Explore & Understand Sexuality: Sexual Attitude Reassessment Workshop

Together with the Alberta Society for the Promotion of Sexual Health (ASPSH), we are pleased to present:

 

Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR) Workshop

Friday Nov 22 and Saturday Nov 23, 2013

8:30 to 4:30

► UPDATE: online registration and tickets now available! ◄

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What is a SAR and why should you attend?

SAR provides an opportunity to explore and understand your own beliefs, attitudes, values and biases within the realm of sex and sexuality.  This self-exploration and self-understanding facilitates comfort that ultimately fosters improved communication skills, both on a professional and a personal level.

By becoming more aware of your perceptions, beliefs and feelings you will become increasingly comfortable with the wide variation of existing sexual attitudes, behaviours, practices and even sub-cultures.  This comfort is necessary for any sexual health professional and is also beneficial for individuals striving for personal growth and the development of healthy personal relationships.

During the SAR, you will examine sexuality and sexual attitudes from numerous perspectives using a variety of images.  The nature of SAR requires that some of the media be explicit.  The use of explicit media is necessary for increasing self-awareness and personal comfort with the many areas of sex and sexuality.  In addition to the personal growth, the event involves small group discussions during which you will be challenged with the opportunity to practice your professional or interpersonal skills.

 

 

Who might be interested in attending? 

• Professionals in the field of sexual and reproductive health
• Sexual Health Educators
• Counselors and Therapists
• Anyone interested in challenging their values, perceptions and understanding of sexuality

 

 

Leader Bios

Mary Valentich, PhD, RSW is a Professor Emerita, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary and a Registered Social Worker, Alberta College of Social Workers. She is a Certified Sex Educator and Diplomate in Sex Therapy, American Association of Sex Educators, Counsellors and Therapists and has received ASSECT accreditation for the SAR.

 

Since 1972 Mary has had a private practice; taught sexuality for 35 years; and published 50 articles and co-edited two books related to practice in sexual problems. She has presented papers and workshops on various aspects of sexuality including development of sexual self-awareness, feminist/gender sensitive practice and ethical issues pertaining to multiple relationships in professional practice.

 

 

 

Edward Sandberg, MSW, RSW is a Clinical Social Worker in Private Practice in Vancouver .B.C. Edward has worked extensively in the area of sexuality for the past 25 years and has taught on a variety of sexual health subject areas at workshops, conferences and SARs.

 

Edward started his professional career as an HIV/AIDS counselor and educator. He has worked in the areas of sexual health disease prevention, sexual orientation, gender identity, couples counselling and extensively with members of the BDSM community, both heterosexual and queer.

 

Edward has a diverse clientele and deals with a multitude of issues in his practice. However, the underlying issues of sexuality are frequently present because clients seek out a therapist who is comfortable with these life and lifestyle issues even if they are not the primary issues to be addressed in the therapy.

 

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AASECT Accredited

“This program meets the requirements of American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counsellors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for 16 CE credits.  These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT certification and renewal of certification.

 

 

ACSW Accredited

Calgary Sexual Health Centre sponsored workshops are approved for Level A, Alberta Social Work Credits via a partnership with the Calgary Counselling Centre.

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Location: 

Calgary Sexual Health Centre

#304, 301 14 Street NW, Calgary, AB

 

 

Workshop Fee: 

• $375 ASPSH members   
• $425 non members 
• $275 Students

To register and purchase tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/event/8392709821

 

 

Questions?: 

Valerie Barr
403. 283. 5580 ext. 317

vbarr@calgarysexualhealth.ca

 

or

 

Becky Van Tassel
403. 283. 5580 ext. 323
bvantassel@calgarysexualhealth.ca

 

 

 

Walking & Talking at the Fall Feminist Walk 2013

We are pleased to partner with the Women's Centre and Take Back the Night Calgary to present the Fall Feminist Walk.

Tour the streets with us and learn more about Calgary's herstory! Come spend a fall evening with us walking, talking and hearing about stories of women who have shaped our City.  We will also discuss some of the current issues facing women in our region and ways to get involved.

Everyone is welcome. The event is open to everyone - not just women.

Date:

September 12, 2013

Time:

6-8pm

Location:

Starts at Memorial Park Library (1221-2nd St SW) and
ends at Olympic Plaza (228-8 Ave SE).
 

 

 

For more info:

 

http://www.womenscentrecalgary.org/get-involved/calendar/fall-feminist-walk/

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/508458555899162/ 

 

Back to School with the CSHC Training Centre! ► Fall 2013 Schedule

As the back to school season approaches, we are gearing up for our new Fall 2013 schedule of workshops.

 

Our Training Centre provides a number of professional development opportunities for service providers. Last year our staff facilitated 93 educational workshops reaching over 2,590 professionals!

 

We are pleased to present the schedule for our Fall 2013 workshops. Please note that Category A Social Work credits are available for all training sessions.

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Supporting Sexuality with People with Disabilities

► DATE CHANGE: October 1, 2013 ◄
9 – 12

This session is designed for professionals working with people with developmental disabilities. Participants will define sexuality in a broad context, explore their own attitudes about sexuality and receive practical suggestions for engaging clients in conversations about their sexual health and wellbeing.

This workshop will also help professionals to set boundaries around what is appropriate behavior, clarify age of consent guidelines and make referrals to community resources.

Supporting Sexuality with Older Adults

November 6, 2013  
9 – 12

Negative cultural perceptions about seniors and sexuality abound.  What can we do as professionals to counter those views and support the sexual health and wellbeing of older adults. 

In this workshop, you will increase your confidence and comfort talking with your clients about sexuality. Receive practical suggestions, tips and resources to start talking and keep talking about sexual health and wellbeing with seniors.

Creating a Culture of Respect for Gender Diverse Clients and Coworkers

December 4, 2013 
9 – 12

This session will explore the gender binary that exists in our culture and its impact on client service delivery.

Participants will identify strategies to create safe and supportive environments for clients and coworkers who transcend our culturally constructed views of gender.

 

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Location: 
Calgary Sexual Health Centre
#304, 301 - 14 Street NW, Calgary, AB

 

 

To Register: 
Call Valerie Barr at 403. 283. 5580 ext. 317
vbarr@calgarysexualhealth.ca  

or

Call Becky Van Tassel at 403. 283. 5580 ext. 323

bvantassel@calgarysexualhealth.ca 

Fee:

$50 per person, including workshop materials

 

Key Area 1: Healthy Bodies --> a personal story

There are three key areas that CSHC is focused on: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Relationships and Healthy Communities. These focus areas speak to the core of our work; they support our vision for the community and the mission we are on to achieve it.

In this series of blogs, we present some of our success stories  that highlight a program from each of our three focus areas.

 

In this blog, we look at a "Healthy Bodies" story:

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Eve’s Story: Reclaiming Healthy Sexuality

She started the program wondering why she was even there. She left wondering what she would’ve done without it.

“Eve* started the program thinking she didn’t really need it,” says Becky Van Tassel, Training Centre Coordinator with Calgary Sexual Health Centre. Eve was taking part in the Reclaiming Healthy Sexuality program as part of an addictions treatment program.

Reclaiming Healthy Sexuality is a Calgary Sexual Health Centre program that fills a critical need. Aimed at women who have had negative sexual experiences, Reclaiming is an intensive program that helps women look at their own bodies and sexuality in a new, healthier way. In Eve’s case, she experienced sexual assault as an adult.

“Often it empowers women to address something they’ve never talked about,” Van Tassel says. “We provide the tools and information so that women can make healthy choices for themselves in the future.”

Talking about their bodies is one of the most important parts of the program. From discussing anatomy to exploring how to be aware of your own body and its reactions, clients like Eve benefit from the group discussions.



Healthy decision-making with
"Head Heart Body"

The program is only offered to those already accessing social programs, so participants can receive follow-up support as they move forward. Van Tassel admits that it’s difficult work for the women involved. One aspect of the program called Head, Heart, Body helps participants make healthy decisions about sexuality.

“At the end of it, women acknowledge that they may not have made a decision that way before and it can be uncomfortable, but they know that in the future they have a tool so they can aim to not regret future decisions.”

One of the most powerful parts of the program is not what the facilitators teach the participants, but what they teach other.

“They really bond over their common experiences and help each other,” says Van Tassel. “We see really diverse groups and you often see older women sharing their wisdom or younger women helping the older participants see things in a different light. And then it builds their own self esteem that they’ve had something valuable to share with someone else and they could give support. ”

“We talk about the fact that regardless of what you’ve experienced, there is hope and the way you feel about sex and sexuality can change,” says Van Tassel. “Women can really leave with a sense of hope.”

*names have been changed.

 

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Healthy Bodies

When we understand our bodies, we take care of them, feel good about them, and make good decisions about our sexual health.

We are the only non-profit organization in Calgary delivering comprehensive programs and services that address sexual health issues. Our programs emphasize the need to be aware of your own body and take care of it, whether that means using birth control and getting tested for STIs,  or reclaiming your own sexuality.

 

An Interview with Pam

Prior to our AGM in June, we sat down with Pam Krause, Executive Director of Calgary Sexual Health Centre to reflect on 2012 and the year ahead. 

 

2012 was an exciting year, especially because CSHC celebrated its 40^th anniversary. What were the highlights for you?


We did an event every month in 2012, so we made sure there were lots of community connections to help celebrate our 40^th year. Our anniversary gala was a huge part of the year for me because we had alumni from the earliest days of the organization there. It brought home to me why we began, and it also helped me recognize what a substantial part of the community this organization has been for 40 years.



Pam was recognized by Global Calgary in 2012
as a "Woman of Vision".

What really struck me that evening was how many things have changed and at the same time how little things have changed. Looking back, we had this immense core of support that led us to do courageous stuff that nobody else would do, and I look to today, and that is exactly the role that we still play. We have a core group of people who support us and have allowed us to be really courageous with our actions, and now it manifests in programs like FAIR and the Training Centre and WiseGuyz.

 

What was new for CSHC in 2012?

One of the most exciting things for me was seeing FAIR (Families Achieving Inclusive Relationships) get off the ground. It was the culmination of a lot of work engaging immigrant and newcomer communities and building relationships with youth, parents, and organizations.

We also started to see a greater focus on prevention. That includes the great success of our Training Centre, the move to serve more youth in junior high schools – and potentially elementary schools – and finding new ways to engage parents through that work. I think those are all massively important in our organization’s overall goal of normalizing sexuality.

 

What were the biggest challenges for the organization in 2012?

We continue to struggle with funding because we’re very committed to the populations we serve and we’re often ahead of the curve in our work. Sometimes that means that funding structures aren’t necessarily caught up with us.

FAIR is a really good example of this. Because it’s true community development, we couldn’t wait for the funding piece to come forward. We needed it to be really organic and to actually see where it went first. The challenge was staying true to our client base and staying true to our innovative programming and then also having enough resources to do all the work we wanted to do. We really depend on individual donors to help us continue to do that cutting-edge work.

 

What are you most looking forward to in 2013?

I’m looking forward to being an organization that is even more heavily focused on community impact.We’re looking at our work with a critical lens to ensure it’s accomplishing the goals we want to achieve. Also the work we’re doing with WiseGuyz, tying research to curriculum and building it in to a best practice, is a very exciting model that we’ll roll out in 2013, and we’ll then start to look at replicating it.

Moving in to the new world of developmental evaluation and validated outcomes doesn’t sound exciting but it is. It helps us tell the story of the impact we have and see the bigger picture. It’s a transformation from being really grassroots to being more disciplined and intentional about the impact we want to have, and knowing if we get there.

 

What are the opportunities for Calgary Sexual Health Centre going forward?

There are way more opportunities for us to work in other parts of the province, to focus not just on the city but on the rural areas where the need is great. There are also huge opportunities in continuing to have really comprehensive programming. We now have a well-established Training Centre, so we have an opportunity to reach clients, and then reach the professionals to sustain our work and build organizational capacity.

The words that we used 40 years ago are very similar to the words we use today – it was all about constantly pushing the boundaries. We’ve always done the critical work no one else wants to take on. That’s the essence of who we are, that deep connection to the community and the people we serve which leads us to do exceptionally innovative programming.

 

 

Infographic: How to turn boys into WiseGuyz

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WiseGuyz is a ground-breaking 14 week program that provides targets education, skills development and support to young men to help them achieve sexual well-being and healthy relationships.

The program employs a comprehensive approach to sexual health that recognizes that sexuality and male gender norms influence young men's attitudes, actions, relationships and their sexual experiences.

The program is currently running in three public Junior High Schools. It has been featured on CTV News and as a cover story in the Globe and Mail.

Our doors are open! And our hearts are full!

Its been a long few months of repairs at our office, but we're finally getting close to the end! We are thrilled to share that our office is now open!

On May 12, some pipes in our building burst and caused major flood damage throughout our office spaces. As you can see, we're still working on the finishing touches - but our doors are open and we welcome you to drop by!











Despite the mess and inconvenience, our staff have powered through the ordeal. Our many programs and services continued to serve the community, and we managed to achieve some great successes:



Our AGM
We hosted our AGM on June 19 with special guest speaker, Dr. Shirley Steinberg. It was a very special evening for us as we reconnected with a full room of friends and supporters, and thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Steinberg's funny and poignant address.



Camp fYrefly 
From July 11 - 14, we held the inaugural Camp fYrefly for LGBTQ youth in the Calgary area. We are still overwhelmed by the incredible energy at the camp and the strong support from the community. We truly believe it was a life-changing event for many of the amazing youth we welcomed to the camp. Thank you to the many volunteers, supporters, donors and sponsors that made this possible. 


And of course during these milestone events for our organization, we along with our fellow Calgarians witnessed the incredible events of the Alberta Floods. The response to the floods has been deeply inspiring, and it was remarkable that only a few weeks later the city hosted the resilient Calgary Stampede 101. And we were there with our CCHA partners to "YAHOO!" along with the city, marking another year of the "Put a Condom on Your Cowboy" campaign.

 

 

Looking back at the past month, we are so filled with gratitude and inspiration. We love the spirit of Calgary!! You make us proud to be part of this great city.