Sexology Outsiders, Advanced Clinical Perspectives & Hidden Worlds of desire
Join from anywhere IN THE WORLD. ALL ARE welcome. 100% ONLINE CONFERENCE!
Join the Sexual Health Alliance (SHA) for a dynamic two-day training exploring all the complexities of those that live outside the lines of sexology. Expand your clinical knowledge by exploring the topics many professionals never receive formal training on. Sexology Outsiders is an immersive online weekend designed for therapists, coaches, educators, and healthcare professionals who want to better understand kink, consensual non-monogamy (CNM), and other alternative relationship structures through an evidence-informed, sex-positive lens.
Featuring internationally recognized kink expert and sex educator Midori, alongside a lineup of expert presenters, this weekend goes beyond myths and assumptions to provide practical, affirming approaches for working with diverse clients. You'll gain deeper insight into relationship dynamics, power exchange, consent, communication, identity, and the unique strengths and challenges within these communities.
Whether you're looking to build confidence in your clinical practice, expand your cultural competency, or better serve clients whose relationships exist outside conventional norms, this weekend will provide practical tools, current research, and meaningful conversations that challenge assumptions and broaden your perspective.
Join us for a weekend dedicated to understanding the hidden worlds of desire—and becoming a more informed, inclusive, and effective professional.
Open to all professionals and aspiring professionals.
SPeaker & PRESENTATION TITLEs
Elisabeth Sheff, Ph.D., CSE
Overlapping CNM and BDSM: How do they overlap, why, and with what outcomes?
Amanda Jepson, LPC, CST-S, ACS, ABS
Cultivating Compersion
Sarah Michaud, LCSW
Merissa Cope, LCSW
Foundations of ABDL in Clinical and Educational Practice: A Kink-Affirming Framework
SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, September 5TH
START TIME: 10:00AM - 6:00pm cst
SUNDAY, September 6TH
START TIME: 10:00AM - 6:00pm cst
Use this world clock to find the corresponding time in your time zone!
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.
More presenters soon
Midori
Known as the “supernova of kink” according to Dan Savage, Midori emerged from the Sex Positive movement in San Francisco in the early 1990s and soon became one of the most highly regarded presenters on sexuality, personal fulfillment, and kinky adventures.
Her reputation as an authority and leading expert on alternative pleasures stem not only from her unique and entertaining process of teaching concrete skills, but in her ability to deconstruct and distill complex matters of desire into surprisingly accessible lessons with eloquence and humanity.
She’s known for tackling challenging topics with fresh and relevant insights. She calls this her “head-heart-hands” method to create a space where people are allowed individual self-exploration. Fundamentally, she is motivated by helping people to create authentic and intimate relationships while emphasizing self-actualization, shame reduction, acceptance, and justice.
Known for her ability to teach with equal parts expertise and heart, her intensives and pop-up classes are often booked months in advance. She is best known for her transformative small-group educational intensives, Rope Dojo and ForteFemme: Women’s Dominance Weekend Intensive.
She is the author of The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage, Wild Side Sex, and Master Han’s Daughter. She has also contributed her expertise and voice in numerous articles, columns, works of fiction, and instructional books.
When she’s not traveling and teaching, she’s creating provocative and haunting art and performances.
Elisabeth Sheff, Ph.D., CSE
Dr. Elisabeth Sheff is one of the world's leading experts on polyamory and consensual non-monogamy. Holding a PhD in Sociology, she has spent more than 30 years studying gender and sexual minority families, consensual non-monogamy, kink/BDSM, and the experiences of children in polyamorous families, making her the foremost international authority on the subject.
She is the author of several influential books, including The Polyamorists Next Door, which presents findings from the first 15 years of her landmark research on polyamorous families with children; Stories from the Polycule, an anthology of writings by polyamorous individuals; and When Someone You Love Is Polyamorous, a practical guide for family members and loved ones seeking to better understand polyamory.
Dr. Sheff has appeared on CNN and National Geographic and has been featured in hundreds of radio, podcast, print, and television interviews, with outlets including The New York Times, Vogue, BuzzFeed, and NPR.
Amanda Jepson, LPC, CST-S, ACS, ABS
Amanda Jepson (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Sex Therapy Supervisor, SHA Certified Sex Therapist, Board Certified Sexologist, and Approved Clinical Supervisor with over 15 years of clinical experience. She specializes in working with active-duty service members, military veterans, and first responders, with particular expertise in combat trauma, sexual violence, complex trauma, and vicarious trauma. Amanda is also deeply committed to serving the queer community and works affirmatively with clients across diverse gender identities, sexual orientations, and relationship structures. Her integrative, trauma-informed approach draws on evidence-based modalities including EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, Sensate Focus, and Motivational Interviewing. As a Certified Sex Therapist, she is highly trained in addressing concerns related to sexuality, intimacy, relationships, nonmonogamy, and kink through an intersectional, inclusive, and sex-positive clinical lens. Amanda’s work emphasizes safety, empowerment, and resilience, supporting clients in healing from trauma while cultivating authentic connection, embodiment, and overall well-being. In addition to direct clinical work, Amanda provides supervision and consultation to therapists seeking advanced competency in trauma and sex therapy. Her work emphasizes empowerment, resilience, and the reclamation of identity, helping clients move from survival toward meaningful connection, embodiment, and psychological well-being. She has been featured on the Sex & Psychology Podcast and Midori’s Consent Dojo, where she contributes clinical insight on trauma, consent, and sexual health.
Sarah Michaud, LCSW
Sarah Michaud, LCSW, is a queer-identified Licensed Clinical Social Worker, therapist, and sex therapy professional licensed in Colorado and Oregon. Their work centers on supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals navigating complex and childhood sexual trauma, with a particular focus on helping clients reclaim empowerment, embodiment, pleasure, and authentic sexual expression.
Kink-involved and deeply committed to sex-positive and kink-affirming care, Sarah helps clients cultivate more attuned relationships with their bodies, desires, fantasies, and pleasure. Their trauma-informed approach integrates Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with evidence-based, somatic, and relational approaches, adapting treatment to the complexity and individuality of each client rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all model.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Metropolitan State University of Denver and a Master of Clinical Social Work from the University of Kentucky. They are trained in EMDR and are currently completing sex therapy certification while remaining actively engaged in continuing education and social advocacy.
Rooted in radical self-love, embodiment, and the belief that healing extends beyond survival, Sarah creates spaces where diverse bodies, identities, relationships, and desires can be explored without shame. Their work invites clients to reconnect with pleasure, embrace their fullest selves, and build lives and relationships grounded in authenticity, agency, and joy.
Merissa Cope, LCSW
Merissa Cope, LCSW, is a therapist, coach, and educator specializing in sex, intimacy, relationships, consensual non-monogamy, kink and fetishes, gender identity, and sexual orientation. She works with individuals, couples, polycules, and people across diverse relationship structures, providing sex-positive, nonjudgmental, and pleasure-focused care.
Her clinical approach is client-centered, relational, and non-carceral, emphasizing each person’s expertise in their own life and helping clients build relationships that align with their needs, desires, and values. She has particular experience supporting people navigating non-monogamy and kink, including ageplay dynamics and identities such as DDLG and ABDL.
In addition to her clinical work, Merissa teaches a course on non-monogamy and kink at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. She also facilitates peer support groups for ABDL communities, partners and friends of ABDLs, and people practicing non-monogamy, reflecting her commitment to expanding access to informed, affirming care for people whose identities, desires, and relationships exist outside conventional norms.
Tammy Fisher, MA, LMFT-S, LPC-S, CST
Tammy Fisher is a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed professional counselor, AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, and clinical supervisor with more than 18 years of experience supporting individuals, couples, and clinicians. She is the owner of The Pleasure Principles and a co-visionary behind Visionaries of Living in Color, where her work centers on sexual health, relationships, identity, trauma recovery, and personal and professional growth.
Tammy specializes in sex therapy and relationship counseling across monogamous and consensually non-monogamous relationships, including open, polyamorous, and swinging relationship structures. Her areas of expertise include desire discrepancies, infidelity, sexual trauma, opening relationships, BDSM and kink, blended families, difficult relationship dynamics, and recovery from relational trauma.
For nearly two decades, Tammy has also provided clinical supervision and consultation to emerging and established mental health professionals. She offers continuing education trainings and workshops and has helped numerous clinicians develop and grow private practices aligned with their professional goals.
Known for a direct yet compassionate approach, Tammy combines clinical expertise with an affirming, sex-positive perspective to help people navigate intimacy, relationships, sexuality, and authentic self-expression. She is also a speaker, workshop facilitator, and co-host of the Living in Color: Love, Life & Everything in Between podcast with her husband, Norman Lloyd, where they explore modern relationships, military life transitions, emotional intimacy, and self-acceptance.
MsK
MsK (she/her) is a Nashville-based educator, facilitator, kink community leader, and sexuality professional whose work centers on kink and BDSM, consensual non-monogamy, body acceptance, cultural diversity, and creating affirming spaces for marginalized communities. She brings her lived experience as a Black, bisexual, goth, fat woman and mother to an educational approach grounded in community, inclusion, and sexual autonomy.
MsK has held numerous leadership and education roles with The Mark by Community Perspective Incorporated (CPI) in Nashville, including serving on its Board of Directors, co-chairing the education committee, facilitating foundational and advanced kink education, and supporting community outreach. She has also organized and hosted Femdom and POC-centered events and is a member of Black Femdoms-Atlanta, where she has presented on a range of kink, BDSM, and community-care topics.
She currently serves as Dungeon Coordinator for The Labyrinth play space at the annual Sex Down South Conference in Atlanta, where she also trains play-space monitors and helps foster safer, consent-centered environments for attendees.
As an educator, MsK has presented for Vanderbilt University, the Nashville Sexual Assault Center, Femdom communities throughout the Southeast, and the Sexual Health Alliance. Through SHA’s Kink-Informed Certification Program, she has taught mental health and helping professionals on cultural diversity, minority stress, kink identity development, and health disparities. She is also pursuing certification as a sex coach through the Sexual Health Alliance.
MsK is the founder of Deliciously Perverted, a coaching and consulting practice focused on helping fat women challenge internalized and societal fatphobia, develop greater comfort in their bodies, and explore sensuality and sexuality in affirming environments. She is also a co-founder of the Nashville Fat Femme Collective, which creates community around body acceptance, self-care, sensuality, and empowerment for people who identify as fat and female.
Her work and perspectives have been featured on Midori’s Consent Dojo, Marla Renee Stewart and Luna Matatas’ Race and Kink series, and the Soft Landing podcast. Across her education, advocacy, and community work, MsK is committed to expanding access to inclusive, culturally responsive conversations about bodies, relationships, kink, and sexuality.
Sexual Health Alliance has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7730. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Sexual Health Alliance is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
This event is eligible for a maximum of 14 CE hours.
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Enroll in SHA’s Sexuality Therapist/Educator/Counselor Certification Program to earn AASECT hours and all necessary CEs in one program. Apply HERE to become SHA Certified and advance your sexuality education or contact us at 720-248-8618.
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Email shacertifications@gmail.com with your student ID and current or next term’s course schedule to receive your student rate.
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Yes, this event is eligible for a maximum of 14 CE hours. Please email shacertifications@gmail.com or call us at 720-248-8618 if you are interested in receiving these credits.
““The presenters for this weekend were absolutely phenomenal- I cannot stress enough how incredible it was to hear from so many professionals in different areas of the field, and how their experiences and research add value to our existing knowledge base as sexuality professionals.””
