Upcoming Live CE Courses
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Teaching Affirmative Psychotherapy
The Affirmative Couch is a committed advocate for the mental health of LGBTQIA+*, consensually non-monogamous, and kink communities by providing LGBTQ training for therapists, affirmative psychotherapy training courses, and affirmative organization development consulting.
As an APA-approved sponsor of continuing education, we offer online CE courses for mental healthprofessionals seeking training on clinical work with sexuality-, gender-, and relationship-expansive clients. We offer CNM-, kink-, and LGBT-affirmative therapy training for therapists and other medical health professionals. Psychotherapists can purchase our affirmative psychotherapy training courses individually, or through our Annual Membership or Lifetime Membership.
We provide affirmative organizational development and training for medical and mental health clinics and group practices to create systemic change and become leaders in affirmative health care. Our library of courses is available for clinics at a group rate.
The Affirmative Couch features articles written by and for mental health care providers that explore the unique needs of these communities and provide insight into best practices.
*LGBTQIA+ refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, transgender, gender nonbinary, intersex, asexual, and other related communities. Consensually non-monogamous (CNM) refers to polyamorous, swinging, relationship anarchy and other open relationship models. Kink refers to fetish, bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism, masochism, and other non-vanilla communities.
“The Affirmative Couch, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Affirmative Couch, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.”
Check which states and licenses accept APA sponsorships >
Licensing boards change regulations often, and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about The Affirmative Couch’s courses meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling.
“One of the first investments I made when opening Kindred Psychology was to purchase a Lifetime Membership to [The] Affirmative Couch. An important mission of our Counseling Psychology group practice is to provide inclusive and affirming clinical services for LGBTQ+ populations. Affirmative Couch trainings have been an integral component of ensuring we accomplish this mission by helping us expand and refine our existing knowledge base. We have found trainings to be theoretically grounded, informative, sex-positive, strengths-based, holistic, non-shaming, and trauma informed. We also have appreciated the way trainings are tailored to be responsive to a variety of learning styles and abilities. Affirmative Couch trainings have prompted deeper discussions in case reviews, and have been meaningful to our non-clinical staff members as well. As a psychologist, practice founder, and member of the queer community, I highly recommend Affirmative Couch trainings as a high-quality, affordable way to support LGBTQ+ cultural proficiency.”
– Camie Nitzel, PhD, LP
Founder of Kindred Psychology, Licensed Psychologist
Nonprofit Spotlight
The Affirmative Couch believes in supporting nonprofits that cater towards supporting LGBTQIA+, CNM, or kink mental health; every quarter we pick a different nonprofit to donate a portion of our net profits.
The Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS) is committed to furthering the mental health and economic well-being of its local community, and offers psychoanalytic training and psychological services to help with social problems and the psychological needs of the community at large. In support of LAISPS effort to build an enduring Diversities Scholarship fund to assist with offering psychoanalytic education for clinicians working in marginalized communities, please consider a donation to their efforts.