Profs & Pints DC: “Kink” or “Disorder”?

Profs and Pints DC presents: “‘Kink’ or ‘Disorder’?” an entertaining look at how psychology approaches unusual sexual behaviors, with Brian A. Sharpless, licensed clinical psychologist, former faculty member at Penn State University and Washington State University, and editor of Unusual and Rare Psychological Disorders.

Few subjects are as interesting – or as sensitive – as sex. Psychology’s history of dealing with sexual behaviors and, especially, the more unusual among them, has been fraught, and in many cases resulted in entirely normal and safe behavior deemed pathological. In recent decades, however, it has evolved to be far more open-minded, and to use diagnostic standards focused on the well-being of those involved.

Be on hand as Dr. Brian Sharpless, a popular regular on the Profs and Pints stage, discusses how psychologists and psychiatrists approach some of the more unusual sexual behaviors. You’ll learn how the mental-health field historically has thought about, and…