Tag: Sexuality
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Integration, Not Pathology: A Sex-Positive Approach to “Out of Control” Desire
A look at “Sexual Integration Therapy: a sex-positive sexual health model supporting authentic sexual expression, while addressing sexual compulsivity, shame, fear and trauma” by Galen Fous, Christina Bazzaroni, Rachel Needle and Stephen Favasuli (2025) For most of the last century, psychology had a habit of deciding which desires were “normal” and which were “deviant”, and…
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A Plot Twist in the Polyamory Story: Minority Stress and Mental Health
A look at “Minority stress in consensually non-monogamous individuals: mental health implications” by Nicholas C. Borgogna, Stephen L. Aita and Lilah J. Aita (2024) In several posts in this series, we’ve seen researchers point out that people in consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships are no less mentally healthy than monogamous people. So here’s a study that…
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Kink, Attachment and the Past: Untangling a Tricky Question
A look at “Childhood Sexual Abuse, Adult Attachment Styles, and Involvement in BDSM Practices in Adult Intimate Relationships” by Maja Selič and Vesna Jug (2025) There’s an old, tired assumption that anyone into kink must be “damaged” in some way. It’s an assumption that has done a lot of harm to people who simply enjoy…
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Peers, Pixels and Healing: Online Group Support for Queer Male Survivors of Sexual Trauma
A look at “Peer online motivational interviewing and affirmative care for sexual and gender minority men who are survivors of sexual trauma: A randomized clinical trial” by Joan M. Cook, Chyrell Bellamy, Amy E. Ellis, Vanessa Simiola, Steve Martino, Nicholas A. Livingston and Maria O’Connell (2025) A gentle note: this post discusses sexual trauma in…
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The Bedroom and the Inner Critic: What Shapes Sexual Satisfaction for Gay Men?
A look at “A Theoretical Model for Predicting the Derivation of Sexual Satisfaction in Gay Men” by Rusi Jaspal, Anthony Gifford and Udo Scheinpflug (2026) Great sex isn’t just about technique or chemistry. It’s also about what’s going on in your head, including the voices you’ve absorbed over a lifetime. For many gay men, one…
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Welcome to the United Kink-dom: Furries, Pet Play and Beyond
A look at “A Survey of the United Kink-dom: Investigating Five Paraphilic Interest Groups and Their Demographic and Psychological Correlates” by Ashley Brown, Edward D. Barker, Stella Friedrich and Qazi Rahman (2026) With a title like that, we were always going to cover this one. Researchers at King’s College London surveyed people in five communities…
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Busting the Monogamy-Superiority Myth: What 35 Studies Say About Satisfaction
A look at “Countering the Monogamy-Superiority Myth: A Meta-Analysis of the Differences in Relationship Satisfaction and Sexual Satisfaction as a Function of Relationship Orientation” by Joel R. Anderson, Jordan D. X. Hinton, Alena Bondarchuk-McLaughlin, Scarlet Rosa, Kian Jin Tan and Lily Moor (2026) Throughout this series, we’ve met plenty of studies hinting that people in…
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Who Cares for the Carers? LGBTQIA+ Caregivers and Mental Health
A look at “Assessing sexual and gender identity interaction with the relationship between caregiving and adverse mental health outcomes” by G. Thomas Wilson II, Gilbert Gimm and Rodman Turpin (2026) Caring for an ageing parent, a poorly partner or a friend in need is one of the most loving things anyone can do. It can…
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When the Past Climbs Into Bed: Profiles of Trauma and Sexuality
A look at “Profiles of Traumatic Sexuality in Sex Therapy Patients: A Comparison of Interpersonal Trauma History and Sexual Well-Being” by Nadia Willard Martel, Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan, Shalie-Emma Vaillancourt, Martine Hébert and Natacha Godbout (2025) A gentle note: this post discusses sexual and interpersonal trauma in general terms. For many people who have experienced trauma, the…
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It Doesn’t Just Get Better By Itself: Working with Young Queer Adults Today
A look at “Adopting a queer lens working with LGBTQ+ young people” by Silva Neves (2026) There’s a comforting story that goes something like this: things are so much better for young LGBTQIA+ people now. There’s Pride, rainbow lanyards, queer characters on TV. Surely they’re fine? This opinion piece by a London psychosexual and relationship…
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In It Together: Relationships, Drugs and Sexual Health for Queer Men in Open Relationships
A look at “Interdependence and Sexual Health: Relationship factors associated with sexual behavior among sexual minority males in non-monogamous relationships who use drugs” by Tyrel J. Starks, Joseph R. Hillesheim, Juan Castiblanco and Demetria Cain (2026) Most sexual health research treats people as solo decision-makers: one person, one choice about condoms, one risk. But for…
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Out of Control, or Out of Step? The Science of Compulsive Sexual Behaviour and Porn Use
A look at “Compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and problematic pornography use (PPU): A comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and expert-informed narrative review with suggested future directions” by Campbell Ince, Beáta Bőthe and 27 international colleagues (2026) “Sex addiction” and “porn addiction” are phrases that get thrown around a lot, often with a hefty side of shame. But…
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“Not Enough” vs “Never Perfect”: Why Men Consider Penis Enlargement Surgery
A look at “‘Not enough’ vs. ‘never perfect’: a qualitative analysis of penile enlargement surgery intentions in heterosexual and homosexual men” by Boqiang Zhang, Tie Li and Bin Lei (2026) We hear a lot about body image pressures on women, and increasingly on gay men’s bodies more broadly: gym culture, dating apps and the endless…
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Kink-Aware Therapy: What It Is and Why It Matters
Imagine finally working up the courage to see a therapist about something that’s bothering you, mentioning in passing that you’re into BDSM, and watching the conversation swerve entirely onto your sex life. For many kinky people, that’s not imaginary. It’s why kink-aware therapy matters. What the research says In 2006, Keely Kolmes, Wendy Stock and…
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Minority Stress Explained: Why It’s Not “All in Your Head”
If you’re LGBTQIA+, you may have heard well-meaning people say that queer people are “just more anxious” or “more sensitive”. The research tells a very different story. It’s not that something is wrong with us. It’s that living in a world that isn’t always kind takes a toll. Psychologists call this minority stress. What the…
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The Elephant (or Unicorn) in the Therapy Room: Why Research Forgets About Sex
A look at “Bridging the blind spot in psychotherapy research on personality disorders: a proposal for sexuality-related outcomes as indicators of therapeutic change” by Agnieszka Izdebska, Marta Elżbieta Szymańska-Pytlińska, Jerzy Bandel, Michał Marcin Sieński, Joanna Agata Franczyk and Monika Olga Jańczak (2026) When researchers test whether a therapy works, they measure all sorts of things:…
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Cheating, Childhood and a Touch of Narcissism
A look at “Narcissistic traits as mediators in the relationship between parenting styles and nonconsensual nonmonogamy in university students” by Suany Pineda-Sandoval, Cesia Bustillo-Núñez, Hanny Gómez, Jennifer Chevez, Yeyson Sosa, Marta Kowal and Miguel Landa-Blanco (2026) We’ve spent a lot of this series on consensual non-monogamy, where everyone knows and agrees. This study looks at…
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An Escape Hatch: Lesbian Women, Rejection and Gambling
A look at “The role of social rejection and trauma in homosexual women with gambling problems” by A. Fernández-Villardón, L. Macía and A. Estévez (2026) A gentle note: this post discusses trauma and rejection in general terms. When we picture someone struggling with gambling, the image that often springs to mind is a man in…
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How to Find a Therapist Who Truly Affirms Your Identity
Looking for a therapist can feel like speed-dating, with higher stakes. For LGBTQIA+ people, there’s an extra layer: will this person understand me, or will I spend my sessions educating them? Worse, will they quietly see who I am as the problem? Here’s how to find someone who’ll welcome the whole of you. What “affirming”…