Men who had experienced sexual abuse as children established SAMSN (Sexually Abused Men’s Support Network) in Sydney Australia specifically for men who had been sexually abused as children. Professionally facilitated peer support groups are among the many services they run. Terry and Rob have been facilitators for the Adelaide groups, but groups are run throughout New South Wales.
Mike Giancola and Diana Lozoya strove to highlight some of the ways that 'No' as a spoken form of not wanting socially, physically or sexually intimate contact may be used to bring partners and partner groups closer together. This may contrast with discursive notions of 'No' as a sign of flat rejection, failure or distancing. How can 'No' be reclaimed, valued, heard and respected by both the people who give the 'No' as well as those who receive it?
In this Collab Salon, Mike Giancola and Rob Santos will first present a framework, drawn from the sexual health movement, for organizing conversations about clients’ sexual hopes, preferences, values and practices. We will then convene a dialogue on the question of how these “sexual health principles” interact with key principles and practices in Narrative Therapy.
As featured guest for our May Collab Salon, Charley Lang presented on the topic of Queer Counseling & Narrative Practice. Beginning with three definitions of "queer," he posed questions about how binaries are helpful and not helpful in our lives. Charley brought us through polarities, as expressed through a recent "pulp fiction" art project. Thank you, Charley for this presentation, and for being our Collab Salon co-host. Your keen intelligence, teaching skills and generosity of spirit are so appreciated by all. We look forward to more opportunities to learn from and with you!