For this assignment, students were asked to conduct a sexual history interview with a colleague, and play the role of the client. For confidentiality reasons, a pseudonym will be used for the colleague’s name. Prior to the interview, Kiana and Amy discussed the assignment, their roles, and their apprehensions. Amy decided to play the role of the therapist first, and Kiana the client.
Kiana as the Client
Going into the interview, Kiana was anxious about answering personal questions about sex and sexuality. She believes that her personal beliefs, values, and experiences impacted the assignment tremendously. Kiana was raised in a household that did not discuss sex or sexuality openly, which made it difficult to elaborate on the questions …show more content…
She believes that this was due to not having to disclose personal information. The interview enlightened and broadened Kiana’s perspective about sex and sexuality. She was impacted personally by the interview, as she was exposed to an unfamiliar lifestyle. Learning about this lifestyle helped her come to the realization that she needs to educate herself and become more inquisitive about sexual matters. Surprisingly, Kiana did not experience many feelings of discomfort in the role of the therapist. The only discomfort that was noticeable was discussing the lifestyle that she was inexperienced with. However, though not asked in the interview, she thinks that asking questions about sexually transmitted diseases would be uncomfortable as well. As far as sexuality and gender issues, Kiana does not experience much discomfort or does not have many biased opinions. She has learned to not allow others thoughts or opinions influence her behavior toward those who are different than her. Although Kiana experiences discomfort answering personal questions about sex and sexuality, she has had several conversations with others about their sexual identity or gender identity. When faced with sexual values or practices outside of her comfort zone, she asks questions to understand where these values or practices stem from. Kiana is open about topics related to sex and gender. This is a result of her being discriminated …show more content…
In fact, Wilkinson and Pearson (2013) found that social context is an important factor to consider when predicting the sexual desire and identity of individuals. The focus of this article in on high school religious context and same-sex attractions and sexuality in young adulthood. These authors examined the social construction of sexual desire and identity in schools and the struggle that adolescents have with defining themselves in relation to others. Additionally, the authors highlight how sexual scripts shape individual attraction and identity (Wilkinson & Pearson, 2013). Based on the research from these authors, sexual scripts are described as patterns of sexual conduct that are learned and are appropriate within local contexts. In other words, sexual scripts are socio-cultural expectations (Wilkinson & Pearson, 2013). The authors tell us that when religion is included in the school system that it can shape the dominant sexual scripts and influence the sexual development of religious and nonreligious youth in schools (Wilkinson & Pearson, 2013). This may cause young people recognize their attraction to same sex people or cause young people to deny or suppress their same-sex