In order to be certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) as a sexuality educator, one of the many requirements that I must meet is to participate in a Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR).
The SAR originated in the early 1970s as a tool for understanding how a
person's attitudes and values affect him/her professionally and
personally.
“In order to function competently, the health
professional needs to be keenly aware of his or her own attitudes,
feelings, and judgments about all areas of sexuality, and should have a
basic body of knowledge and the skills to address the sexual concerns
of the patient, client, or student." (William Stayton, 1998)
The SAR can take many forms, depending on the instructor(s) and the
facility. The SAR that I chose to attend was a one-day, 10-hour
intensive led by Joan Sughrue.
Joan, a nurse, and her late husband John, an OB/GYN, were trained by
sexology pioneers William Masters and Virginia E. Johnson (Masters & Johnson)
and began doing sex therapy in the Southeast in the early 1970s. I
chose to take my SAR with Joan because I value her combination of
medical and counseling expertise.
We began the day with an ice-breaker that definitely cut the tension
and got us talking about sex right away. There were about fifteen men
and women in attendance, including a doctor, a midwife, a minister,
several counselors, and a handful of graduate students. The day
consisted of large group exercises, small group discussions, and
viewing short sexually-explicit films including:
The Internal Clitoris, by Betty Dodson
Betty Dodson: Her Life and Art, a film by Mark Schoen
20/20 Special on Transgender Children
and a number of clips and films found on Sex Smart Films
The true benefit of the SAR is not found in the media, which is
obviously readily available online. The real value (and the real point)
is the opportunity to reflect on how your own views of sexuality have
been formed and discuss them with others, who may or may not share your
opinions. I didn't necessarily change my personal views on sexuality,
but in hearing other people's stories, I have a deeper appreciation for
diverse perspectives.
I appreciated meeting other sexual health professionals and learning
from their varied experiences. This particular SAR's participants were
aged 25 to 65. One counselor had extensive knowledge in working with
transgender clients, another worked with girls who had experienced
sexual trauma, and another specialized in working with minority LGBT
clients and inter-racial couples.
If you are interested in attending a SAR, you can find a number of opportunities
listed on the AASECT website. The DIY approach would be to gather some
friends, watch some sexual-themed clips or a thought-provoking
documentary, and then discuss your sexual beliefs and attitudes and how
you arrived at them. I would love to organize an informal SAR, so if
anyone's interested, please let me know. I think we can learn so much
from each other! http://www.livingsexuality.com/
*If you want a funny, fictional account of the SAR experience, there is a book called
Sex Camp
based on the Annual Workshop on Sexuality, the nationally renowned
training that has been held for nearly 30 years at an Episcopal
Church-owned retreat facility in upstate New York. Note: I have not
read the book, so this is not a personal recommendation.
Editor's Note: We HIGHLY recommend Sex Camp.
