Implicit bias is a fancy way of saying "having an attitude about something or someone because they are unfamiliar". In this episode, you'll get a better grasp of the concept and we'll meet one of the researchers who helped develop the very first kink implicit bias scale for mental healthcare practitioners. Dr. Vanessa Brown talks about the kink bias that some patients face from mental healthcare workers. She also addresses the lack of support that those practitioners face as they strive to provide good mental healthcare. When we are confronted with the unknown, we automatically feel suspicious; this is a protective behavior that all creatures have developed over time. As humans, we get to choose if we want to use our substantial cerebrum to make a different choice. This research team came up with the first implicit bias scale to help these practitioners identify their biases around the topic of kink so that they can change their reactions if they so choose.
Their scale will be publicly available soon and I'll post a link when it is. Until then, here is a helpful link to "Kink Guidelines: Clinical Best Practices". As a patient, you can see that you have a right to expect complete acceptance of your choices and as a practitioner, you'll find helpful information about how to assist your clients who practice or want to practice consensual kink.
Here is a link to the Kink Aware Professionals list.
On October 28th at 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Dr. Brown, Lexi Gird, and other research team members will join us for a live Q&A to discuss their work. I encourage you to join us if you are a patient, a healthcare practitioner, a sex educator, or a researcher.
This is going to be a fantastic panel! Here is the LINK, and the passcode is 219308.
