It is with a great deal of pleasure and excitement that I agreed to chair this committee several months ago. The EAC is a terrific group of hard-working individuals who are striving to create an ethically sound and ethically sensitive AASECT environment. The committee members include Reece Malone, Heather Raznick, Larry Siegel, and Lisa Schwartz. We have been meeting every month or two to deal with ethics matters including complaints and educational programming.
Greetings, AASECT colleagues! My name is Rosalyn Dischiavo, I am the incoming chairperson for the Professional Education Steering Committee, which includes conferences, institutes, and the CE approval committee. Previously, I have served on the Certification Committee, the CE committee, and as the chairperson of the Organizational Providers committee. I am still developing goals together with my sub-committee chairs, but my main goals for this term are all aimed at making AASECT processes and procedures more understandable and simple for new applicants and current members.
I’m a brand new AASECT Board member and chair of the Public Relationships, Media and Advocacy committee. For those who don’t know me – I was trained as a sex therapist in the early 1980’s in the post-doctoral program run by Sandra Leiblum and Ray Rosen in New Jersey’s University of Medicine and Dentristy, and I first joined AASECT shortly thereafter. I’m a licensed psychologist, certified sex therapist and sex therapy supervisor. But I entered grad school thinking of myself as an activist: I’d been active in the civil rights movement and peace movement in the 1960’s, and in the feminist and lesbian rights movements of the 1970’s. And I was deeply suspicious of ‘psychiatry,’ which I considered to be an extension of patriarchal, racist, and homophobic institutions. My activist identity has always informed my work, which since 1976 has been primarily with the LGBTQ+ community. So when I was invited to chair this committee, and was told my responsibility would primarily be to help make AASECT more active in taking public positions in line with advocacy for the populations we serve and values we hold, it was a natural for me.
The location of the 2019 annual conference is Philadelphia! It is an amazing place that offers AASECT a multitude of diverse experiences and we are hoping to integrate as much local talent and participation as possible. We are already at work reviewing the feedback of 2018 conference attendees, putting together a conference committee, and choosing a theme that reflects our desire to further integrate the fields of education, counseling, and therapy. The conference venue (selected years in advance by staff) is the same size as the Denver hotel, so chances are that we will sell out well in advance. We promise to be in touch with the new theme, deadline for proposals, and other details as soon as they are decided.
Happy 2018 from the Outreach Committee! I hope that this year has been a dynamic one for you thus far. To AASECT’s ongoing members, great to have you with us! For our new AASECT members – welcome!
From sex robots to desire discrepancy to public masturbation, AASECT continues to receive national media inquiries on a weekly basis via our press & media hub. While there is still work ahead to establish AASECT as the go-to authority on matters related to sexuality, we are increasingly part of the national conversation. As the Director of PRMA, the feedback I receive from media professionals about AASECT contributors is extremely positive: our members are known for providing timely, scientifically-accurate, context relevant information to the Media.
The Communications Steering Committee continues to focus on two key projects:
The Committee has been working in several areas to improve the certification process and to address issues as they come up. The changes listed below is a result of our last November certification meeting and was sent out to the membership in early 2018. In addition, we have also instituted telehealth guidelines for those who are currently working toward their certification and counting their face to face sex therapy hours, effective March 1, 2018. Tele Health Sex Therapy
As we get closer to June, we are excited to highlight some of the evening events being offered during the conference. These activities combine learning, entertainment, participation, and they connect us with folks from the local Denver community. Taste of Kink II--Registration fee: $125
The last year has been an exciting one for PR, Media and Advocacy (PRMA). One highlight was releasing our position statement regarding sex addiction and getting so much support within AASECT as well as from the media. We received considerable coverage from over 20 major publications, including USA TODAY, New York Magazine, SELF Magazine and Esquire Magazine.