The Healing Power of Pleasure

CPD

Faculty

Tammy Nelson, PhD Related seminars and products

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Tammy Nelson, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, a relationship and international speaker, an author, a faculty member and teacher with a Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Sexology. She is a board-certified sexologist, a diplomate of the American Board of Sexologists, a licensed professional counselor, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, a registered art therapist, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist and an Advanced Imago Clinician as well as an ISTI Certified Sex and Couples Therapist.

Dr. Tammy is the author of six books, including Open Monogamy: A Guide to Co-Creating Your Ideal Relationship Agreement (2021), Integrative Sex & Couples Therapy: A Therapist’s Guide to New and Innovative Approaches (2020), When You’re the One Who Cheats: Ten Things You Need to Know (2019), The New Monogamy: Redefining Your Relationship After Infidelity (2013), Getting the Sex You Want: Shed Your Inhibitions and Reach New Heights of Passion Together (2008), and What’s Eating You? A Workbook for Anorexia and Bulimia (2004). She is also the creator of Date Night Card Deck (2023), a TEDx speaker, host of the podcast The Trouble with Sex, and founder and executive director of the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Tammy Nelson maintains a private practice and is executive director and primary faculty at Integrated Sex Therapy Training Institute (ISTI) and has employment relationships with Daybreak University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc., and she additionally receives royalties from New Harbinger and Sounds True. She is a paid consultant for Evergreen Certifications. Dr. Nelson has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Tammy Nelson serves on the board of advisors for the World Association of Sex Coaches. She is a member of the American Art Therapy Association, American Association of Sex Educators, Sex Counselors, and Sex Therapists (AASECT), American Comprehensive Energy Psychology Association (ACEP), American Counseling Association, American Family Therapy Academy, American Family Therapy Association (AFTA), American Psychological Association (APA), Connecticut Counselors, Imago Relationships International Association of Professional and Certified Therapists, International Board of Sexologists, International Institute for Sexuality and Human Development, Nonfiction Authors Association, Society Scientific Study Sexuality (SSSS), and the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR).

Additional Info

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Objectives

1. Identify the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms by which trauma disrupts the experience of pleasure, desire, and embodiment in women.
2. Evaluate guilt, shame, and pleasure avoidance as trauma responses that contribute to long-term disconnection from self and relationships.
3. Utilize evidence-informed interventions that integrate somatic awareness, relational repair, and pleasure-focused techniques to support long-term trauma recovery in women.

Outline

Introduction and Overview 

• Pleasure Disorders as a framework for trauma recovery
• Prevalence and impact of sexual and relational trauma among women
• The link between trauma, embodiment, and pleasure

The Neurobiology of Pleasure and Trauma     

• Overview of brain and nervous system pathways involved in pleasure and safety
• How chronic trauma alters the body’s capacity for desire and arousal
• Pleasure as a regulatory and healing state  

Psychological and Relational Dimensions  

• Guilt, shame, and pleasure avoidance as trauma adaptations
• How pleasure denial manifests in clinical settings
• Case vignette: working with a client struggling with pleasure recovery 

Clinical Applications and Interventions  

• Somatic and relational strategies for rebuilding pleasure capacity
• Integrating body-based awareness and mindfulness in trauma therapy
• Therapist self-awareness and vicarious pleasure trauma 
• Using integrative treatment
• Healing the Sexual Space
• The future for women
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Target Audience

• Counsellors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Addiction Counsellors
• Other Mental Health Professionals