Are We Ready to Serve? Couple and Family Therapists’ Attitudes Toward BDSM and Their Perceived Competence Helping BDSM Practitioners

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dc.contributor.advisorFish, Jessica Nen_US
dc.contributor.authorBerman, Zachary Laneen_US
dc.contributor.departmentFamily Studiesen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-06T05:31:51Z
dc.date.available2020-10-06T05:31:51Z
dc.date.issued2020en_US
dc.description.abstractCultural competence is a core component of delivering effective psychotherapy to clients with diverse sexual lifestyles, including BDSM practitioners, who constitute a substantial minority of the population. Couple and Family Therapists (CFTs) are uniquely prepared to explore relationships and power dynamics, but no research has explored CFTs’ psychotherapeutic relationship with BDSM practitioners. This study measures CFTs’ BDSM attitudes, perceived competence, and the relationship between these and related professional factors. Results indicated that CFTs (n = 132) have positive attitudes and moderate perceived competence; attitudes and perceived competence were negatively correlated. Controlling for various professional factors such as AASECT certification, we found that participants with at least three or more hours of BDSM-specific training had significantly more positive attitudes and significantly higher perceived competence. Including these hours in graduate training or continuing education credits could help CFTs to feel more “kink aware” and competent to deliver ethical care for this population.en_US
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/wktw-vixu
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/26509
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledCounseling psychologyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledSocial psychologyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledPsychologyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledBDSMen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledcounselingen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledcouple and family therapyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledkinken_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledpsychotherapyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledtherapisten_US
dc.titleAre We Ready to Serve? Couple and Family Therapists’ Attitudes Toward BDSM and Their Perceived Competence Helping BDSM Practitionersen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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