What would happen if we thought of our work as helping clients imagine into the radical and transformative possibilities of their being and their relationships, rather than merely “resolving problems”? How might our work shift toward liberation and pleasure, rather than merely resolving distress and pain? In this workshop, we’ll discuss how we can expand our imaginations as therapists—and help our clients dream of horizons beyond what queer theorist José Esteban Muñoz called the “prison house” of the here-and-now. You’ll discover how to:  

• Explore the reasons we cling to gender and sexuality binaries, such as masculine/feminine; normal/abnormal pleasure; sex/not-sex—and the benefits of stepping outside them  
• Recognize how clients impose binary constructs on their sexualities 
• Deploy somatic, pleasure-centered interventions to help clients explore space between and beyond binaries 

Emily Nagoski, PhD, (she/her) is a sex educator in western Massachusetts and the author of Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life. Lucie Fielding, MA, (she/they) is a resident in counseling in Charlottesville, VA. And the author of Trans Sex: Clinical Approaches to Trans Sexualities and Erotic Embodiments.