Counselors’ Comfort with Sexuality, Attitudes towards Pornography, and Propensity to Assess and Treat Client Issues Related to Pornography Use

Abstract

Clients present to counseling with clinical issues related to their pornography use. However, counselors report being undertrained and unprepared to work with clients regarding issues relating to pornography. Some researchers believe counselors' personal beliefs and attitudes about sex inhibit their ability to work with clients with issues related to sexuality. Therefore, we investigated counselors' comfort with discussing issues of sexuality, counselors' attitudes towards pornography, and their propensity to assess and treat client issues related to pornography use. We identified counselors' comfort with sexuality and attitudes towards pornography as mitigating factors in the assessment and treatment of client issues related to pornography use with a sample of mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists. We offer recommendations for counselors, counselor educators, and future research.

The Sexual Values and Behaviors Discrepancy Model

“…Further, it is necessary to note that labels of mental illness (i.e., disorders identified in the DSM) can improperly be used to reinforce negative social beliefs (Hozid, 2013), including stereotyping and microaggressions . Clients are seeking counseling services for sexual issues (Ayres & Haddock, 2009;Goldberg et al, 2008;Harris & Hays, 2008;Bloom et al, 2016), but counselors might be holding conservative and/or progressive beliefs about sexuality (Authors , 2016) that inhibit their unbiased treatment of those problems, thus impairing their ability to fulfill their role as an ethical counselor working within their boundaries of skills and competence (ACA, 2014).…”

“…A review of the literature indicates that counselors' comfort with sexuality might be a mitigating factor in the treat-ment of sexual issues (Kazukauskas & Lam, 2009;Harris & Hays, 2008;Bloom et al, 2016). Goldberg and colleagues (2008) explored marriage and family therapists' (N = 134) treatment of client issues related to cybersex and identified that 20% of their sample did not feel prepared to diagnose problems related to cybersex.…”

“…Harris and Hays (2008) also explored marriage and family therapists' (N = 175) comfort with sexuality and identified that therapists who received more training and/or attained supervision were more comfortable discussing issues of sexuality with clients, supporting the call for increased discussion and availability of resources to increase counselors' comfort with sexuality. Bloom et al (2016) explored counselors' (n = 575) comfort with sexuality and attitudes towards pornography and identified that both variables were predictive of counselors' assessment and treatment of clinical issues related to client pornography use. Authors speculated on their data in conjunction with exploratory questions from their investigation and noted, "We believe that confidence to treat issues related to sexuality might predict counselors' comfort with working with clients, and we believe that counselors' quality of training influences their confidence to treat issues of sexuality" (p. 339).…”

“…In light of Bloom et al's (2016) study in addition to the existent literature on counselors' comfort with sexuality, counselors could benefit from a model guiding their treatment of client sexual issues, which might enhance their confidence and competence in working with clients with those presenting issues. With the understanding that sexual values and practices vary per individual and per sexual relationship (Yarber, 2013), it is to remember the importance for counselors to do no harm (ACA, 2014) by not pathologizing their clients (Hozid, 2013).…”

“…Indeed, the counseling profession calls for the promotion of sex positivity (Burnes, Singh, & Witherspoon, 2017) and sexual wellness (Iantaffi, 2016) to meet the needs of clients who are presenting to counseling for issues related to their sexuality (Ayres & Haddock, 2009;Reissing & Giulio, 2010;Sanabria & Murray, 2018). Yet, some counselors report feeling undertrained and/or uncomfortable working with clients with sexual concerns (Harris & Hays, 2008;Bloom, Gutierrez, Lambie, & Ali, 2016).…”