ABSTRACT

Advancing Sexual Health for the Christian Client is an essential toolkit for professionals working at the intersection of Christian belief and sexual health. In this book, Beverly Dale and Rachel Keller deconstruct potentially harmful Christian beliefs around sexuality to support clients stuck in sexual guilt, shame and fear.

Combining the experience of an ordained Christian clergy with a certified sexologist, this guide promotes a new approach to sex and faith for therapists, which will help their clients to reconcile a belief in God’s love with sexual knowledge and fulfilment. Grounded in historical and cultural contexts, and drawing from both academic research and scriptural exegesis, the authors offer practical clinical applications and interventions to enable clients to re-examine their sexual beliefs in a way that encourages sexual healing.

By understanding the goals of a sex-positive, body-positive Christianity, professionals can find a common language with the person of faith and build an effective therapeutic relationship. This book will be a key point of reference for any sex therapist, educator, or student looking to integrate faith-based concepts into their approach.

chapter |20 pages

Introduction

part I|98 pages

Understanding the Problem

chapter 1|11 pages

A New Mindset

chapter 2|12 pages

The Influence of Culture

chapter 3|6 pages

Jesus

A Liberating Spiritual Movement that Got Off Track

chapter 4|20 pages

The Bad News

Three Symptoms of Sex Negativity

chapter 5|12 pages

From Ignorance to Knowledge

chapter 6|20 pages

From Scarcity to Abundance

chapter 7|15 pages

From Suspicion of Pleasure to Freedom

part II|59 pages

Sex-Positive Treatment Approaches

chapter 8|17 pages

Embracing Discernment

chapter 9|5 pages

Joining with the Client

chapter 10|14 pages

Identifying Negative Sexual Beliefs

chapter 11|6 pages

Reframing Sex-Negative Beliefs

chapter 12|15 pages

Healing Rituals and Meditations

part III|43 pages

Tools and Exercises

chapter 13|18 pages

Tools

chapter 14|16 pages

Case Studies

chapter 15|7 pages

Sex-Positive Christian Resources

An Annotated Bibliography