Sexuality and Intimacy in the Recovery Process

This 3-hour course is a basic primer on sexuality and intimacy, a good starting point for counselors to begin to address sexuality in counseling, to establish a comfort level for counselors with these issues, and to present ideas on counselors for further pursue these issues with further training and clinical supervision.  Taking this course WILL NOT make the reader a sex therapist. Do not attempt to take the sex counseling techniques addressed in this course and “try them out” on your patients.  It is intended to do the following: To provide basic information on the relationship of sexual concerns, difficulties and dysfunctions and alcohol and drug use and abuse; To enhance clinical skills in identification, assessment, treatment and referral of sexual issues in recovery.

Goals/Objectives

By participating in this Distance Learning Course, the trainee will be able to:

• Describe the basics of sexuality: sex steroids and gonadatropins
• Provide definitions of sexual concerns, difficulties, dysfunctions
• Define at least three characteristics of addictive relationships
• Provide an overview of drug effects and sexuality with a special focus on marijuana
• Discuss at least three key issues for women, sexuality and substances
• Discuss at least three key issues for men, sexuality and substances
• Take a sex history with an alcoholic or drug abuser
• Describe the basics of sex therapy
• Describe the PLISSIT model of sex counseling
• Discuss counselor-client issues in counseling
• Describe at least three qualities of Inhibited Sexual Desire and its treatment.

Your Course Instructor:
David Powell
Ph.D., LADC, CCS, LMFT

Dr. David J. Powell, Ph.D., LADC, CCS, LMFT is President of the Clinical Supervision Institute, a division of the International Center for Health Concerns, Inc (ICHC). He is most noted for his work in clinical supervision and management, having trained thousands of counselors, managers, supervisors, and directors since 1976. He is the author of five books, his latest, Clinical Supervision in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling, which is the major text on the subject in the substance abuse field. A clinician of 36 years, Dr. Powell is a licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified clinical supervisor, certified sex therapist, and Diplomat in the International Academy of Behavioral Medicine and Psychotherapy. He was Chief Executive Officer/President of ETP Inc. for twenty-five years wherein he oversaw the clinical supervision programs for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, operational at over 100 military bases worldwide. Currently Dr. Powell is involved in clinical supervisory training, and presents on subjects ranging from integrating spirituality into treatment, macro- and micro-ethics, men's issues in the second half of life, and care for the caregiver. As President of ICHC he is involved in establishing exchanges of information and resources concerning behavioral health between militaries of various nations. 

Dr. Powell is a father of two adult daughters, married to Barbara since 1972, and is an avid model railroader and plays trumpet in a brass ensemble.