ABSTRACT
Many clinical supervisees find themselves unprepared for treating conservative Christian clients. Such clients often view their bodies with suspicion or sexual shame, reflecting a common pattern through much of Christian history. Judeo-Christian tradition, however, actually provides rich affirmations of the body, including sexual desire, although such concepts have been neglected in Christian teaching at large over the last two millennia. “M.E.S.S.,” a Model for Erasing Sexual Shame, is a fourfold process for helping conservative Christian clients rediscover their heritage’s affirmation of sexual desire: “Frame” helps clients become educated about their bodies and desires; “Name” guides clients to tell their own stories of experiencing or overcoming religious sexual shame; “Claim” helps clients to celebrate their bodies creatively and intentionally; and “Aim” prompts clients to imagine how they can experience a life free from religious sexual shame. In a case study, a supervisee guides a married couple through the M.E.S.S. model.
