New book on sexual issues and counselling

Many months ago, as a Cognitive Therapist, I read in the National Counselling Society magazine about a concern with basic counselling training, namely the lack of training involving sexual issues.

As we know as practising therapists and counsellors, a client can walk into our therapy room, and recount any story about any issue. Hopefully we are able to listen to any story regardless of content or words used, but some can feel uncomfortable with certain terms or content, indeed even feel unable to cope.

I have written 'Under The Bed' to bring to light the kind of stories we could hear, and to approach sex as just another human behaviour on a large spectrum of human behaviours.

'Under The Bed' has been published by Book Guild and was released on the 28th October. My previous book 'Under The Hood' covered many behaviours in family and relationship situations, Under The Bed covers just one behaviour, that of sex, and the many different environments and situations where this behaviour can occur.

I myself have been used to hearing sexual revelations from clients way before I became a therapist. Many years of voluntary support work resulted in extensive training and support to deal with sexual matters, to recognise the normality of sex within life, without judgement, as we can do for other human behaviour problems.

A transcript from the book illustrates the importance of this acceptance:

" Referring on is fine of course, and necessary if we do not have the experience to be able to deal with a particular problem, but that first encounter for a client who has been brave enough to make the appointment in the first place, is the most important. They need of course to be accepted and not judged for recounting something that can carry guilt and trepidation. Any sense of the counsellor feeling embarrassed, and the client can very easily turn this back on themselves and feel they are doing something wrong, causing even further damage. They can so easily give up if they feel the person in front of them is feeling at best uncomfortable or at worst horrified."

In 'Under The Bed' true stories have been recounted by caring people eager to share their information and help others. Written as they have been recounted means sexually explicit: stories we could hear at any time in our work.

Under The Bed by Linda Porter published by Book Guild available at Amazon and Book Stores.