer
Location : Online
Cost : £110 if booked by 9th December 2026,
£125 if booked by 9th January 2027,
£140 full price
We now offer protection against cancellation. This must be purchased within 48 hours of booking the workshop. Click here for more info
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If your booking is accepted that means there was space for you. If it is full, email sambaker.pa@gmail.com to join the ‘reserve list’. Then, if anyone drops out we will notify you, if there is a ‘last minute’ place for you. We will also let you know when we plan a new date.
Please note, that the general rules of engagement of the profession (confidentiality etc) apply when attending this workshop.
This seminar may be taken on its own or as part of a 5-day series leading to a: Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships
Working with BDSM and Kink
BDSM is an acronym that refers to Bondage/discipline, Dominant/submission, &
Sadism/masochism. It is used for activities, fantasies and relationship styles that
involve a consensual exchange of authority or power, role play, sexual play that
involves pain, sensory deprivation or other non-normative sensations. Kinks are
sexual desires or activities that fall outside the norm. These activities and fantasies
are often exciting, intense and for people who fall within in the norm can seem scary,
‘wrong’ or odd.
Clients who engage in these fantasies and activities often experience shame as a
result of enjoying something that is non-normative. Frequently when seeking therapy,
they find that there is a focus on these activities even when the subjects for which
they are seeking therapy are unrelated. There is significant therapist bias when it
comes to kink and BDSM that can lead to harm for these individuals.
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
- Have definitions and a greater understanding of kink, BDSM as fantasies,
activities and relationship styles - Have taken the Implicit Association Test, Kink & Fetish (Dr Lori Beth Bisbey,
2021) and understood the results and how to work with them to lessen bias
with clients - Learned the main myths relating to BDSM and challenged these
- Learned a method to stay present when confronted with challenging imagery
and sensory information in a session - Worked with two case studies to examine the best ways to affirm clients and
how to identify problematic behaviours as opposed to kinks
Trainer : Dr Lori Beth Bisley 
Lori Beth Bisley is a Advanced GSRD (gender, sex, relationship diversity)
therapist, sex & intimacy coach and psychologist whose expertise lies in working
with individuals, couples, and groups to explore their sexuality, gender and
relationship styles, discover a deeper level of sexual congruence, heal from past
trauma, as well as create more meaningful, pleasurable, exciting, and authentic
intimate relationships. She specialises in Kink and in consensual non-monogamy.
On a mission to create an open dialogue about sex, relationships, and self-
expression, Dr Lori Beth is the specialist relationship therapist guiding couples on
Open House: The Great Sex Experiment (Firecracker Films, Channel 4 – Series 1
and 2). She was the host of the popular podcast The A To Z Of Sex®. She’s also a
passionate speaker, dynamic workshop/retreat facilitator, and sought after expert in
the media on the topics of sex, relationship style, intimacy, and trauma.
Dr Lori Beth Bisbey has been working with people since 1987 to help them resolve
trauma and PTSD, and create and maintain superb relationships that contain sizzling
sex and without the shame. She grew up in the US, and emigrated to the United
Kingdom in 1990.
She is author of the chapter Examining Therapist Bias When Working With Kink
which is in the book Erotically Queer: A Pink Therapy Guide for Practitioners Edited
By Silva Neves and Dominic Davies.
~~~
FEEDBACK FROM COURSE ATTENDEES:
This training may be taken on its own or as part of a 5-day series leading to a: Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships, more info can be found here: Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships
Who should attend : This course is open to all counsellors, psychotherapists, psychosexual therapists, coaches and health workers who wish to deepen their thinking and understanding of kink.
Maximum Number : 30
APPROVED FOR CPD : This course has been accredited by NCIP- National Council Of Integrative Psychotherapists. A Certificate of Attendance form for Continuous Professional Development for 5 hours will be sent by email once you have filled in the feedback form.
OUR EXPECTATION : Is that you will attend this workshop for the full length of the course, have your video on, your mobile off, and fully participate.
There are some online talks on zoom that allow you to come and go, or to choose not to participate in the exercise and breakout rooms. This culture has started to creep into our workshops. We have even had people say they want to leave to go and pick up children from school or walk their dog! People dropping in and out is very disruptive – especially when there may be group exercises that are planned for the same group to participate in a number of times.
Because of this, we want to be clear about our expectations. This workshop has been planned with the assumption that you, and everyone else, will attend for the full time.
So please be clear, that if you book on this workshop, we expect you to attend for the whole time, to participate in the breakout rooms and exercises and have your video switched on.
Please also put your mobile to one side and on silent – checking your phone or texting will mean that you miss material. So we request that you only check your phone during breaks.
SOMETHING WE ALL NEED TO BEAR IN MIND
When powerful feelings are revealed and processed, it is not unusual that our own psychological issues are triggered and flow into the mix. Wilfred Bion is a respected name in the world of group working. He wrote extensively and cogently on issues that invariably occur in groups. We would like to agree basic guidelines with you – based on his findings – to ensure the success of our work together. Bion’s central focus was the disruption (he called it ‘resistance’) that may arise within a group that shifts it away from its agreed task. Our focus, our agreed task for this workshop is NOT therapy for the members or to criticise others.
Our agreed task is to offer teaching and learning related to diversity within contemporary relationships.
To this end, our Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships welcomes and needs people to be courageous, and examine prejudice with tolerance and a minimum of defensiveness. We need our workshops to be safe spaces, where participants can be vulnerable and supported if they make mistakes, as we all do. We would like to remind you that we work within UK law and ethics (Gender Recognition, Equalities Act, MOU and Race) and will not tolerate non-compliance in any way. We wholeheartedly support people courageously stepping forward, and anyone who is critical of this will not be welcome on this training and may be asked to leave.
This module is a part of the Certificate of Diversity Within Contemporary Relationships. More info can be found here Certificate in Diversity within Contemporary Relationships
CANCELLATIONS : Any request to change (e.g. defer to alternative dates) or cancel your place at a workshop, that is made at less than 21 days before the course start date will be charged in full. Any cancellation / amendments / requests to defer before 21 days, will be subject to a 12.5% handling charge.
Organised through Sleeping Mountain Ltd