The Advanced Practitioner Summit Imago, EMDR, Trauma Healing & Applied Sexology

100% Online Conference!

Step into The Advanced Practitioner Summit: Imago, EMDR, Trauma Healing & Applied Sexology—a dynamic, two-day professional training designed for sexual health professionals who want to work at the leading edge of relational and sexual wellbeing.

Happening February 21–22, this training brings together Dr. Joe Kort and a roster of expert educators for an immersive deep dive into the therapeutic models shaping today’s most effective clinical practice. This is where advanced theory meets real-world application.

This training shows you how to integrate Imago Relationship Therapy, EMDR principles, and modern trauma-healing frameworks to transform conflict, process sexual and relational wounds, and strengthen clients’ emotional regulation and sense of safety. By weaving applied sexology with trauma-informed care, you’ll gain practical tools to address desire differences, arousal challenges, relational ruptures, compulsive patterns, and a wide range of sexual expressions.

Over these two days you will dive into:

• Principles of Imago Relationship Therapy—including mirroring, validation, and empathic dialogue—and describe how these methods support relational attunement and conflict transformation in clinical practice.

• How to apply Imago techniques to assess relationship dynamics and guide couples through structured communication processes that enhance connection, reduce reactivity, and strengthen secure attachment.

• The foundational principles of EMDR, including bilateral stimulation and adaptive information processing, and explain how these mechanisms support the resolution of sexual shame, attachment injuries, and trauma-related triggers.

• How to apply EMDR-informed strategies to help clients reduce distress related to performance anxiety, relational trauma, and psychosexual concerns, integrating these techniques into a broader trauma-informed therapeutic approach.

Dr. Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW

(A) From Imago to Integration: Advanced Relational Theory, Clinical Attunement, and Transformative Interventions

How to deepen pattern recognition, emotional repair, and corrective relational experiences in couples and individuals through an advanced Imago framework.

(B) The Relational Imprint of Trauma: How Wounds Show Up Between Partners—and the Pathways to Healing

Understanding how trauma shapes attachment, conflict, and desire, and how clinicians can facilitate safety, co-regulation, and repair within relationships.

(C) Reliving to Resolve: Trauma Reenactment, Erotic Trauma, and the Role of Imago in Relational Healing

Exploring why partners unconsciously repeat trauma, how trauma can surface in sexual dynamics and “trauma play,” and how Imago can guide reparative relational work.

Amanda Jepson, LPC, CST, ACS, ABS

EMDR-Informed Care for Sexual Trauma: Research, Readiness, and Clinical Support

Juliane Maxwald, LP, CST

Beyond Betrayal: Five Psychological Types of Affairs and What Each Requires for Healing

Infidelity is often treated as a single clinical phenomenon requiring standardized stages of recovery: disclosure, accountability, and rebuilding trust. While these elements are important, they are not sufficient when the psychological and erotic functions of different types of affairs are not understood.

This advanced training reframes infidelity as a set of distinct emotional and erotic strategies rather than a single form of betrayal. Drawing on contemporary psychoanalysis, trauma theory, attachment research, and sex therapy, participants will be introduced to five psychological types of affairs, each rooted in different relational conflicts and regulatory needs.

Particular attention will be given to clients who maintain a “secret sexual self,” including compulsive sexual acting out, anonymous encounters, and paid sexual relationships. These patterns often reflect dissociation, sexual shame, and early relational adaptations rather than unmet romantic attachment needs, and they require a different therapeutic approach than emotionally bonded affairs.

Through clinical examples and applied intervention strategies, this presentation will help clinicians assess the underlying function of an affair, tailor treatment to the specific injury and relational dynamics involved, and support deeper integration of attachment, sexuality, and emotional regulation in recovery work.

Erin Musick, M.C.,R. Psych, CST, RYT

Healing Sexual Shame and Disconnection: An EMDR and Somatic Pathway to Embodied Sexual Health

This presentation will explore how EMDR and somatic therapy approaches can support clients in processing sexual trauma and shame while rebuilding embodied trust, choice, and pleasure. Participants will learn also how to address sexual pain and performance issues through trauma-informed, body-based interventions that prioritize empowerment and nervous system regulation.

Desirée N. Robinson, PhD, LCSW-C, CST

Befriending the Protector, Repairing the Bond: Integration of IFS and EFT in Sex Therapy

How to combine Emotionally Focused Therapy and Internal Family Systems to navigate vulnerability, shame, and erotic connection.

Kat Kova MSc, RP, Phd candidate

The Anxious Performer

The Anxious Performer presents a case of a young man navigating sexual performance anxiety, highlighting the therapeutic process of unpacking and challenging dominant internalized narratives of male sexuality. Drawing on a narrative-informed approach, the presentation traces how these beliefs were identified and reshaped in treatment, and how a multifaceted biopsychosocial formulation was grounded in narrative work while strengthened through a complementary eclectic approach.

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SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, feb 21st

START TIME: 10:00AM - 6:00pm cst

SUNDAY, feb 22nd

START TIME: 10:00AM - 6:00pm cst

PRESENTERS

More presenters coming soon!

Dr. Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW

Psychotherapist Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW, is the clinical director and founder of The Center for Relationship and Sexual Health in Royal Oak, Michigan. He is a board-certified clinical sexologist, author of four books, lecturer and facilitator of therapeutic workshops. Throughout his 36 years of private practice, he successfully has utilized varying therapy modalities to help hundreds of individuals and couples improve their lives and strengthen their relationships.

Dr. Kort specializes in marital problems and conflicts; mixed orientation marriages; male sexuality and sexual health concerns; “sex addiction,” out-of-control sexual behaviors; sexual identity issues; childhood sexual abuse; LGBTQIA Affirmative Therapy; and Imago Relationship Therapy.

He is trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), a safe and effective treatment that can help patients who have suffered for years from anxiety, distressing memories, nightmares, insomnia, abuse or other traumatic events.

Dr. Kort obtained his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, with a dual major in psychology and social work. He earned master’s degrees in social work and psychology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a doctorate (PhD) in Clinical Sexology from the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists.

Amanda Jepson, LPC, CST, ACS, ABS

Amanda Jepson (she/her) is a total sex nerd, both personally and professionally. She is one of the co-founders of Respark Foundation, a Clinical Therapist at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic at the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience, and an adjunct lecturer for the University of Colorado-Denver. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor, SHA and AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, Amanda has been a therapist for over a decade; she specializes in working with active duty and veteran military service members and first responders on issues such as combat trauma, physical or sexual abuse, sexual assault, and vicarious trauma. Additionally, her specialized training means she is skilled in helping clients navigate issues and interests related to sex, sexuality, consensual nonmonogamy, and kink from an intersectional and inclusive lens. Amanda has been previously featured on the Sex & Psychology Podcast as well as on Midori’s Consent Dojo and Patreon. She is passionate about empowering her clients as they reclaim their whole selves, providing consultation to both seasoned and new providers, and being a sex-positive provocateur hoping to instigate thoughtful dialogue and dispel shame related to all things kinky and sexy.

Juliane Maxwald, LP, CST

Juliane Maxwald is a licensed Psychoanalyst (LP) and an AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist (CST). She specializes in relationship, intimacy, and career-related concerns.

She has over 20 years of experience, with extensive training in individual psychotherapy and coaching, addiction treatment, trauma-informed work, couples therapy, and sex therapy.

Juliane has served on the faculty at The NY Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, The Center for Modern Psychoanalysis, and the Sex Therapy Program at The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, where she has taught courses, facilitated workshops, and supervised therapists in training.

Erin Musick, M.C.,R. Psych, CST, RYT

Erin Musick is a Registered Psychologist, AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, and 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher. She is one of the owners of Lethbridge Counselling Services and has worked in the counselling field since 2006. Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology and a Master of Counselling degree in Counselling Psychology. She completed her sex therapy training with the Sexual Health Alliance in 2022.

Her areas of practice include sexuality and related concerns (sexual difficulties, sexual shame, desire and arousal struggles, impacts of trauma, sexual dysfunction, and out-of-control sexual behavior), trauma and attachment concerns, health and chronic illness/pain, binge eating and disordered eating, body image, depression, anxiety, panic, OCD, adult ADHD, life transitions, and fears and phobias. Erin is kink-aware and affirming, and works openly with polyamorous, CNM, and LGBTQIA2S+ clients.

Erin is a Certified EMDR Therapist and Consultant with EMDRIA and has been using EMDR in her practice for over 20 years. Her work is also informed by somatic approaches, polyvagal theory, DBT, systems approaches, and ACT. She takes a highly person-centered and strengths-based approach to therapy.

Desirée N. Robinson, PhD, LCSW-C, CST

Desirée is a Certified Sex Therapist & Integrative Practitioner with advanced training in multiple styles of individual & couples therapy, providing a significant professional lexicon to support and engage a multitude of needs.

As a clinician, she utilizes an intersectional lens to discuss pertinent - and "taboo" - topics inclusive of implicit bias with regards to weight/body image, the impacts of racism, sexism, capitalism and being "othered" within our interpersonal (relationships with others) and intrapersonal (relationship with self) dynamics.

In addition to her training, Desirée also specializes in working with ethnic, religious, and spiritual individuals currently working towards developing or strengthening their practice and enhancing their sense of self.

Kat Kova, MSc, RP, PhD Candidate

Kat Kova, MSc, RP, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Social and Personality Psychology Program at York University under the supervision of Amy Muise. Kova holds a Masters of Science Degree in Couple & Family Therapy Program from the University of Guelph, an Honours BA Degree in Psychology from York University, and a Certificate in Sexuality Studies from York University. She is an Associate Member of the Association of Sex Therapy in Ontario and has completed the Sex Therapy Intensive Training at the University of Guelph. Kova is interested in how romantic partners can optimize sexual and relationship satisfaction and her research has been published in the Journal of Sex Research and Current Opinion in Psychology. In 2025, she was awarded with the Sandra R. Leiblum Student Research Award from The Society for Sex Therapy and Research and Best Student Manuscript Award from the International Academy or Sex Research. Her clinical and research insights have been featured in the textbook Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity (6th edition) and covered by Cityline, Global News, the Toronto Star, and other outlets including Forbes, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour. Kova is also the Founder & Clinical Director of Kat Kova Therapy.

WANT TO BECOME SHA CERTIFIED?

Imagine completing your Certification in Sexology (and including your AASECT application) in a fraction of the time—saving hundreds of hours—while gaining every CE you need, all in one place. When you become SHA Certified, you’re not just checking boxes; you’re joining a global community of sex educators, counselors, coaches, and therapists who are shaping the future of sexual health.

Instead of piecing together conferences one by one and hoping they align with International standards or the (US AASECT requirements), you can enroll in SHA’s Sexuality Educator / Counselor / Coach / Sexology / Sex Therapy Certification Program, where every training is intentionally curated, tracked, and streamlined to support your AASECT path. No guesswork. No overwhelm. Just a clear, supported journey from start to finish.

As an SHA Certified professional, you’ll gain:

• Access to a thriving global community of practitioners and leaders

• Expert faculty, mentorship, and guidance every step of the way

• Exclusive SHA trainings, tools, and support you won’t find anywhere else

• A complete, organized portfolio for international associations (including AASECT-aligned hours)

If you’re ready to take your sexual health education further—and become truly sexceptional—apply to become SHA Certified today. Your future clients (and your future self) will thank you. Apply HERE.