Can a Course on Sexuality Counseling Increase Empathy when Working with Sex- and Gender-Minoritized Individuals?

Sexuality is a complex construct made up of the influence of systems upon the individual and counterinfluence of the individual upon systems, which can make sexual history taking problematic. The adaptation of Bronfenbrenner’s developmental ecological systems model has been employed to create a Sexological Ecosystemic Assessment. The Sexological Ecosystemic Assessment is described as a means of gathering and organizing information about an individual’s sexual development and current sexual expression across five subsystems that range from the microsystem, wherein interactions take place among and between family members and close caregivers, to the chronosystem, which is the effect of time across the other four subsystems. The Sexological Ecosystemic Assessment may be useful in considering the effects of systemic intersectionality on sexual development. The use of the Sexological Ecosystemic Assessment as a couple’s assessment and intervention is also discussed. The Sexological Ecosystemic Assessment is a flexible tool that can be used both at the outset of treatment but also during treatment to gather additional influences on a person’s sexual history and presenting problem. Sample questions for conducting the Sexological Ecosystemic Assessment are provided, with encouragement for clinicians to use the model as a basis for creating questions that fit the identity and intersections of their client population.