There is No “Normal” Libido: Sexual Desire Outliers without Pathology On-Demand CE Webinar for therapists, counselors, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists

 

There is No “Normal” Libido: Sexual Desire Outliers without Pathology - 3 hours


To access the discount form for registering for multiple workshops or participants, please click here.

  • CE Hours Included: 3 (please see below for details)
  • Format: On-Demand Webinar (“Asynchronous”, Non-Interactive) ~ At your leisure this recorded video is to be viewed at your own pace. You may pause, rewind, and fast forward at any point during the videos. You are in complete control of how you view this workshop. It also comes with a PowerPoint and references. There is a quiz at the end to ensure viewing and required by all CE approval organizations.
  • Investment: $87 (provides lifetime access!)
  • Presented by: Rachel Anne Kieran, PsyD (see bio below)
  • Date of Recording: October 14, 2026
  • Instruction Level: Intermediate
  • Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists
  • This workshop is not yet available; by pre-registering, you will receive immediate access when it becomes available in October.

Learning Objectives:

After completing this workshop in its entirety, you will be able to:

  • Contrast sexual desire, behavior, and identity in clinical conceptualization.
  • Assess client distress related to desire without relying on normative or moral benchmarks.
  • Demonstrate how to normalize desire variability across lifespan, health status, and relational context.
  • Critique the concept of a “normal libido” as a clinical standard.
  • Evaluate how relational dynamics, not individual pathology, often drive presentations of desire-related distress.

Workshop Description:

This 3-hour continuing education workshop examines sexual desire variability through a non-pathologizing, evidence-informed, and culturally responsive clinical lens. The workshop challenges the assumption that there is a “normal” or ideal level of libido and instead conceptualizes sexual desire as a naturally diverse, contextual, and dynamic human experience. Particular attention is given to individuals and relational systems whose patterns of desire fall outside dominant cultural expectations but are not inherently disordered or distressing.

Participants will explore how sexual norms, diagnostic frameworks, and cultural narratives can unintentionally pathologize desire outliers, including persistently low desire, highly contextual or cyclical desire, high desire without compulsivity, neurodiverse desire patterns, and desire shifts related to identity, disability, chronic illness, or life stage. The workshop emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between difference and dysfunction, and between clinician discomfort and client-identified distress.

The training reviews current conceptual models of sexual desire, including critiques of spontaneous-desire dominance. It introduces relational and systemic frameworks for understanding desire discrepancy without locating pathology in a single individual. Participants will learn assessment strategies that prioritize client values, consent, and subjective distress rather than normative benchmarks or assumed etiologies such as trauma, hormonal imbalance, or relational failure.

Clinical application is supported through case vignettes illustrating common presentations in which desire differences are misinterpreted as dysfunction. Participants will be guided in identifying potential points of over-pathologization, ethical risks related to power and obligation within relationships, and opportunities for more affirming, consent-centered interventions. The workshop also includes structured opportunities for therapist self-reflection, recognizing how clinician assumptions, biases, and internalized sexual norms can influence assessment and treatment planning.

This workshop is appropriate for licensed mental health professionals and trainees who provide therapy to individuals, couples, and relational systems. The content is educational in nature and does not provide medical, legal, or prescriptive treatment protocols. Emphasis is placed on ethical, culturally humble, and client-centered clinical practice consistent with professional standards.

Workshop Agenda:

  • Arrival, orientation & framing – 5 min
  • There is no “normal” libido – 25 min
  • Desire is contextual, cyclical & identity-linked – 30 min
  • Cultural stories that create sexual distress – 25 min
  • Clinical assessment without pathologizing – 30 min
  • Desire mismatch is not a diagnosis – 25 min
  • Case vignettes – Desire outliers in practice – 20 min
  • Therapist self-reflection & integration – 15 min
  • Closing & takeaways – 5 min

Presented by: Rachel Anne Kieran, PsyD

Dr. Rachel Anne Kieran (Psy.D.) is a psychologist, writer, and educator, and the founder of StorieBrook Therapy & Consulting, LLC, an affirming therapy practice rooted in justice, community, and cultural humility. Her clinical work focuses on sexual, gender, and relational diversity (including kink and consensual non-monogamy), neurodivergence, fat and disability justice, and clients from minority spiritual and pagan paths.
Dr. Kieran’s practice model emphasizes accessible, bespoke collaboration with clients, including sliding-scale options and a community space designed to be welcoming, trauma-aware, and identity-affirming. Through StorieTree Professional Education, she creates continuing education programs for mental health and allied professionals that center on ethics, intersectionality, and dismantling systemic barriers to care.
Her current writing projects include a book on finding and crafting mental healthcare for pagan spiritualities, and related work on “rainbow sheep” identities—those who never fully fit either mainstream or countercultural norms. Across her roles as therapist, educator, and author, Dr. Kieran is committed to the belief that affirming care is a right, not a privilege.

3 "Asynchronous" CE Hours Included - Details by License Type Below:

  • PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more detailed information on the current CE ruling in Georgia, or if you are licensed in another state or country, please click here.
  • COUNSELORS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP), ACEP No. 7153. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
    • GA: Counselors in GA will receive 3 Core Hours for completing this course. Please click here for more detailed information.
  • SOCIAL WORKERS: The Knowledge Tree, a Summit Professional Education Company, provider #2470, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 1/14/2026-1/14/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 3 clinical continuing education credits.
    • GA: Social Workers in GA will receive 3 Core Hours for completing this course. Please click here for more detailed information.
  • MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (GAMFT). If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.

Registration: To register for individual workshops, you may use our online payment option, or to pay by check you may print and complete the Registration Form and mail or fax it to our office. The registration form is available on our website: www.theknowledgetree.org. Registration is permitted until the time the workshop begins, unless otherwise specified.

Multiple Workshop Special: There is a 10% Discount with registration for two workshops. There is a 15% Discount with registrations for three or four workshops. There is a 20% Discount with registration for five or more workshops.

Refund/Cancellation Policy: If you can no longer attend a workshop you have registered for, you can either receive a credit for another workshop or receive a refund if you are within the refund policy period. Refunds will be given for cancellations received at least five days prior to the workshop. More information about refund/cancellation can be found here.

Attendance Policy: 100% attendance, completion of a course evaluation and passing a post-test with a score of 70% or higher (you will have 2 retake opportunities) is required at any asynchronous CE program in order to receive credit for that CE program. No partial credit is given. Certificates of completion will be available in each attendee’s account once these completion requirements have been met.

ADA Requests: We will make every effort to accommodate any reasonable ADA request. Please call or email us at least two weeks prior to the event. Payment and registration are required to fulfill an ADA request.

No Conflict Policy: Neither The Knowledge Tree nor its speakers have received any commercial support for this program or its contents and will not receive any commercial support prior to or during this program. 

System Requirements: Live Interactive Webinars are facilitated via Zoom. System requirements for the Zoom platform are linked at our FAQ page.

We are an approved vendor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for easy reimbursement of educational expenses for VA employees.


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For information about our Continuing Education Workshops, please contact our Customer Service team at:

404.913.2005

theknowledgetree@summit.zendesk.com

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The Knowledge Tree, a Summit Professional Education Company, offers courses that provide continuing education hours as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and holds Approved Continuing Education Provider/Sponsor status with professional organizations including APA and NBCC. Each licensee should check our detailed CE information page and ensure courses taken meet their specific state board requirements.