My course is going well. So far this term we have had lectures on a transpersonal view of adolescence, sexual development and eating disorders. In addition we have had two weekends on sexual development. For the next two weeks we have lectures on addictions so presumably we will cover the whole gambit of addictions.
I have enjoyed discussing Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory on Sexuality (1905). Freud was writing at a time when women were chaperoned to the doctor by their husbands. It is also important to remember that Freud was writing in a time that pre-dated gay liberation. So, perhaps writing about sexuality would be akin to writing a history of England purely from the lenses of Victorian books.Indeed, it is interesting to note that the BACP has modified its Ethical Framework that only now informs its members that gay conversion therapy is unethical.
The statement, drawn up by the board of governors, ends: “BACP believes that socially inclusive, non-judgmental attitudes to people who identify across the diverse range of human sexualities will have positive consequences for those individuals, as well as for the wider society in which they live. There is no scientific, rational or ethical reason to treat people who identify within a range of human sexualities any differently from those who identify solely as heterosexual.”
Rosemary Cowan, in a previous edition of Therapy Today, has pointed out that the developmental model that CCPE has suggested is that trainees in the first year are likened to wide-eyed, enthusiastic primary school children; in the second year, like pre-teens, they gain confidence and independence but may also be ‘know-alls’ who overstretch themselves; in the third year they reach the rebellious, argumentative, difficult teenager stage; in the fourth year, with increased maturity and stability, they become more rounded, finished characters. I am not sure where I fit with that model but remaining open minded and receptive is probably the best option and lectures on addictions are probably best placed in the teen period.