The more recent changes in terminologies (from LGBTIQ+ to GSRD) alert us, that a one-size-fits-all model of intimate relationships – two people either romantically or sexually attracted – do not match the reality of what comes through our door in Psychosexual and Relationship therapy. The 2022 England and Wales census alerts us to an increase in various client populations and that several of the larger cities can no longer be described as “white”. Instead, we recognise that intimate relationships may have found (some, in other cultures for centuries) a wider range of expressions including those relationship models which originate in non-white, non educated, non Eurocentric and often faith based cultures: arranged marriages (more than 55% globally), polygamous ones (5 partners in a relationship) and, perhaps more familiar to us, polyamory. As a result, our conventionally trained Psychosexual and Relationship therapists may find themselves in the therapy rooms challenged by multiple partners in the same room, or that previously held assumptions including those related to attraction, romance, desire or even intimacy are outdated.
This self-access class helps Psychosexual and Relationship Therapists to:
- To recognise, welcome and respond to a wide range of relationship expressions
- To equip therapists to be more culturally inclusive
- To expand common definitions of GSRD to include non “white” cultures
- To fully appreciate the difference between different types of culture: individualist (Anglo-American, “colonialists”) – collectivist (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, indigenous cultures, African diaspora)
About the Trainer
Bernd Leygraf is a Consultant Psychotherapist specialising in sex and relationship therapy with 40 years experience in the field. International trainer in sex and relationships in SE Asia, India, ME, Africa and many countries touched by colonialism. He is course director of a Middlesex University accredited PRT, the longest established in the UK and CEO of the Naos Institute (www.naos-institute.com)
Bernd runs one of only two COSRT accredited trainings in Relationship Therapy and the only psychosexual and relationship training in the UK leading directly to the Accredited Register (PSA).
