Sexual Health with Chronic Illness and Disability
A graduate-level continuing education course preparing licensed mental health clinicians to address sexual health within the lives of clients living with chronic illness and disability. Grounded in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and a disability-affirming, biopsychosocial framework, this course examines condition-specific impacts on sexual function and intimacy across cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and chronic pain. Clinicians will build skills in assessment, psychoeducation, scope-appropriate intervention, and interprofessional collaboration.
2
CE Hours
What you'll learn
- Describe how at least five chronic illnesses or disabilities affect sexual function, desire, and intimacy through biological, psychological, and social pathways.
- Apply the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework to conceptualize sexual health concerns in medically complex clients.
- Conduct a scope-appropriate sexual health assessment and deliver accurate psychoeducation to clients living with chronic illness and disability.
- Implement disability-affirming clinical practices that counter ableist assumptions about sexuality and center client autonomy and self-determination.
- Coordinate interprofessional collaboration and identify when to refer to medical, rehabilitation, and sexual health specialists within ethical scope of practice.
Approval & credit
CounselorReady is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP #7760). This course awards 2 NBCC-approved CE hours; a certificate is issued on completion. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CounselorReady is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.