What do we do in the Certificate of Sexological Bodywork® training?
By Alison Pilling
I want more Sexological Bodyworkers in the world.
I was drawn to Sexological Bodywork® a decade ago when I read the following, written by my teacher Joseph Kramer:
“Consider being of service to the human community. Join a worldwide network of somatic sex educators committed to evolving erotic embodiment. Sexological Bodyworkers guide individuals, couples and groups using a variety of instructive modalities, including breath work, touch, erotic massage, pelvic release bodywork, Orgasmic Yoga coaching, and conscious placement of attention.“
Joining the Sexological Bodywork® training involves a different way of seeing bodies, of coming back to your own body, of focusing on yours instead of another, so you know yourself differently. Then once those practices are established you are better able to support others to get a sense of internal knowing, regulation and awareness. It involves moving to a steadier sense of self and discovery through the body.
The curriculum involves breathwork, body scans, the Wheel of Consent®, bossy massage, mindful masturbation, ethics, clean language, anatomy and physiology, scar remediation, and mapping. We can touch bodies as Sexological Bodyworkers (including genitals, yet mostly we don’t). We are teaching about choice, sensation, self-regulation, awareness, and eroticism. Certified Sexological Bodyworkers help clients recognise and feel themselves. We give clients space.
As a student, there are 5 modules: 2 in-person in Hebden Bridge, 2 as somatic distance learning and the last module is practice time to offer 25 - 30 sessions to people who have a real reason to come to see you. Sexological Bodyworkers listen to what someone needs, offering ways of support that evoke learning and understanding through the body. It is a client-led rather than a treatment model. We value not knowing best. Clients may show up with a range of common issues, eg erectile difficulties, genital pain, dissatisfaction with their sex lives, recovery from bad experiences, wanting to know what is possible and desirable, to be able to speak up, to express from a deeper different place of self rather than trying to work out what someone else wants.
In a session, after a body scan, we find a learning objective and educational contract. Then, we use the Sexological Bodywork® tools to offer something manageable and digestible, typically for a 90-minute or 2-hour session.
I have been involved with Sexological Bodywork® for a decade as a practitioner, coach, and now a co-teacher in the UK training. I want more Sexological Bodyworkers in the world. Humans who can show up for clients without an agenda or trying to get their own needs met; who can hold both trauma and pleasure with compassion, encouragement and unconditional positive regard. The Sexological Bodywork experiential style of learning has to change the practitioners themselves first, to let the modules and tools change their bodies and self-beliefs, to expand a repertoire of possibilities beyond traditional partner engagement. I’m an unusual stickler for the endless reports and enjoy watching my students develop and join the dots in their extensive learning, so we can be proud of and trust in them.
The Certificate in Sexological Bodywork includes support with envisioning and planning a unique practice. Graduates have tremendous scope in choosing areas of specialisation: for example, by focusing on a particular interest group (e.g. queer folk, women, men, couples, group work); presenting concerns (e.g. developing ejaculatory choice, recovery after giving birth, becoming orgasmic, sexuality during menopause); or a particular set of practices (e.g. mindful self-pleasure, scar tissue remediation, genital mapping, Wheel of Consent practices).
While CSBs have the scope of practice to include intimate touch when appropriate, they also learn methods to elicit embodied reflection through talking. Whether or not a professional practice comes to include touch after graduation is up to the individual. Either way as a qualified CSB, the fact that they have experienced all the taught modalities in their own body, and been through their own journey of growth and transformation means that when working with clients, their presence and knowledge come from real embodied experience and not from theory alone.
A typical hourly rate for many CSBs is £120 per hour and a typical session time is 2 hours. Given those figures, it would be possible to recoup the training costs in 25 sessions. At 3-4 sessions per week, this could take less than 2 months. Many students begin earning before the course ends, by charging a reduced rate for sessions while completing certification during Module 5.
We wear gloves and Certified Sex Geek t-shirts with pride. It's not sexual, it's not tantric, it’s not kinky, it’s not yoga or massage. I love all of those things too. All of your past experiences can be brought to Sex Bod as a foundation for application. Combining the elements of intention, attention, breath movement and sound over time can bring extraordinary results. Like anything, it takes focused attention, and being willing to take on new ideas and behaviours, to become a practitioner and to benefit from being a client. It’s a learning environment, a space where clients can come for a session, and for that time feel supported, that the time is theirs, that their dilemmas matter and their emotions can be held and sat alongside.
Where we’re going there are no roads, and the curriculum grows. Come and join us.
