Clinical errors and therapist discomfort with client disclosure of troublesome pornography use: Implications for clinical practice and error reduction.

Abstract

Mental health professionals are increasingly aware of the need for competence in the treatment of clients with pornography-related concerns. However, while researchers have recently sought to explore efficacious treatments for pornography-related concerns, few explorations of potential clinical judgment issues have occurred. Due to the sensitive, and at times uncomfortable, nature of client disclosures of sexual concerns within therapy, therapists are required to manage their own discomfort while retaining fidelity to treatment. The present paper explores clinician examples of judgment errors that may result from feelings of discomfort, and specifically from client use of pornography. Issues of potential bias, bias management techniques, and therapeutic implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Attending to gender in psychotherapy: Understanding and incorporating systems of power

“…"> Privilege clients ’ experiences and avoid assumptions . The error of making assumptions based on both gender and sexual orientation was evident in a therapist’s account of seeing a cisgender man who identified as heterosexual and came to treatment wanting to address his pornography usage (Walters & Spengler, ). The therapist never asked about the gender identity of the individuals in the pornography his client was watching because he made assumptions from his client’s disclosures and gender presentation.…”

Comfort in Treating Sexual Problems: Current Training and Counselor Self-Efficacy

“…Furthermore, scholars established an increase in sexual dysfunction with certain forms of mental health medications (see Apantaku-Olajide, Gibbons, & Higgins, 2011; Simopoulos & Trinidad, 2013; Stulberg, Ewigman, & Hickner, 2008). Therefore, counselors who are both competent and have high self-efficacy as it relates to assessing sexual problems may result in more effective overall treatment (Joanning & Keoughan, 2005; Southern & Cade, 2011; Walters & Spengler, 2016).…”

“…A potential cause for the lack of assessment use surrounds the notion that the majority of those involved in the counseling environment (i.e., counselors, supervisors, and clients) struggle to discuss the topic of sex (Long, Burnett, & Thomas, 2006; Rutter, Leech, Anderson, & Saunders, 2010). Specifically, counselor discomfort with the subject of sex may hinder the assessment and treatment of the sexual relationship of couples (Bloom, Guiterrez, Lambie, & Ali, 2016; Kazukauskas & Lam, 2009, 2010; Miller & Byers, 2010, 2012; Walters & Spengler, 2016). Therefore, comfort addressing sexual problems requires the counselor to examine their physiological and anxiety states as a source of feedback to assess counselor self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997; Ooi, Wan Jaafar, & Baba, 2018).…”

Spanish Women and Pornography Based on Different Sexual Orientation: an Analysis of Consumption, Arousal, and Discomfort by Sexual Orientation and Age

“…In addition, the online context provides a "safer" place than the offline context (Griffiths, 2012). Thus, by using pornography, people can explore new horizons and enjoy sexual experiences that are not usually accessible, such as erotic material about certain fetishes and fantasies (Yu, 2013) or sexual practices associated with different sexual orientations (Hald & Štulhofer, 2016;Walters & Spengler, 2016).…”