SHA SUMMIT Feb. 26-27th, 2022
Keeping the Spark Alive with Dr. Rhona Balzarini & 10+ Additional Expert Speakers
8AM-4PM PST | 9AM-5PM MT | 10AM - 6PM CST | 11AM-7PM EST
16 AASECT CES AVAILABLE FOR TWO DAYS!
This summit is 100% ONLINE. The recording will be available a week later if you cannot attend live and you will have several weeks to watch/listen.
“Dr. Rhonda Balzarini is one of the sharpest new psychologists who is researching modern sex, love and relationships. She is a clear, grounded and insightful thinker, and her research has already forced me several times to examine my assumptions about sex, polyamory and love. I get excited when I see she has a new paper out, because it helps us all grow and expand the ways we think and work with people in all kinds of relationships.”
Summit Topics & Events
Why relationships are important
How sex shapes relationships
Commitment processes in relationships
Sexual desire overtime
Keeping the spark alive in relationships
Navigating Life Stressors
Stress spillover in sexual and romantic relationships
How stressful events shape sexual and relationship processes
Sex in the time of COVID- review of how COVID has impacted sex
Coping with Sexual Differences
Sexual Ideals
Discrepant sexual ideals and the buffering effect of sexual communal strength
Managing External Pressures
Relationships beyond the dyad
Effect of stigma in relationships
How stigma influences commitment and relationships
Fostering Connection and Sexual Satisfaction
Self-expansion in relationships
Can self-expansion impact sexual desire and sexual satisfaction
Self-expansion amidst stress- The case for COVID growth vs boredom
Platforms for self-expansion
The case for cross-cultural relationships
Speakers:
Rhonda Balzarini - Keeping the Spark Alive in Relationships & Beyond the Dyad: Understanding Sex, Love, and Secrecy in CNM Relationships
Stephanie Raposo- How Couples can Survive Thrive in Their Intimate Relationships: An Integrative Approach
Amy Muise - Fanning the Flame: The Role of Sexual Communal Motivation
Nathan Leonhardt- Expanding the Conversation on Sexual Quality
Chantelle Ivanski- Sex Positivity: What we Know and Why it Matters
David Rodrigues- Pleasure and Security: The Benefits and Consequences of Opposite Motives for Sexual Health
Jessica Maxwell- Let's Talk Think About Sex: How Beliefs about Sex Shape Well-being
Kiersten Dobson- Beating Boredom in Long-term Relationships
Joe Sample- Aging and Sexuality: Myths, Sexual Function, and Unique Ethical Challenges
Amanda Gesselman - Holistic Sexual Wellness During COVID-19: Findings from Year 1 of the Pandemic
Karen Blair - LGBTQ+ relationships
Samantha Dawson - Bolstering sexual well-being in pregnancy and the postpartum: Bridging the knowledge gap between research and clinical practice.
Shelby Scott and Lex Pulice-Farrow - "The Sense of Falling in Love Again”: Affirming Transgender and Non-binary Individuals in Intimate Relationships
Attendee & Registration Information
*Cant attend live? No problem! This event will be recorded and made available within 7-10 business days. Make sure to purchase a ticket prior to the workshop as it will not be available to purchase after the workshop ends. Please note: If you purchased CEs, you will receive asynchronous credit.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
Dr. Rhonda Balzarini
Dr. Rhonda Balzarini is an Assistant Professor at Texas State University and an Affiliated Faculty Member at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Dr. Balzarini is a social psychologist studying the interpersonal processes that enhance and detract from the quality of romantic and sexual relationships. Her recent research focuses on how diverse couples can have satisfying and passionate relationships and successfully navigate challenges through diversifying need fulfillment, engaging in novel and exciting activities, and being responsive during times of conflict or distress.
10+ Additional Presenters
Summit in Partnership with
NEED A SCHOLARSHIP FOR THIS WEEKEND SUMMIT?
In collaboration with the BIPOC Collective, SHA donates two full weekend scholarship spots to every conference for BIPOC-identifying individuals.
*The BIPOC Collective's mission is to support the diverse community of BIPOC adult performers and sex-workers within the adult industry through mutual aid and advocacy with dignity and respect.
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 this conference at student rate.
*Please note, this discount does not include CEs.
WANT TO BECOME SHA CERTIFIED?:
Want to stop paying for conferences one by one and gain hours towards AASECT Certification too? This program can also be registered for and included as part of SHA’s full Sexuality Educator/Counselor/Sex Therapy Certification & Sexuality Consultant 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.
More information on our Summit Speakers!
Kiersten Dobson is a currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and previously received her Master's and Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario. Kiersten's research centers around the factors that contribute to long-term relationship quality and maintenance, with particular interest in the roles of relational boredom, self-expansion, and sex in these outcomes.
Stephanie Raposo is a Ph.D. student in the Social & Personality Psychology Area at York University in Toronto, Canada. Broadly speaking, Stephanie is interested in how committed couples can optimize their relationship and sexual well-being, even in the face of sexual desire difficulties. Her current research focuses on whether the attributions people make for declines in sexual desire account for associations between their beliefs about how satisfying sex is maintained and their relationship and sexual quality. She is also exploring questions about how people can hang onto, or make the most of, positive sexual experiences with their partner (i.e., sexual savoring). In her master’s research, Stephanie investigated the role of self-expanding activities—that is, novel, exciting activities- in the maintenance of desire and satisfaction in relationships. She also showed how people who are insecurely attached fulfill sexual needs in their intimate relationships.
Chantelle Ivanski is a Ph.D. candidate at York University working primarily with Dr. Raymond A. Mar. Broadly, she works in social psychology with a specific interest in women's experiences and feminist research. One of her main areas of research areas is Sex Positivity. She is also interested in research on parents who regret having children. To learn more you can read her personal website here: www.chantelleivanski.com
Dr. Amy Muise is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Director of the Sexual Health and Relationships (SHaRe) lab at York University. She is also a York Research Chair in Relationships and Sexuality. Her research focuses on how couples can ignite and maintain sexual desire in their relationships, how sexuality is associated with relationship happiness and maintenance, and how couples can more successfully navigate challenges and transitional periods. She has 99 publications to date and her research is supported by the Social Science Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. She is the recipient of six early career awards including the Sage Young Scholars Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) and the Caryl E. Rusbult Award from the Relationship Research Interest Group. Her research is also regularly cited in the media, including the Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine. For more information about her research visit www.amymuise.com or follow @AmyMuise on Twitter and @share.research on Instagram.
Dr. David L. Rodrigues is an Assistant Researcher at Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Dr. Rodrigues is a social psychologist studying diverse topics in interpersonal relationships, that includes interpersonal communication using digital technologies, the functioning of people from sexual (e.g., asexual individuals) and relationship (e.g., non-monogamous individuals) minorities, and the implications of sexual activity to sexual health and well-being. More recently, Dr. Rodrigues has been examining how being able to pursue one’s needs and expectations in sex can help individuals have satisfying and pleasurable sexual activities.
Nathan D. Leonhardt is a doctoral student and Vanier Scholar in Social Psychology at the University of Toronto. He received his bachelor’s (2016) and master’s (2018) degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development from Brigham Young University, where he was a Hinckley Scholar, Wheatley Scholar, and valedictorian for the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. He has published over 35 articles in top psychology, family studies, and sexuality academic journals primarily focusing on the intersection of relationships and sexuality. His research has been featured in popular news outlets such as Psychology Today, Daily Mail, CNN, and Men’s Health.
Dr. Jessica Maxwell is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Auckland. Her research aims to shed light on the most critical factors in maintaining satisfying sexual and romantic relationships. She has sought to answer this question by applying concepts from social psychology to the study of sexual behaviors, including examining how individuals expect they can best maintain sexual satisfaction, how accurate they are in detecting their partners’ feelings and sexual preferences, and how they use intimacy to manage conflict. Before coming to New Zealand, she completed her Ph.D.at the University of Toronto and a postdoctoral fellowship at Florida State University.
Dr. Shelby Scott is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver in 2016. Before her current position, she served as the LGBT Veteran Care Coordinator and Women’s Mental Health Psychologist at the Denver VA. Dr. Scott has extensive clinical experience working with LGBTQ+ Veterans, same-sex couples, and couples with transgender/non-binary partners. Dr. Scott directs her PRIDE Family Studies Lab that focuses on building the basic science of sexual and gender minority families and integrating these findings into relationship interventions. Her research on female same-sex couples has contributed to understanding communication processes, sexual satisfaction, minority stress, and longitudinal predictors of relationship dissolution in this population. She is currently completing research projects on transgender and non-binary individuals who have gone through gender transitions while in romantic relationships along with Dr. Kimberly Balsam at Palo Alto University and Lex Pulice-Farrow at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Just recently, Dr. Scott and her team were awarded the Visionary Grant by the American Psychological Foundation to continue her research on transgender relationships.
Lex Pulice-Farrow is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They graduated from Agnes Scott College before completing a master’s degree in clinical psychology at Towson University. In their current position, Lex is a member of Dr. Kirsten Gonzalez’ Research on Social Intersections at Tennessee - or RESIST- lab. Lex views research as an approach to advocacy for sexual & gender minorities. Broadly, their research addresses the needs and experiences of LGTBT+ populations. Recent publications have addressed microaggressions experienced by transmasculine patients in gynecological healthcare settings, LGBTQ individuals’ distress and coping during the Trump presidency, and qualitative research on gender dysphoria that challenges contemporary clinical approaches by considering elements such as the social context in which gender dysphoria is experienced and how trans people describe their experiences of dysphoria.
Dr. Karen Blair is an expert in LGBTQ Psychology, particularly from the perspective of evaluating the interplay between prejudice, social support and well-being within relationships and her research has identified novel social determinants of health within the LGBTQ+ population. As an award-winning scholar and educator, her research is innovative in its application of LGBTQ-inclusive research methodologies to improving our understanding of relationships for individuals of all sexual and gender identities. Dr. Blair has delivered 15 invited talks and 5 keynotes, including one focused on sources of LGBTQ+ resilience and well-being.
Dr. Samantha Dawson (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. She directs the UBC Sexuality and Well-being (SWell) Lab. Her multi-method research program focuses on identifying cognitive and affective mechanisms contributing to sexual function in individuals and couples, with the goal of using these mechanisms to develop targeted and gender-specific interventions for sexual dysfunction. Her research program involves experimental laboratory-based research using various sexual psychophysiological measures, such as eye tracking, genital plethysmography, as well as more ecologically valid daily experience and longitudinal methodologies. She is committed to innovative knowledge translation and recently launched @misconSEXions a social media (Instagram) knowledge sharing initiative that seeks to debunk commonly held myths regarding sexuality using the latest empirical research. Her research is currently funded by operating grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, as well as the University of British Columbia. You can follow her on Twitter @dawson_sj and @UBCSwell or read about her and her incredible team here: https://swelllab.psych.ubc.ca/.
Joe is the executive director of Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging and CEO/Founder of Sample Professional Services, L.L.C. He has over twenty years of state government and non-government executive and management experience in health and human services including work with the Iowa Department on Aging, Heritage Area Agency on Aging, Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa Board of Medicine, UnityPoint-Des Moines (formerly Iowa Health), and Easterseals Iowa. Joe has served on the USAging (formerly National Association of Area Agencies on Aging) board of directors, the Iowa Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council, the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council, the Statewide Independent Living Council, the Warren County (Iowa) Public Health Board, and numerous other state and local boards and committees. Joe has conducted workshops, education programs, and keynote addresses in international, national, state, and local venues. He has been an instructor at Iowa State University and Grandview University.
Dr. Amanda Gesselman is the Associate Director for Research at The Kinsey Institute and the inaugural Anita Aldrich Endowed Research Scientist at Indiana University. Her current research interests are in new trends in the romantic and sexual lives of adults around the world, the influence of close relationships on health and well-being, and how technology can be used to facilitate meaningful connections. Dr. Gesselman has served as a scientific or statistical consultant for various corporations, non-profit organizations, and academic collaborations. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and covered by international media outlets including The New York Times, TIME, VICE, and Netflix’s Explained.
AASECT CREDITS
*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