Understanding Sexual Trauma Across Genders (FREE)

 Earn 3 CE Contact Hours

Clinicians will inevitably work with individuals who have experienced sexual assault or rape as adolescents or adults; some individuals will present for treatment specifically to address the sequelae of these experiences and others may present with different concerns but reveal a history of sexual trauma later in treatment. In either case, clinicians who are well informed about the research on sexual assault and rape will be better equipped to help their clients and patients.

This presentation will summarize research on sexual assault, sexual consent, and unwanted sex. The first part of the presentation will provide some general background information about definitions, prevalence, and common characteristics of rape and sexual assault across different genders. The second part of the presentation will discuss the distinctions among nonconsensual sex, coerced sex, and unwanted sex and will highlight the contexts in which these distinctions are (and are not) important when working with clients who have had upsetting or traumatic sexual experiences. Finally, the third part of the presentation will discuss how the complexities related to sexual consent, coercion, and wantedness can potentially contribute to the phenomenon of unacknowledged rape. The presentation will address how unacknowledged rape may influence a victim’s treatment and recovery following sexual assault. Throughout the presentation, implications of research findings for clinical practice will be highlighted.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe potential psychological outcomes associated with experiencing unwanted sex, coerced sex, and nonconsensual sex and how these are similar and different for men and women.
• Distinguish between unwanted sex and nonconsensual sex and discuss how that distinction might be useful when working with sexual assault victims.
• Summarize research findings related to the continuum of sexually coercive behavior, and explain how that continuum is relevant to treatment of sexual assault victims.

Disclaimer:

This workshop includes discussion of sexual assault, rape, coercion, nonconsensual sexual experiences, and related trauma. Participants are encouraged to consider their own well-being when engaging with this material.

Who Should Attend:

Mental health professionals, psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and other clinicians who work with adolescents or adults impacted by trauma, relationship concerns, or unwanted or nonconsensual sexual experiences. This workshop is especially relevant for clinicians seeking a deeper understanding of consent, coercion, sexual trauma, and the ways these experiences can affect mental health, relationships, and recovery.

Meet Dr. Zoë Peterson:

Dr. Zoe Peterson is a Professor of Counseling Psychology and Director of the Sexual Assault Research Initiative at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. She is also trained and licensed as a clinical psychologist. Dr. Peterson researches unwanted, coerced, nonconsensual, and exploitative sex. For example, she is interested in:

• better understanding how victims make meaning from and recover following experiences of sexual assault,
• identifying modifiable risk factors for sexual assault perpetration to inform prevention interventions, and
• improving the measurement of sexual exploitation in research and clinical settings.

She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on these topics. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, and she is a past-president of the Society for the Scientific Study of the Sexuality. She edited the Wiley Handbook of Sex Therapy in 2017, which won the Book of the Year Award from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists