Sexual Health Alliance Presents a
Two-Day Online Sexceptional Weekend!
Friday, August 28th 9am-5pm (Central Standard Time)
Stephen Snyder, MD
Saturday, August 29th 9am-5pm (Central Standard Time)
Sameera Qureshi, MS
What actually happens in bed and what goes on in each partner’s head? We will also learn cutting-edge approaches to understanding the male erotic mind. Saturday, we will discuss how Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in North America, as well as the most racially diverse, yet it continues to be misunderstood, especially as it relates to providing culturally and religiously responsive heath education and care services. This conference will empower sex educators, coaches counselors, therapists, and healthcare providers.
*This conference will be recorded. You need to attend LIVE if you are a part of our certification program.
FRIDAY: Stephen Snyder, MD
9:00am - 12:30pm CST
Rapid Assessment & Treatment of Sexual Problems in the 21st Century
Presented by Stephen Snyder, MD
Do you want to know how to quickly get practical information about a client’s sexual experience? What actually happens in bed and what goes on in each partner’s head? In the first half of this full day online workshop, Dr. Stephen Snyder will teach you how to empower clients to more carefully observe their own psychological arousal, equipping clients with a vocabulary to describe their psychological arousal, and helping clients understand the regressive quality of psychological arousal and the infantile nature of the sexual self.
Following Helen Kaplan, we’ll distinguish between remote causes of sexual problems (such as attachment trauma and pathological internal object relations) and immediate causes (such as behaviors that interrupt psychological arousal). Clinical cases will be presented throughout, and will be worked through collaboratively with attendees.
One sexual problem often leads to others. By the time clients present for treatment, they typically have multiple sexual issues. We’ll discuss the concept of a “sexual review of systems” that ensures the clinician asks about all aspects of sexual function, even aspects that clients may not consider relevant. We’ll discuss the most common coexisting mental conditions in clients with sexual concerns: (1) mood disorders, especially depression, (2) anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety (3) developmental disorders, especially Adult ADHD. We’ll discuss the question of “pills vs skills” and how to integrate psycho-behavioral and pharmacologic approaches. We’ll discuss the impact of medications on sexual functioning for the one in six Americans who currently take psychiatric medications—including the Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SRI’s), which have a broad range of sexual side effects that every clinician should understand. And we’ll review what every health care provider should know about PDE5-Inhibitors such as Viagra and Cialis.
1:30pm - 5:00pm CST
Male Sexual Health
In the second half of the day you’ll be able to answer the questions, why do so many men have such a hard time being “present”? Where does fear of commitment come from? What makes a man go missing in bed? With all the recent advances in our understanding of female sexual psychology, male sexual psychology remains a confusing realm for clients and therapists alike. This section will demonstrate new, cutting-edge approaches to understanding the male erotic mind, and will apply these approaches to practical work with men’s sexual concerns.
Instruction will be primarily through case examples. Clinical cases will be presented and will be worked through collaboratively with the attendees.
Many men with sexual problems have difficulty communicating clearly about them. Evaluation of male sexual complaints often requires an active and thorough review of possible issues. We’ll discuss how to assess and treat the most common male sexual complaints typically seen in office practice: ED (organic, psychogenic, and mixed), premature and delayed ejaculation, male desire issues, and comorbid problems including social anxiety, depression, and neurodevelopmental issues such as ADHD. We’ll discuss how to use PDE5 Inhibitors most effectively for male sexual disorders, how to manage sexual side effects of SSRI medications in men, and how to combine medical and psychological approaches.
SATURDAY: Sameera Qureshi, MS
9:00am - 5:00pm CST
Sex Education & Muslim Communities
Presented by Sameera Qureshi, MS
Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in North America, as well as the most racially diverse, yet it continues to be misunderstood, especially as it relates to providing culturally and religiously responsive heath education and care services. As is the case with other faith-based communities, Muslims’ needs around sexual health are not being met by abstinence-based or comprehensive sex education, since both tend to be void of values-based approaches that allow Muslims to learn and integrate information and skills as it pertains to their religious and intersectional identities. Additionally, Muslim communities seeking health services are often misunderstood by service providers, whether due to implicit biases or misinformation, and as such, either delay care or decide not to access it.
This workshop will empower sex educators, counselors, therapists, and service providers with foundational information, skills, and resources geared towards meeting the needs of diverse Muslim communities. Participants will first dive into understanding sex and sexuality from holistic Islamic perspectives, that are free from orientalist and colonial influences. Next, participants will understand the needs of Muslim communities as it relates to values-based, comprehensive sex education. And finally, frameworks and approaches for service providers working with Muslims will be delved into, focusing on concerns related to sexual health that Muslims seek support for.
By the end of the session, the participant will be able to:
Ask the right questions that get to the heart of what’s really going on in bed—and in each person’s head—during sex.
Teach clients a new vocabulary to describe their level of arousal, and help them stop expecting themselves to function sexually when they’re not really aroused.
Recognize the most common mental conditions that co-occur with sexual disorders, and the most common sexual side effects of SRI’s and other psychiatric medications.
Integrate counseling with medication in the treatment of clients with more complicated sexual problems.
Understand the differences between men’s and women’s social and emotional development, in order to help heterosexual couples resolve the common misunderstandings that occur between men and women.
Screen for the most common comorbid mental disorders in male clients who present with sex and relationship concerns, and understand how each of these disorders may affect a man’s functioning in a couple’s relationship and in bed.
Integrate pharmacologic and psychological treatment for men with the most common male sexual disorders.
Help heterosexual couples understand and navigate our era’s rapid and often contradictory changes in gender role expectations.
Participants will learn nuanced, traditional, and holistic perspectives about Islam that challenges colonialist and orientalist understandings of the faith tradition.
Participants will gain awareness, knowledge and language regarding Islamic views on sexuality and sexual health.
Participants will gain an overview about Muslim communities in North America, and dive into current research regarding the sexual health knowledge and sexual violence prevalence within segments of Muslim communities.
Participants will understand intersectionality as it relates to being Muslim, especially with regards to race, ethnicity, disability justice, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Participants will explore research on secular sex education for Muslim communities and understand foundational principles of values-based sex education.
Participants will learn values-based approaches for sex education with Muslim groups, focused on the topics of sexual decision making; healthy relationships; empowered abstinence; and birth control.
Participants will understand challenges regarding sex and sexuality that Muslims face, and the unique ways in which they manifest within Muslim communities.
Participants will learn an Islamic framework (Responding with RAHMA) to provide individual, responsive care and services to Muslim clients.
Want to become SHA Certified?:
Want to stop paying for conferences one by one? This program can also be registered for and included as part of SHA’s full Sexuality Educator/Counselor/Sex Therapy Certification Program. Apply here to become SHA Certified and to gain all the CEs you need to apply towards AASECT Certification. Take your sexuality education even further and become sexceptional.
Attendee & Registration Information
16 LPC, LMFT, LCSW and AASECT* CEs for the Entire Weekend (Friday & Saturday)
8 LPC, LMFT, LCSW and AASECT* CEs for Friday Only or Saturday Only
Please note: CEs for Texas and Colorado licenses are included in the CE ticket(s) price options.
FOR ALL OTHER STATE CEs outside of Colorado & Texas, please purchase a ticket through Sexual Health Alliance AND use the link below to purchase your state CEs through Cassidy Seminars. You MUST purchase both to get access to the conference and obtain your specific state’s CEs.
Cassidy CE Link for Day 1 w/ Stephen Snyder, MD: https://www.academeca.com/CEUReg/SeminarInfo.aspx?seminarId=3471
Cassidy CE Link for Day 2 w/ Sameera Qureshi, MS: https://www.academeca.com/CEUReg/SeminarInfo.aspx?seminarId=3472
Student Discounts
Are you a current college or graduate student? Email shacertifications@gmail.com with a copy of your student ID and current or next term’s course schedule to get each conference day for $99.
About Stephen Snyder, MD
Stephen Snyder MD — sex therapist, relationship therapist, and sexual medicine specialist — has dedicated his entire career to helping individuals and couples with sex and relationship concerns. Over 30+ years, he’s helped over 1,500 individuals and couples regain closeness and satisfaction in their relationships.
Dr. Snyder is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and the author of one of the most acclaimed sex and relationship books of our time, LOVE WORTH MAKING: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship (St Martin’s Press, 2018).
As an MD sex therapist, Dr. Snyder has a unique combination of skills that enables him to handle the most complex, difficult situations. He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco (M.D. 1983), trained in internal medicine at Mt Zion Medical Center in San Francisco (1983-84), then in psychiatry at the Payne Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital / Cornell University Medical Center (1984-87) and as a Fellow in Behavioral Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC (1987-89).
Dr. Snyder was Director of the Psychiatric Consultation Service at Mount Sinai Medical Center from 1990-2000. Since 2000, he has been in full-time private practice in Manhattan, specializing in sex and relationship concerns.
Dr. Snyder is an active member of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR); has been a presenter, workshop leader, and discussant at the Society’s national meetings; and has served on its Professional Book Award Committee and as Chairman of its Consumer Book Award committee.
He lives in New York City with his wife and children, and spends way too much time on Twitter @SexualityToday.
About Sameera Qureshi, MS
Sameera Qureshi, MS is a Canadian transplant living in the United States, and holds a Masters degree in Occupational Therapy. She has spent her professional career working as a director service provider with children with special needs and in the fields of mental and sexual health education. From 2008 – 2015, Sameera worked with and coordinated a school-based team in Calgary, Canada to develop and facilitate sexual and mental health curricula in Islamic schools, mosques, and for professionals working with Muslims. She joined HEART in 2013 as the Director of Education and Training until April 2020, and in May 2020, transitioned into the Programming Strategy Director role. Sameera is passionate about integrating the fields of research, Islamic spirituality and sexual health into practical and engaging capacity building trainings and programs that are accessible to Muslim communities and those who serve them. Her work with HEART has not only taken her across the country to work with Muslim organizations, college campuses, and institutions, she also regularly facilitates professional workshops at national conference such as the National Sex Education Conference; National Sexual Assault Conference; Let’s Talk About Sex; and the Religion News Association Conference. Sameera currently serves on the Editorial Review Board of the American Journal of Sexuality Education, and was the 2018 recipient of the Barbara Seaman Emerging Activist Award from the National Women’s Health Network. Apart from her work with HEART, Sameera is a certified yoga instructor.
Connect with Sameera:
Instagram, Website, LinkedIn, HEART
*HEART has been at the forefront of sexual health and sexual violence prevention work with Muslim communities for the last 10 years. The national, non-profit organization was founded with the mission to work to provide Muslims with the language, resources, and choice to nurture their sexual health and to confront sexual health.
*This program meets the requirements of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for 16 AASECT CE credits. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification. Completion of this program does not ensure or guarantee AASECT certification. For further information please contact ce@aasect.org