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The results are in, just in time for Valentine's Day!

Sexuality and Intimacy are important aspects of life for most people. Having the skill to address these topics can signal inclusive practice and even serve as a gateway for addressing other critical life domains in collaboration with persons with serious mental illnesses. In June of 2018 Dr. Julie Tennille and Dr. Casey Bohrman gave two separate day-long workshops on motivational interviewing techniques regarding conversations about sexuality and intimacy for individuals with serious mental illnesses to around 80 participants in New York. Training courses were based upon the 2017 Sexuality and Intimacy Toolkit. Across the board, training evaluations showed positive results:

Sexuality and intimacy toolkit training results info-graphic. 61.2% of attendees rated the training as excellent, 30.6% rated it very good and 8.2% rated it good. 67.7% expressed confidence in their ability to address service users concerns with sexuality and intimacy, 59% agreed that allowing a service user to talk about sexual concerns is the provider’s responsibility, 86.9% disagreement that sexuality is too private to discuss with service users. Attendees showed increased agreement that it is essential to discuss sexuality and intimacy, that mental health condition, treatment, and medication may affect sexuality, that providers should feel confident talking about sexuality and intimacy, and that service users expect providers to discuss issues around intimacy. Training evaluations also revealed that 94% of attendees are better able to describe the importance of embracing sexuality, 86% are better able to describe challenges service users experience, 88% are better able to use clinical skills in broaching topics, 94% agree facilitators provided good examples, 94% of agree that they are likely to apply what was learned.

The Temple University Collaborative is proud to partner with Dr. Julie Tennille and Dr. Casey Bohrman to lead the charge in this area.

Download the Toolkit

Conversations about Intimacy and Sexuality: A Training Toolkit using motivational interviewing cover

Forming intimate relationships and expressing sexuality can be challenging for anyone, including people with mental health conditions. This toolkit contains information related to preparing direct service personnel for discussions on topics of intimacy and sexuality with persons with mental health conditions. Informed by the Motivational Interviewing technique, this toolkit includes experiential exercises with instructions, evaluation forms, hyperlinks to resources, and references to be used by trainers. http://www.tucollaborative.org/ sdm_downloads/sexuality-and-intimacy-toolkit/

The Research Speaks for Itself

Sexuality and Disability Journal Cover

This article delineates an adaptation of the Field Instructors Extending EBP Learning in Dyads (FIELD) Model, for the field instructor and social work student dyad. Utilizing motivational interviewing techniques, FIELD imparts sexuality and intimacy practice competencies for collaboration with persons living with psychiatric disabilities. https://rdcu.be/blPM8

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The Temple University Collaborative is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), and Temple University. The content of this special announcement does not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. 
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