Sexual Attitude Reassessment

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Lewis Durham, Ted McIlvenna, Rick Chilgren · 1968 · San Francisco, USA

What it is

A SAR is not a therapy for clients. It is a structured group training for sexuality professionals (therapists, counsellors, educators, physicians, coaches) about their own attitudes. AASECT describes it as a seminar that uses lecture, media, experiential methods, activities and small-group…

Format

• The SAR is a single intensive event, not a course of sessions. There is no published phase model of the whole SAR in the sources. Halstead & Halstead (1983) published a six-stage model of the small group within a SAR (below).
• Format and dose

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Criteria for moving on. Progress is set by the timetable, not by individual readiness. Within the small group, moving on is signalled when members speak about their own reactions instead of describing the material. Completion requires full attendance and participation. For AASECT, the participant documents the SAR (title, sponsor or leader, date, hours, certificate) and writes a one-page statement of professional…
• Who leads. Usually AASECT-certified educators or supervisors. Britton & Dunlap had led 43 SARs in seven countries by 2017. The AASECT application form sets no facilitator qualification; it only asks for the sponsor or leader's name.
• What it is, stated plainly. A SAR is not a therapy for clients. It is a structured group training for sexuality professionals (therapists, counsellors, educators, physicians, coaches) about their own attitudes. AASECT describes it as a seminar that uses lecture, media, experiential methods, activities and small-group discussion so participants can explore their own attitudes, values, feelings and beliefs about…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Statements that list topics without naming any personal reaction.
• Rumination or distress in the evening, so check in the next morning.
• Relief at non-explicit material is a reaction worth exploring in itself.
• Lectures that grow into seminars, which lets the group flee into intellectualising.
• Clients taking more risks in disclosing sexual information over time is a sign it is working.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.