My Kid Wants to Do What? How to Help Your Clients Navigate their Kids’ Sexuality (4 CE Hours)

Course Description

This workshop tackles the most common sexual concern that doesn’t actually concern us: “How do I talk to my children about sexuality?” Clients come into therapy looking for guidance, even in the parenting space. In this four hour seminar, participants will be able to debunk common myths about child and adolescent sexuality so that they can better help their clients manage these issues at home.

Learning Objectives

1. Explain what is typical sexual development for children and adolescents
2. Discuss a holistic model of what it means to be “sexually healthy”
3. Describe the multiple sources of media/culture that impact a young person’s sexuality and sexual life
4. Create communication guidelines for their clients to implement at home

Presenter Bio:

Logan Levkoff, Ph.D., is an AASECT certified sex educator and served on the AASECT Board of Directors. She received her Ph.D. in Human Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Life Education from New York University and an M.S. in Human Sexuality Education and a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in New York City with her husband, son, and daughter.

A recognized expert on sexuality and relationships, Dr. Logan Levkoff encourages honest conversation about sexuality and the role it plays in our culture. Logan makes it clear that sex and sexuality are not “dirty” words; she works to create an environment where people feel comfortable asking (and getting answers to) their most personal questions. Logan empowers children, adolescents, and adults to embrace their sexuality and challenge the impractical, and often unhealthy, messages that they are exposed to.

Logan is dedicated to perpetuating healthy and positive messages about sexuality and relationships. She speaks on a wide range of issues, including sexual health and sexuality education, trends in sexuality, relationship hurdles, and the role of sexuality in pop culture and politics. For over a decade, Logan has been teaching groups of all ages and from a variety of backgrounds. She has designed and implemented sexuality education programs, faculty development, and parent education in many secular and religious independent schools, universities, medical schools, and community organizations. Logan’s work with teens and parents has been profiled in numerous publications, including The New York Times.

References:

Astle, S; Brasileiro, J. (2023). Whose job is it anyway? Parents’ perspectives of responsibilities for educating their children about sex. Sexuality Research and Social Policy.

Astle, S. M; Anders, K. M. (2023). The relationship between topic-specific quality of parent-child sexual communication and measures of sexual self-concept and sexual subjectivity. The Journal of Sex Research Vol. 60(7), 1055-1067.

Bishop, M.D., Fish, J.N., & Russell, S.T.  (2024). The timing of sexual identity development milestones: Disentangling age from cohort influences. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.

Brandon-Friedman, R.A., et al. (2020). Sexual identity development and sexual well-being: Differences between sexual minority and non-sexual minority former foster youth. Children and Youth Services Review, Vol 117.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Exemplary Sexual Health Education (ESHE). Retrieved on March 5, 2014 from http://www.cdc.gov/ healthyyouth/foa/1308foa/pdf/eshe_rationale.pdf

Gibbons, J.L., & Poelker,K. (2019).  Adolescent Development in a Cross‐Cultural Perspective, Cross‐Cultural Psychology, (190-215).

Grossman, J.,  Jones, C., & Richer, A.  (2023). “I put it all out there. I have nothing to hide. It’s my mom”: Parents’ and Emerging Adults’ Perspectives on Family Talk about Sex. Sex education Vol. 23(4), 449-463.

Kumar Kar, S., Chourdhury, A., Pratap Singh, Al., (2015). Understanding normal development of adolescent sexuality: A bumpy ride. Journal of Human Reproductive Science, 82(2), 70-74.

Kar, S.K., Choudhury, A., Singh, A. P. (2015). Understanding normal development of adolescent sexuality: A bumpy ride. Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences Vol. 8, Iss. 2, (2015): 70-74.

McCrimmon, J., Widman, L., & Brasileiro, J. (2024). Adolescent barriers to sexual communication with their parents: Differences by sexual and gender identity. Journal of Sex Research

Shepler, Dustin; Perrone-McGovern, Kristin (Jan 2016 – Mar 2016). Differences in psychological distress and esteem based on sexual identity development. College Student Journal Vol. 50, Iss. 4, : 579-589.