I'm thrilled to share that I've been approved to present at Leather Leadership Conference in Atlanta, GA on March 11-13, 2022. This conference has been an invaluable resource for myself as a kinky person, a community organizer, and leader in polyamory and kink/bdsm communities. If you're interested in nourishing continued personal growth as a person in the kink community (whether you plan to be a leader or not) I highly recommend this conference. This year the conference theme is “Resilience: Rebuild | Renew | Recharge” which speaks highly to my profession and my values. I look forward to helping this conference be an amazing experience! I'll be presenting...

• Transgender 101 for Allies and Play Partners
• Trauma and Triggers (with my dear friend Noel)

For more information about the conference, check out www.leatherleadership.org or if you'd like to skip right ahead to register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/llc-2022-tickets-95029723461 (Early Bird registration discount ends December 31st, so hurry!) 

Our friends and colleagues over at Atlanta Therapeutic Collective are offering a resource that may be helpful for our community/clients as well. Coryn Murphy is offering individual sessions as well as workshops and groups for the purpose of learning and supporting the integration of meditation practice into your life. 

She is also offering workshops on January 6th (9-11:30am) and January 15th (1-2:30pm) for just $50 per class.

Meditation has been found to help manage everyday life stressors that can lead to many medical conditions including chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Coryn will begin the class with a brief introduction of what meditation is and dispel myths about it. She will also discuss common types of meditation. She will then guide the class in a group meditation practice and help you create your own at home plan.

Coryn is a mental health therapist practicing in Decatur, Ga. She often helps clients manage their anxiety and daily life stressors through meditative practices. In addition to offering therapy services, Coryn also offers meditation classes and sessions to the public. Coryn has studied many kinds of meditation in China and Hong Kong including vipassana, Burmese style, shambala, MBSR, meta (loving kindness), chanting, breath and body awareness. She is currently enhancing her studies with the Nalanda Institute. She has been practicing meditation for 15 years.

For information about these services, go to https://www.atlantatherapeuticcollective.com/meditation and contact Atlanta Therapeutic Collective at info@atlantatherapeuticcollcetive.com

Are you a kinky person of color? You may be eligible to participate in an anonymous online survey about your experiences! This research will amplify and center the voices of kinky people of color, and results may benefit the larger community. Mina Beveney, a doctoral candidate at Widener University and Black psychotherapist, is seeking participants for a 20 to 30-minute survey that will ask about experiences of racial or ethnic discrimination, sexual self-concept, and coping.

If you are a person of color age 18 or over that has participated in in-person BDSM spaces or contexts in the United States within the past 24 months, please follow this link (https://rebrand.ly/RaceKinkSurvey) to find out more and participate. Participants may choose to enter into a drawing to win one of four $25 gift cards.

Mina Beveney is completing this dissertation research about race and discrimination within the BDSM community, including effects of discrimination on sexual self-concept, and the coping strategies that people use.  This research will amplify and center the voices of kinky people of color (KPOC), and results may provide the larger community with strategies to promote the safety and belonging of KPOC.  Additionally, the project has been formally endorsed by the Research Advisory Committee (RAC), a community advisory board of the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS). 

Have questions? Please direct all questions about this research to Mina Beveney, not Love Positive Counseling.