"Without pleasure there is no life;
the struggle for pleasure is the struggle for life."
- Human, All Too Human by Friedrich Nietzsche
"After self-preservation, sex is the most important thing in life"
- Sex in Human Loving by Eric Berne
Too often, sex and sexuality only enter the therapy room when something’s gone wrong.
But many clients’ questions, fantasies, or struggles around sex are entirely normal—just hidden beneath layers of shame and misunderstanding.
If we can’t talk openly about desire, we cut off access to an entire realm of human experience.
And without that space, our clients are left stuck—longing for pleasure, connection, and freedom they never get to name.
Are Your Clients K!nk Aware or K!nk Curious?
You Need To Be, Too.
You’ve been trained to meet your clients with empathy, curiosity, and clinical skill.
But when k!nk, BD$M, or non-traditional power dynamics enter the room, many therapists hit a wall—not because they lack compassion, but because they were never given a roadmap. Instead there was silence. Maybe there was stigma, or vague warnings. Maybe there was discomfort in your own body. Or there still is.
Whether your clients bring fantasies of submission, lived D/s relationships, or shame-laced questions about their desires, your role isn’t to fix or flinch—it’s to understand. And to be a space where your clients don’t have to shrink to feel safe.
This isn’t about turning you into a k!nk expert.
It’s about expanding your presence so clients don’t have to collapse theirs.
This training is for you if:
You've ever frozen in the face of client erotic material.
You’re ready to expand your capacity—not your judgment.
You want to stop subtly shaming what you don't understand.
You want tools, language, and clarity—not just theory.
This is not a training in k!nk participation.
It’s a training in k!nk competence.
Your clients don’t need you to be into it.
They need you to stay present.*
* Trainings in k!nk and BD$M are available from the STIR Institute. Contact us for details.
What You'll Learn
This training helps you work with k!nk-aware and k!nk-curious clients—without moral panic, subtle shaming, or clinical shutdown.
You’ll walk away with tools to:
Better understand your clients' desires and interests.
Navigate power dynamics in therapy with clarity and confidence
Track your own somatic and emotional responses in session
Conduct k!nk-informed intakes and contracting conversations
De-shame desire while staying within your clinical role
Engage ethically with erotic transference and taboo material
Presented by Matthew Riven
Matthew Riven is a coach and educator known for his candid, compassionate work around power, desire, and emotional integration. Drawing from 15+ years of experience with Transactional Analysis, Re-decision work, and Conscious K!nk, he supports clients and clinicians alike in navigating relational patterns, reclaiming agency, and engaging with desire as a source of growth—not pathology. And he does so while keeping you—and your clients—safe.
Matthew’s training as a Professional Dom offers a rare, embodied insight into power dynamics—without sensationalism. His teaching invites clinicians into deeper emotional intelligence, k!nk-competence, and grounded therapeutic presence. He provides you the means to maintain balance, especially when the material gets edgy.
Become a K!nk Conscious Therapist
We’re adding new training dates regularly, join the waitlist! Trainings can be virtual and in person.
If you're interested in hosting an in-person training, we’d love to collaborate. A minimum of 10–15 participants is typically required, depending on your location. Contact us for details.
If you are interested in In-Person Trainings, where are you loacted?
While the activity here may sound like ‘therapy’ it is not, and should not take the place of working with a licensed therapist.