Sexual Consent and Communication

Discussing Sexual Consent can be difficult for both clinicians and clients alike.

What is Sexual Consent? How do you talk about it? What can you actually consent to? And when do things cross the line from fun to a felony?

This course provides an introduction to sexual consent, focusing on what you need to know when working with clients in clinical practice. Topics addressed include:

• Sexual communication.

• The #MeToo movement.

• The legality of consent in Canada.

• Consent frameworks.

• Drug and alcohol implications for sexual consent.

• Intro to BDSM and consent.

• Ideas for exploring consent with clients.

• And the clinical considerations associated with sexual consent.

Explore and critically examine your own biases, assumptions, and personal reactions to communicating consent. Also, reflect on how you could clinically address issues with clients on both sides of consent violations; those who are negatively affected and those not aware of the boundaries they are crossing.

In this training, we have broken down consent into three main areas to explore:

1) Defining and Communicating Sexual Consent

Explore the definition of sexual consent, how this may show up for you in session, and learn tips and suggestions for working with consent in session with clients.

2) Consent and BDSM (Sample from our “BDSM: Working with Kinky Clients” Course)

Discover different consent frameworks predominant in the BDSM community to help members navigate the riskier aspects of sexual expression. Explore how consent conversations can differ when working with this population, and delve into essential vocabulary and terminology for consent conversations for clients – kinky or otherwise.

3) Legality and Consent

Explore the intersection of consent and the law in Canada.  We cover the legal age of protection and what this means when working with youth, obligations for reporting, considerations for sexting, and when individuals can and cannot legally give consent.

In our resource section, find handouts to support you and your clients, as well as additional links to external resources, groups, and organizations doing great work in this area for further training.