Sexual Health Gap in Medical Care Prompts Kansas City Sex Therapist, Dr. George Turner, to Advocate for Change

Dr. George Turner presented at the 60th Annual Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) planning meeting in Tampa, Fl. The presentation, Teaching Sexuality to Social Work Students: Sixty Years In a Contact Zone examined how sexuality studies have transformed social work and vice versa, providing narratives of the transculturation occurring in a sexuality/social work contact zone. The presentation demonstrated the value schools of social work realize when they commit to teaching and integrating sexual health issues in all aspects of their social work curricula.

"There is an absence of comprehensive sexual health and its a gap in patient care. Clients need better access to sexuality information and sexually literate health care professionals.  I think social work students are a perfect match to address this deficit in our health care system" shared, Dr. Turner.

Susan Stiritz, Sabitha Pillai-Friedman, George Turner

George collaborated with two colleagues, Susan Stiritz, MSW, MBA, PhD, The Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, and Sabitha Pillai-Friedman, PhD., Widener University, Chester, PA on this panel. They described classes they teach and programs they direct, providing illustrative objectives, curricula, syllabi, instructional materials, and results. They offered these programs as four very different models for providing sexuality education at the graduate level and compared their goals with those of each other and with those teaching the first sexuality courses in schools of social work.

Turner shared, “Social workers are arguably the best positioned helping profession to be sexual health experts in client care settings. Clients will often seek advice from physicians who surprisingly receive little training around sexual medicine. Social work programs need to actively re-access their role in social work education in regards to human sexuality. In practice, human sexuality is an innate aspect of every client population that social workers interact with and encompasses micro, meso and macro practice applications. Having sexually literate social work students, specifically ones who have had training in sexual ethics seems warranted.”

CSWE conferences help to promote and teach best practices in research and curriculum development through dynamic educational sessions, peer networking forums, and job-search opportunities. 

The Annual Program Meeting (APM) is the pre-eminent annual meeting for social work educators, students, deans, and directors worldwide. Each year, the APM brings together more than 2,500 individual members as well as more than 400 graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association representing more than 2,500 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 1952, this partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies, and private citizens is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in this country.

Therapy is going to the dogs... and the horses, and a host other pet assisted helpers!

We know the benefit of our doggie ambassadors first hand. People are often drawn to animals and form a bond that can aid psychotherapy.

 NASW recently reported on the benefits.