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. 

Nik Lampe is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department at the University of South Carolina and they are conducting a research study as part of their dissertation research requirements in UofSC’s Sociology Ph.D. Program.

Specifically, they are studying the health and health care experiences of Americans 65 years and over who identify as transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, intersex, someone living with differences in sex development (DSD), or someone who identifies with a different sex or gender identity than what they were assigned at birth.

If you decide to participate, you will be asked to talk via telephone or virtually meet with Nik Lampe for an interview about your health and health care experiences. You will receive a $40 prepaid Visa debit card through the mail for participating in the study after you complete the interview.

If you would like to participate or have more questions, please follow up with Nik Lampe at (lampen@email.sc.edu or 803-881-8332 via text or telephone) to discuss participating in this study.

I recently shared on a podcast (soon to be announced) that this worksheet template I created a few years back can be incredibly helpful for understanding how our traumatic experiences effect us currently and in our relationships,  then communicate this information to the people we are in relationship with. 

If you're interested in knowing your own reactions, triggering stimuli, needs and wants, and better communicating all of that information to people who care about you... Open a Google doc then take your time to thoughtfully complete each section of this template and add anything that seems pertinent. Next share that document (viewable only) with anybody you feel comfortable enough being this vulnerable with (hopefully you have at least one person who cares about you and needs to know this stuff about you). Then invite them to ask questions for understanding and empathizing with your experiences. 

​Hello! My name is Frank Gorritz, a local community counselor in Lawrenceville, GA and a fourth-year doctoral student in the Counselor Education and Supervision program at UGA. I am reaching out to you to let you know about my dissertation research that will collaborate with Queer/Trans community members of color and provide them with paid compensation for their time. 

My dissertation research is exploring the lived experiences of Queer, Transgender, Black, and Indigenous People of Color (QTBIPOC), when receiving substance abuse counseling services in Georgia. My research plans to explore these experiences, as well as provide a safe and protected space for participants on Zoom to co-discover ways to enhance substance abuse counseling for QTBIPOC. I would love to collaborate with you on this work, through providing you with my contact flyer for community members who can/wish to participate. For participants who are interested, they will be asked to meet with me and other community members on Zoom for a two-part focus group that will last up to three hours total on one decided day and time. Alternative arrangements can also be made for folx who aren't comfortable in groups or if something comes up. $50 will be provided immediately to participants after their participation to compensate their time and labor. Let me know what you think! I would love to work with you. Attached is the flyer for more info!


Frank Gorritz, APC
Doctoral Candidate
University of Georgia

Our very own Anna Baxter was a guest on the Practicing Polyamory Podcast today discussing how personal identity is connected to autonomy. Check out episode 71: Skoliosexuality and Rewriting Autonomy On Practicing Polyamory's Youtube channel. While you're at it, follow their The Practicing Polyamory Podcast FB Page, Instagram, Twitter, and Twitch. and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube, iTunes, and/or Spotify. 

If you're ready to explore your identity and learn how to live and love more authentically, reach out to schedule an appointment with one of our counselors. 

We are thrilled to announce a new member of the Love Positive Counseling team: Jace Johns-Cooper! 

Jace is a Masters level intern completing his Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Mercer University. He has a bachelor's in Psychology from Georgia State University.

An important focus of his practice is reexamining societal norms and experiences through a queer and feminist lens to assist clients in becoming their true self. He also values healthy internal and external communication, self-care and exploration, and advocacy.

His passion is working with LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as those within the polyamorous and kink communities. He came out as a trans man in 2014 and started identifying as polyamorous in 2015. He has recently started becoming involved with the kink community in the past few years. He has also been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community for the past five years through local non-profits. 

Jace is available for scheduling new clients beginning June 1, 2021! Jace's rate is $35/hr. To book your first session with Jace, request an appointment and be sure to select Jace as the clinician (The rate will show $175 but the cost charged at the time of your appointment will be $35/hr). 

To contact Jace directly with questions or to schedule an appointment, email jacejohnscoopercounseling@gmail.com or call 678 210 9907. 

We've decided to participate in an exciting pop-up shop event designed to support female business owners: Supporting Our Sistahs happening May 30th! 

From the Eventbrite event:

S. O. S. Pop Up Shop is a marketplace of female business owners in the community who strive to support, uplift, and encourage each other!

To register to attend this event: CLICK HERE