Title:
De-constructing Deviance: Sexual Fantasies, Behavior, and Self-Regulation
Discussion Leader:
Siri Gillespie
Overview:
Siri will be presenting on their dissertation research and its implications for therapeutic practice. The study explored the relationships between sexual fantasies involving minors and aspects of sexual self-regulation. Participants in the study were individuals who reported having sexual fantasies involving minors, and reported desire and intention to avoid future sexual contact with children. Specifically, the study explored how participants engage with their sexual fantasies involving minors and how that relates to overall wellbeing, self-efficacy, and struggle to avoid offending against children. Participants in the study included people with and without history of sexual offending against children. Siri will discuss the results of the study, the implications for research, practice, and education around sexual fantasies and abuse. Siri will invite the audience to engage in critical thought about how we, as practitioners in this field, can more holistically understand and approach sexual fantasies in clinical settings and beyond.
Bio of discussion leader:
Siri (they/she) is a social worker, therapist, and Certified Sex Offense Treatment Provider. They live and work on Indigenous land of the Coast Salish peoples, who have reserved treaty rights to this land, specifically sdukʷalbixʷ (Snoqualmie Indian Tribe) and Seattle’s first people, the Duwamish. Siri is passionate about transforming cycles of violence, and strives to take a systemic, anti-oppression, survivor-centered lens and stance toward assessment and treatment for those who have done harm and been harmed. Her educational background is in social work and sex therapy and education, and she recently completed her PhD in Human Sexuality Studies focusing on the relationship between sexual fantasies and behavior. Siri’s work is informed by the identities and responsibilities they carry as a mixed Alaska Native Unangax and white, disabled, queer, and nonbinary person.