Speakers
Alain Giami (PhD) is Emeritus Research Professor at the Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) in Paris. He is Vice President of the World Association for Sexual Health and Associate editor of the journal “Sexologies: European Journal of Sexology and sexual health”.
He served as a full member of the International Academy of Sex Research since 1994 and also as an expert in various task force at the World Health Organization, UNESCO, the French Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) and the French Ministry of Health. He created and developed a University Diploma on “Sexual health and Public Health at Paris University (Paris 5 and Paris 7) (2007-2014).
He has published several books in French, English and Portuguese including: “Histories of Sexology : Between Science and Politics” (Palgrave) co-edited with Sharman Levinson (2021); “Infirmières & Sexualité : entre soins et relations” (Nurses & sexuality : between care & relations”, (2015); "Sexual revolutions" (in collaboration with Gert Hekma), Palgrave 2014; He is currently coordinating an international network on “Health and Citizenship among trans persons” (France, Brasil, Chile, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Portugal).
I hope these will be fine and please feel free to contact me in case you need more information
Alain Giami, PhD
Emeritus Research Professor – Inserm :
French National Institute of Health and Medical research
Jim Pfaus (PhD, IF) is a basic researcher in the neuroscience and psychology of sexual behavior who is now at the Department of Psychology and Life Sciences at Charles University in Prague and with the Czech National Institute of Mental Health. His research uses both rats and humans to understand how the brain’s neurochemistry is organized for sexual arousal, desire, orgasm, and inhibition. His work has also shed light on the neural and molecular mechanisms by which conditioning potentiates sexual preferences, reproduction, and the development of fetishes and paraphilias. He has published over 225 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters on the neurobiology of sexual behavior in both females and males, and his work has led to the formulation of new drugs to treat sexual dysfunctions. He has been interviewed hundreds of times on television, radio, and in print/social media. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Current Sexual Health Reports, former associate editor of Sexual Medicine Reviews, and sits on the editorial boards of other scientific journals in sexuality, neuroscience, and pharmacology. He is a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, and a Past President of the International Academy of Sex Research.
James G. Pfaus, PhD, IF
Professor of Neuroscience
Department of Psychology and Life Sciences Charles University, Prague
and
Director, Laboratory of Sexual Neuroscience Center for Sexual Health and Intervention
Czech National Institute of Mental Health Klecany, Czech Republic.
Mehmet Sungur is professor of psychiatry at Istanbul Kent University. He received training in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), sexual and marital therapies at the Institute of Psychiatry (King’s College), London. He is accredited as a 'cognitive behaviour therapist' by the Europoean Association of Behaviour and Cognitive Therapy (EABCT). He is a founding fellow member, certified cognitive therapist/supervisor of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT) and International Advisory Board member of the Beck Institute (BI). He is the immediate past president of the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy (IACP) and has been one of the past presidents of the EABCT. Dr Sungur is now the president of the European Federation of Sexology (EFS) and also a board member of the recently established World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT).He is also a board member of the World Assocition of Sexual Heath(WAS)
His clinical practice covers a wide range of clinical syndromes with a special emphasis on cognitive behavioural treatment of anxiety disorders and sexual and marital problems. He has presented workshops and keynotes in many international congresses. He played a leading role in the dissemination of the practice of CBT and sex-couple therapy. He is the president of Turkish Association of Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (TACBT) since its establishment.
He has received some national and international awards, including “Schizophrenia Reintegration Award”, “Gold Medal from European Federation of Sexology”, "Julia Heiman Honorary Award" for his contributions in the area of couple and sex therapy. He has published more than 100 papers mainly about CBT and sexual disorders and written many books and book chapters on CBT.His books on “ Making Peace with Uncertainty” and “Love-Marriage and Infidelity” are published in Russian and being translated to English.
He is on the advisory and/or editorial board of many national and international journals and has currently committed himself to the training of mental health professionals in clinical applications of CBT and couple-sex therapy. He has been the president of 8 international and many national congresses.
Prof. Mehmet Sungur
President of EFS and Istanbul Kent University
Bente Træen is a professor of health psychology at the University of Oslo, Norway. From 2001 to 2012 she held a professorship in health psychology at the University of Tromsø. Her research interest is on sexual behaviour and sexual function. She was the principal investigator of the international research project on healthy sexual aging financed by the Research Council of Norway.
Bente Traen
Professor, University of Oslo, Department of Psychology
Tal Peleg-Sagy (PhD) is a clinical psychologist and a sex therapist. She serves as the chair of the scientific committee of the Israeli Society for Sex Therapy (ISST). She is a lecturer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in the department of psychology and in the School of Medicine. She also teaches regularly in many programs of sex therapy in Israel. She is a trained therapist of Couple Emotional Focused therapy (EFT), of EMDR and of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In her work she perceives herself as an integrative therapist, combining various therapeutic methods
The purpose of the workshop is to introduce principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and its application in the field of Sex Therapy.
In the first part of the workshop, the theory underlying ACT will be introduced, and we will learn how to recognize the six core processes of the ACT model of psychopathology. We will then learn methods to map these processes, and to turn them into flexible therapeutic processes.
The second part of the workshop will issue the implication of ACT in Sex Therapy. Using a case study, specific challenges derived from the use of ACT with sexuality will be demonstrated, including the emphasis needed while working with sex-therapy couples and individuals. Time will be reserved to examples from the participants’ therapeutic experience
Tal Peleg-Sagy (PhD)
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Stefano Eleuteri
Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome
Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh is an award winning author, clinician, journalist, researcher and a social psychologist specializing in sexuality, relationships and intercultural fluency. She is a Registered Supervisor and Senior accredited member of the College of Sex and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) in England and a Certified Sexuality Counselor and Approved Training Provider by the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). She is globally recognized for her contributions to the field of sexual health and relationships at the clinical as well as policy and educational levels. For the past two decades Dr. Nasserzadeh has been a senior technical and cultural advisor to the United Nations agencies and a strategic consultant for governments, international NGOs, Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, professional organizations, and the private sector across 40 countries. In this capacity, she advices on national curriculum and programs to provide culturally responsive information to various target groups, facilitates high level meetings, negotiates access, coaches leadership teams on diversity inclusion and engagement, and advises on relational dynamics within Boards. She was a member of the Advisory Board of the World Association for Sexual Health for 17 years and was the past chair of Division VII of California Psychological Association which is dedicated to Diversity and Social Justice. Dr. Sara is a great believer that “we can create world peace one relationship at a time from bedrooms to the boardrooms”. She is honored to be the recipient of AASECT Professional Standard of Excellence Award, 2021 and the BBC World Service Innovation Award in 2017 for her program that delivered evidence-informed content to the Farsi speaking audience around the world. Dr. Nasserzadeh resides in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD DipPST CSC RegSup
Social Psychologist,
Licenced and Supervisor Sexologist and Couples Therapist at Relationship Panoramic Inc
Xenia Ntoni Fynbo is an authorized psychologist, and she has accomplished a postgraduate degree in Cognitive Psychotherapy (2006), a 2-year postgraduate course in Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychosexual Disorders (2010) and a 2-year postgraduate course for becoming specialist in clinical sexology (2014). She is now completing a 2-year course in Psychodynamic Group therapy (June 2022). Xenia has 20 years’ experience in the field for sexology and she works at the Sexological Unit of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. She is committee member of the Scandinavian Society of Sexual Medicine as well as member of the European Psychosexology Accreditation Committee (E.P.S.A.).
Xanthi Ntoni Fynbo, auth. Psychologist,
Specialist in clinical sexology,
European Certified Psychosexologist (EFS -ESSM)
The interest in sexology started in 2008 with my first job as psychologist in a Public School. I wondered how something so common as sexuality often called upon so many reactions from students, parents and teachers. I changed my jobexperience to Forensic Psychiatry, but since 2014 I have been employed at Center for Sexology Aalborg University Hospital and lately also a part of the team working with gender affirmative treatment.
Lea T. Jensen
Psychologist and EFS-ESSM certified Psycho-Sexologist (ECPS).
Aalborg University Hospital
Avril is a clinical sexologist and the community relations and education manager of the non-profit project, The Porn Conversation, which provides comprehensive sex education tools for families and educators to educate young people at home and in school – beginning with the topic of porn literacy. Taking on the role acting as a liaison between production and performers, she is an intimacy coordinator on the set of Erika Lust Films. She also provides sex therapy to individuals and partners, taking an educational approach.
Avril Louise Clarke, MA
Clinical Sexologist, Community Relations & Education Manager,
The Porn Conversation & Erika Lust
Christian Graugaard graduated from the medical school at Copenhagen University in 1994, and he obtained his PhD in sexology in 1997. He has written and researched extensively on gender, sexuality and intimacy in a bio-psycho-social perspective. His main research area is sexual lifestyles and health across ages, genders and sexual orientations, and in 2017 he co-initiated Project SEXUS, the world’s largest cohort study covering a broad range of sexual health issues among the Danish general population (www.projektsexus.dk). He was chairman of the Danish Family Planning Organization (Sex & Samfund) 2003-2013. In 2019, he was main editor of the first comprehensive textbook of sexology in Danish since 1976. In 2012, Graugaard was awarded a full professorship of general sexology at the Center for Sexology Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, The Faculty of Health Sciences, Aalborg University (https://www.klinisk.aau.dk/forskning/forskningsomraader/sexologisk-forskningscenter/). Here, he oversees the only university-based sexology education in Denmark, a two-year master’s program
Christian Graugaard, MD, PhD
Professor of general sexology, Center for Sexology Research
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Morten Frisch is an MD epidemiologist with a long-standing research interest in the interplay between sexuality and health. In his PhD (1995) and doctoral dissertation (2002) he contributed to a better understanding of the etiology of human papilloma virus-associated anogenital cancers. Morten is the PI for Project SEXUS, a large, nationally representative, prospective cohort study on sexual health in Denmark that was launched together with professor Christian Graugaard in 2017. Morten has been a member of the steering committee at Department of Epidemiology Research at Statens Serum Institut since 2005, and he has been affiliated with Center for Sexology Research at Aalborg University as an adjunct professor of sexual health epidemiology since 2012. Morten has contributed as an author or coauthor on more than 200 scientific publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, which have currently resulted in a total of well over 10,000 scientific citations, an H-index of 58 and a composite career-long citation score (C-score) of 3.85.
Morten Frisch, MD, PhD, DSc
Consultant, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
Adj. professor of sexual health epidemiology, Center for Sexology Research,
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Psychosexual Therapist Senior Accredited by the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists -AccCOSRT(Sen)
Clinical Supervisor Accredited by COSRT
Full Clinical Psychotherapist - UK Council of Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Psycho-Sexologist - European Certified by the ESSM and EFS(ECPS)
Graduate member - British Psychological Society (MBPsS)
Committee member of the British Society for Sexual Medicine (BSSM)
MPhil/PhD candidate at Anglia Ruskin University
Ms Remziye Kunelaki
Psycho-Sexologist
Clinical Supervisor
PhD Candidate
Woet Gianotten is a Dutch MD-psychotherapist and emeritus senior lecturer in Medical Sexology at the University Medical Centres of Utrecht and Rotterdam.
His fascination lies in the areas where intimacy and sexuality collide with physical impairment, disease, cancer, ageing and reproduction or the other way round.
He loves training and teaching health care professionals.
Woet L. Gianotten, MD-psychotherapist
Freelance teacher,
Hilversum, the Netherlands
Charter Member of Norwegian Society for Clinical Sexology, president for three periods.
One of four initiators of the development of the Nordic Curriculum in sexology, and one of the organizers of the Nordic guidelines for sexological authorisation.
Together with Esben Esther Pirelli Benestad, originator of the education in basic sexology and sexological counselling at University of Agder.
Research topics: Sexology as a profession; traumatized sexuality; gender issues.
Member of Advisory Board of European Federation for Sexology (EFS) 2013-2018.
Member of the Executive Committee of World Association for Sexual Health (WAS), European Secretary 2018-2021. Member of Advisory Board of WAS since 2021. Co-chair of sub-committee on Professional Education in Sexology, and the Membership committee of WAS 2018-2021. Chair of ad hoc committee of WAS on professional education in sexology since 2021.
Authors of four books and several book chapters.
Author of 30-40 publications in peer reviewed journals on sexology and psychology.
Leader of the Norwegian project on Gender Health and Citizenship. Experience of treatment for individuals experiencing gender incongruence in Norway.
Founder and leader of research group in sexology (RESEX) at the University of Agder 2018-2021.
Elsa Almås:
Specialist in clinical psychology, specialist in clinical sexology (NACS),
family therapist (IAP), professor in sexology UiA,
member of research group RESEX at UiA.
Dr. Sari van Anders is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Social Neuroendocrinology, Sexuality, and Gender/Sex, and Professor of Psychology, Gender Studies, and Neuroscience, at Queen’s University. Dr. van Anders has published over 90 papers with research that sets out new ways to conceptualize, understand, measure, and map gender/sex, sexual diversity, and sexuality, and also provides unique tools and theories for feminist and queer bioscience. Dr. van Anders' work has been recognized with the APS 2013 Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, the 2016 and 2020 Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology, the 2019 George A. Miller Award for an Outstanding Recent Article on General Psychology from APA Division 1, the 2012 Ira and Harriet Reiss Theory Award from the Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, and the APA 2016 Committee on Women in Psychology Leadership Award. Dr. van Anders has also been named one of 50 Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Revolutionaries from the University of Minnesota’s Program in Human Sexuality as well as a Member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars. Dr. van Anders is committed to progressive transformation efforts for academic spaces and beyond.
Dr. Sari van Anders, Ph.D.,
Canada 150 Research Chair in Social Neuroendocrinology, Sexuality, & Gender/Sex,
and Professor of Psychology, Gender Studies, and Neuroscience, Queen’s University.
BSL is associate professor working parttime at Sexology Centre at Aalborg University Hospital as a specialist in Sexological Counseling and parttime at Aalborg University responsible for a Master degree in Sexology and head of Sexology Research Centre.
BSL`s primary research has been focusing on how disease and treatment have an impact on patient’s sexuality and how nurses address sexuality in the patients. BSL is, together with Anette Højer Mikkelsen,
part of a larger research project: “National Cancer Society for Research on survivorship and late adverse effects after cancer in the pelvic organs” a collaboration between Aarhus University Hospital and Aalborg University Hospital.
Birgitte Schantz Laursen
Associate Professor
Department of Clinical Medicine & Sexology Research Centre, Aalborg University and
Sexology Centre, Aalborg University Hospital
Charmaine is an assistant professor at the University of Groningen. She has earned a masters degree from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, majoring in CBT and Women’s Mental Health. Charmaine completed her doctorate studies at the Experimental Psychology and Clinical Psychopathology, in 2013. Her research has been well captured by (premier) media agents. Her research focuses on sexual excitation and sexual inhibitors. She has been accredited as a psycho-sexologist and she is currently a Management Committee Member of the European Sexual Medicine Network and an Education Committee member of the ESSM
Dr. Charmaine Borg, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, at the University of Groningen
Alexandra Oliveira is a Professor and Researcher at the University of Porto – Department of Psychology. She is currently Deputy Director of the Department of Psychology.
Her research interests are gender, sexuality, public health, non-normativity, and justice, and she has been particularly dedicated to the study of sex work. She completed her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Porto with an ethnographic research with street sex work. She has been conducting several investigations on the sex industry and had published 3 books (one of these co-authored) and several articles and book chapters. She won two honourable mentions in two awards for her academic work.
She is recognized as an expert in the field of sex work and has received invitations from both the academy and political, governmental, and non-governmental organizations for a variety of collaborations. She was a member of the Management Committee of COST Action IS1209 'Comparing European Prostitution Policies: Understanding Scales and Cultures of Governance' (2013-2017).
She is also interested in intervention focusing on health education and harm reduction for/with sex workers.
Alexandra Oliveira
Professor and researcher at the University of Porto/Psychology Department
Tonny Bonlokke Hertz
Chemsex expert, specialist in sexological counseling,
NACS and DACS President
Claus Christensen
Prevention consultant at Checkpoint, AIDS Fondet
Sam is a European clinical sexologist and solution focused psychotherapist (MSc, MA, PEV), hailing from Belgium, Flanders.
After working in the Netherlands as a clinical sexologist & couples therapist, he returned to Belgium where he founded policlinics for sexology at the General Hospital St. Elisabeth – Herentals, the JESSA Hospital Hasselt and the Saint Franciscus Hospital Heusden-Zolder, were he currently practices. At these policlinics clients and couples are counselled on a variety of problems with regard to sexual health and wellbeing.
A big believer in sharing his views about sexuality, Sam teaches psychology, sexology and counseling expertise at the PXL University College’s of Arts & Sciences’ BA Midwifery and BA Nursing. He’s also active as a trainer for Sensoa – the Flemish Expertise Centre for Sexual Health & HIV.
Sam sits on the boards of the Professional Society for Flemish Sexologists (VVS), the European Federation of Sexology’s Youth Group (EFS) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (European Network). He’s also a staf member of the the Korzybski Institute Bruges-Belgium, Flander’s training institute for Solution Focused Therapy and the Centre for Ethics & Value Inquiry (CEVI) based at Ghent University Belgium.
Sam Geuens
Clinical Sexologist, Psychotherapist & Moral Philosopher
Department of Healthcare – Midwifery and Nursing Science, PXL University College of Applied Arts & Sciences, Hasselt, Belgium
Outpatient Center for Sexual Health, Sint Franciscus Hospital Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Korzybski Institute for Training in Solution Focused Psychotherapy, Brugges, Belgium
Y. Reisman graduates Cum Laude at the Faculty of Medicine of State University Groningen, The Netherlands. In 1998 he defences his PhD research thesis on electronic diagnostic tools and objective medical decisions with European Clinical database. Since 2002 he is registered as a urologist and was allied to the Amstelland hospital in Amstelveen and from 2006 till 2016 chairman of the Dutch Men’s Health Clinics network. In 2011 he become a registered sexologist by the Dutch Society of sexology (NVVS) for which he received an honorary membership. Since 2019 director of Flare-Health and Consultant in Reuth Rehabilitation Hospital Tel-Aviv. He is honorary and visiting Professor for urology of the Russian Federal Institute of Urology, Moscow and of the Shanghai Institute of Andrology of the Medical School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is active member of the European Association of Urology (EAU), Past-President of the European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM), Ex-President of the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee on Sexual Medicine (MJCSM), for which he receives Silver Decoration of Honour from the UEMS, Academician member of the European Academy of Andrology and co-director of ESSM School of Sexual Medicine. He is senior lecturer of Clinical Sexology at the RINO-Amsterdam, Netherlands. His special interest and publications are among others on male and female sexual dysfunction, cancer and sexuality, sexuality in chronic conditions, PSSD, POIS and life style and sexual function. Y. Reisman is among others co-editor of the Manual of Sexual Medicine, the Syllabus of Clinical Sexology published by the ESSM, Cancer, Intimacy and Sexuality, and Rare Conditions in Sexual Medicine .
(Cobi) Reisman MD, PhD, FECSM, ECPS
Urologist, Sexologist (NVVS and ISST)
Medical Director Flare-Health, The Netherlands
Consultant Reuth Rehabilitation Hospital, Israel
Sharon Peleg Nesher is a certified nurse who specializes in oncology as well as a certified sex therapist. She holds a BA and MA in Nursing (Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University) and a BA in Psychology (Open University). She specialized in sexual therapy at Bar-Ilan University. She completed a fellowship in Sexual Therapy at Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center in Jerusalem, and an observation at the Male Sexual and Reproductive Medicine clinic at Memorial Slaon Kettering(2018)
Sharon has been serving as a therapist in the field of sexuality in chronic patients since 1999: she began her career as a sexual therapist for cancer patients at the Israel Cancer Association. In 2005-2007 she interned at the Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, and upon her return to Israel she founded the Mila Clinic (Sexuality for Oncology Patients) at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital), which she leads to this day. At 2009 it was rewarded the 2009 ICA (Israel cancer Association) Prize . Sharon has been coordinating the Sexual Health Clinic at Hadassah Mount Scopus, headed by Dr. Michal Luria during 2009 -2019.
Sharon is a lecturer at leading educational institutions in Israel and around the world, including the School of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Sharon Peleg Nesher RN, BA, MA
Certified Sex TherapistMila Clinic,
Tel Aviv Sourasky medical center – sex counseling and therapy clinic for Oncology patients – Director
Rotem Center – the Israeli center for Sex Therapy, Co – Director and CEO
I have always been interested in the multidisciplinary focus of human health. Hence my background in health psychology, medical communication and couples therapy all come together in my clinical work in psychosexual treatment. My dedication towards understanding the patient from a biopsychosocial and cultural perspective and improving quality-of-life for different patient populations takes part in the clinic in managing patients as well as conducting research based projects, and I feel blessed that I am able to bridge these two equally important domains.
Yoon Frederiksen
PhD. Associated prof., certified clinical psychologist and psycho-sexologist (ECPS-ESF)
The Sexology Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus Denmark and Department of Clinical medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus.