• Interchange Counseling (map)
  • 401 13th St
  • San Francisco, CA 94130
  • United States

Register here!

Introducing:

Beyond Victims and Criminals:

Justice Based Work with Sex Workers

for Therapists, Counselors, Social Workers, and Helping Professionals

Improve your practice. Learn cultural competence and sex positive strategies for working with current and former sex workers.

In collaboration with Sex Positive Sacramento, Sacramento Sex Workers Outreach Project and The Gender Health Center

Part of a series of trainings to increase your confidence, skills, knowledge, and resources in working with clients around sexuality.

***Continuing Education Units provided***

 

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is for you if you are a counselor, therapist, social worker, other helping professional, intern, or volunteer. Your career is rooted in connecting with people, creating a sense of safety, and providing compassion.

 

Has this ever happened to you?

  • You wish you felt more confident working with clients who engage in sex work.
  • You wish you were able to refer your clients to quality, accessible, nonjudgmental resources that resonate with your clients, instead of further marginalizing them.
  • You feel unsure about where to find accurate, nuanced information about the issues sex workers face and what their lives are REALLY like.
  • You shy away from broaching issues related to sexuality or sex work with clients.
  • You wonder, “Why didn’t my questions draw out the information I was looking for?”
  • You wish you could establish a better rapport or therapeutic alliance with your clients who are sex workers – you wonder “Why don’t they trust me?”
  • You want to know how to help put your clients at ease when talking about their lives, without unintentionally reinforcing stereotypes.
  • You want to signal to sex workers that YOU are a SAFE person to talk to.
  • You want to help your client access resources that won’t compromise their safety or privacy.
  • You wonder if you are striking the right balance between addressing the client’s right to sexual self-determination, and your concerns about their wellbeing.
  • You feel a bit of panic when a client brings up a sexual or sex work related topic you're not familiar with.

     

You are NOT alone!  Talking with clients about sex can be awkward enough – and talking about sex work, which in many cases is illegal – is tricky territory.

When they feel comfortable, people confide things in you they never or rarely talk about with anyone else. They seek your advice. They ask you, “Am I normal? Am I okay?” Sometimes, you might not know exactly how to respond.

Sexuality is an essential part of nearly everyone’s life. Survival sex and sex work are much more common than we publicly acknowledge. Sex and sex work are surrounded by secrecy, stigma, misinformation, and miscommunication. Add to this aspects of legality, and you find yourself in murky territory. You want to take the guesswork out of do right while your clients in a murky area.

The Therapy and Social Services with Sex Workers training is for YOU!

YOU are ALREADY doing the work of building trusting, compassionate relationships with your clients. This workshop builds on your knowledge, experience, and skills, and adds a set of tools and resources to help you address these difficult topics with ease!

 

What Will I Get Out of this Class?

The Therapy and Social Services with Sex Workers workshop series is custom designed to provide you with:

  • A framework for talking with clients about sexuality and sex work in a way that reinforces that comfort and safety in a world that frames sex workers as either victims or criminals.
  • Language for talking about your clients’ lives and work experiences in a non-judgmental way.
  • An insider’s look at the lives of sex workers.
  • Harm reduction tools, resources, and techniques to help your clients keep themselves safe.
  • A set of tools for asking skillful questions that will draw out the useful information you ACTUALLY need to help them.
  • Methods for avoiding common pitfalls that signal to your client that you are not a safe person to talk to and inhibit your client from bringing up essential topics.
  • A plethora of relatable, accessible resources for every client, and for yourself.
  • Valuable information your colleagues will appreciate when they consult you about their own clients!

What are people saying about Sex Positive Sacramento’s training courses?

“In a world where fear and negativity are presented so often in the media and education, it was very refreshing to hear a presentation regarding sex that centered around positivity.  It was also fabulous to learn the different aspects of sex from a wide range of beliefs.  I am a firm believer that sex is a beautiful thing because it is different for each individual.  Heather and Trevor's presentation confirm that this is true, through their representation of all types of sex.  In addition, the information is interesting and includes excellent information that is lacking in ‘everyday’ sex education courses.  I have taken the course twice and would take it again because each time I learn something new.” – Liz Mariscal-Van Houten, MFTI

“I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop you and Trevor did on addressing sex in a clinical context. It is so important and I never really thought of it, yet to NOT talk about it is to effectively shame or at least silence the client… I loved how you brought in all those books and resources. Your passion for this often taboo subject shone through, and everyone was engaged!” – Rachel Marine, MSW

“Heather and Trevor gave a talk in my MSW class about sexuality and non-monogamy in our work with our clients. Their talk was fun, entertaining, informative, but above of all Heather and Trevor were very open and approachable to any questions and/or curiosity about the topic. They also were able to shed some light on a controversial subject. Also it was clear that they were passionate about the topic, which makes the talk more engaging. I think Heather is a great educator and I would definitely go to another of her talks!” -- Mariana Nogueira de Andrade, MSW
 

What’s Included? 

$100 includes coffee, continental breakfast, and workbook with resources – yours FREE to keep, PLUS CEU credits! Enroll with a colleague and you will both receive 10% off!

(Some scholarships available - contact us now for details.)

 

Satisfaction is 100% Guaranteed! 

You will walk away from this training feeling more confident in your ability to work with clients around sex work, GUARANTEED - or your money back!

 

Why Enroll Today?

Your clients confide in you because they TRUST you, and they count on YOU to be at your best. You NOURISH, and they FLOURISH!

You work hard to cultivate a compassionate, effective practice. You want to be sure your clinical work around sex work is skillful and accessible. You don’t want to be stuck worrying about whether you’re speaking your clients’ language. You don’t want to waste time wondering which resources are best.

YOU deserve to feel confident in your ability to address clients’ concerns around sex work with compassion, knowledge and competency.

Warmly,

Heather, Trevor & Stacey

 

P.S. – Our aim is to provide knowledge, skills, language, and resources to ensure that your work with clients who have/do engage in sex work is as effective and skillful as possible. We GUARANTEE this workshop will improve your comfort and knowledge level regarding clinical conversations involving sexuality.

We are looking forward to seeing you on February 27!