Today, I worked on my enhancing Kink/BDSM/Poly cultural competence. :) 

Kink/BDSM/Poly Consultation Group led by John McConnell, Ph.D. This group is for mental health professionals who take a kink-positive stance toward clients who engage in kinky or poly behaviors, clients with a kinky or poly orientation, or clients with a kinky or poly identity. Group meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesday from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, in Hillcrest. $30/session for licensed (sliding for interns). Dr. McConnell has presented on BDSM and poly to many professional and community groups. His orientation is EFT for relationships and psychodynamic for individuals. Contact: JohnMcConnellPhd.com or 619-993-3397

Graduate programs provide thoroughly inadequate coverage of BDSM and poly. Although it is not a diagnosis per se, BDSM has prevalence in the range of many presenting issues (e.g., OCD, GAD, severe PTSD, BLPD, Schizophrenia, Agoraphobia). Specifically, in the general population there is a 12-month incidence of kinky behavior of 2.2% in males and a 1.3% of kinky behavior in females. Some 65% of college students have reported BSDM fantasies (Kleinplatz & Moser, 2005).

Kink-identified clients report a high incidence of harm by therapists who are negatively biased or culturally incompetent. Of 175 psychotherapy clients who had engaged in BDSM for at least two years there were 118 reported instances of clear biased, inadequate or inappropriate care (Kolmes, Keely, Wendy Stock, and Charles Moser (2006). If you are not kink-friendly then you have probably had many clients who were kinky and never talked about it. 28% of kinky clients never disclose their orientation to their therapist. (1/8-2/5)