Navigating Erotic Counter/Transference: Ethics, Power & Person-of-the-Therapist with Melina Tovar, LMFTA:
The Collective Skillshare is a dynamic lunch-and-learn style workshop series designed to foster ongoing professional development and community connection. This month, we have the privilege of learning with and from fellow member Melina Tovar, LMFTA.
Countertransference and person-of-the-therapist/practitioner work are foundational elements in our clinical training as healers and practitioners. Yet, the specific phenomenon of erotic countertransference remains underexplored, and oftentimes rarely acknowledged, addressed, or meaningfully integrated into most clinical education.
This offering invites participants into an active, person-of-the-therapist/practitioner exploration — one that interweaves self-reflection with sociocultural and ethical inquiry. Together, we’ll consider how identity, power, and context shape the emergence of erotic counter-transference, and how to meet those moments with ethical awareness, integrity, curiosity, and care.
Through this workshop, participants will be able to:
Define erotic counter/transference and identify how it may manifest in the therapeutic space.
Examine the sociocultural and systemic factors that may shape the emergence of erotic counter/transference between therapist and client.
Explore ways to maintain ethical integrity and therapeutic alliance while addressing the complex dynamics of erotic counter/transference with care, compassion, and transparency.
Container
We will meet virtually via Zoom. You’ll receive the link to join the morning of the offering.
The first 35 minutes of the workshop will be a combination of didactic and communal discussion and it’s completely OK for you to eat your lunch while listening. The last 15 minutes will be protected for questions and conversation.
Exchange
Free for Shelterwood Members. Participation includes 1 CEU.
Logistics
This offering is for Shelterwood Members only and is being held virtually. A Zoom link will be shared the night before the gathering. Please RSVP to support us in preparing for this skillshare.
Melina Tovar, LMFTA
Melina Tovar is a couples and family therapist based in Seattle, Washington, where she tends to the intimate intersections of body, identity, and relationships. Specializing in sex therapy and postpartum mental health, her work invites people into reunion - with themselves, with one another, and with the wisdom held in their own bodies. With roots in cultural studies, public health research, and sex education, Melina weaves academic depth with soulful curiosity, offering care that is compassionate, grounded, and tending to the full depth of the human experience.