The Many Faces of Polyamory


Book Description

The Many Faces of Polyamory: Longing and Belonging in Concurrent Relationships provides new perspectives on polyamory and the longing to belong in the relatively uncharted territory of nonnormative relationships. This volume offers a valuable and compelling account on how to approach polyamorous relationships from the clinical perspective. While there is no uniform answer, Dr. Fosse’s compassionate and discerning approach that combines relative neutrality, an open-minded embrace of nontraditional lifestyle choices, and skilful attention to countertransference dynamics is likely to be inspiring. Dr. Fosse exposes the dynamics of love, sex, jealousy, and compersion as they play out in lives of those interested in polyamory, and more broadly, consensual nonmonogamy. Her focus is on relationships worth having. With its nuanced clinical focus, The Many Faces of Polyamory will be an essential resource for psychotherapists, educators, students, and anyone inside and outside of the mental health field drawn to the intricacies of sexuality, intimacy, and how they are intertwined with relational satisfaction




Adultery


Book Description

At a time when legal and social prohibitions on sexual relationships are declining, Americans are still nearly unanimous in their condemnation of adultery. Over 90 percent disapprove of cheating on a spouse. In her comprehensive account of the legal and social consequences of infidelity, Deborah Rhode explores why. She exposes the harms that criminalizing adultery inflicts, and she makes a compelling case for repealing adultery laws and prohibitions on polygamy. In the twenty-two states where adultery is technically illegal although widely practiced, it can lead to civil lawsuits, job termination, and loss of child custody. It is routinely used to threaten and tarnish public officials and undermine military careers. And running through the history of anti-adultery legislation is a double standard that has repeatedly punished women more severely than men. An “unwritten law” allowing a man to avoid conviction for killing his wife’s lover remained common well into the twentieth century. Murder under these circumstances was considered an act of understandable passion. Adultery has been called the most creative of sins, and novelists and popular media have lavished attention on sexual infidelity. As a focus of serious study, however, adultery has received short shrift. Rhode combines a comprehensive account of the legal and social consequences of adultery with a forceful argument for halting the state’s policing of fidelity.




Safety, Danger, and Protection in the Family and Community


Book Description

This book provides an analysis of the meaning of safety and security across the contexts of community and public life, throughout the life span, and within a therapeutic framework, examining threats and the strategies for coping with them. The book starts in Part I with a discussion of general safety and security concepts in the socio-cultural context. Part II of the book details the role of a sense of security in psychological assistance, psychotherapy and supervision, while Part III centres on safety and security at different life stages. Drawing on the tenets of modern attachment theory and trauma theory, chapter authors address questions of safety, danger, and protection for both individuals and groups, across a variety of fields of knowledge and expertise. Themes such as loneliness, play and exploration, evil and forgiveness, health and death, and spirituality and healing are discussed as practice examples, learning points, and tips. A wide range of health and social care professional practitioners will find this book useful in exploring social, interpersonal, and psychological aspects of safety and security.




New Directions in Sex Therapy


Book Description

New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives, Third Edition focuses on new and cutting-edge therapy paradigms as alternatives to conventional clinical strategies, challenging practitioners to expand our thinking about how to deal with sexual concerns. In the third edition of this award-winning book, Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Ph.D., brings together the best therapists and sexologists to advance beyond predominant approaches to sexual difficulties. Part I highlights the major problems and criticisms facing sex therapy and furnishes a rationale for new directions, with chapters on ethics, heteronormativity and comprehensive sexual education/healthcare as human rights issues. Part II demonstrates new approaches to dealing with traditional sex therapy concerns, including sexual desire discrepancies, difficulties with erections and orgasms and sexuality in older couples. There is also attention to concerns typically overlooked including those related to consensual nonmonogamy, sexuality and disability and marginalized populations. This edition is replete with helpful new clinical illustrations across the spectrum of theoretical orientations, such as EFT/EFIT, narrative-relational, psychodynamic, CBT, experiential and group therapy modalities to demonstrate these approaches in action. There are also queer-informed perspectives on sex and relationships and innovative contributions on the person of the therapist and on promoting optimal erotic intimacy. This book is intended for students and clinicians who deal with sexual issues and concerns in therapy – clinicians of every kind, novices and advanced practitioners – rather than only those who define themselves as sex therapists.




Legalizing Plural Marriage


Book Description

Offers a legal and historical context for reforming family law and legalizing plural marriage




Critical Perspectives on 21st Century Frienship, Polyamory, Polgamy and Platonic Affinity


Book Description

This anthology takes an international and cross-cultural approach to discussions about friendship by curating a set of diverse contributions situated in a transnational context. These interdisciplinary contributions take friendship seriously as a subject of feminist and legal study and hone in specifically on polyamory, polygamy, and Platonic affinities, considering the sexual and non-sexual ties of affect and affinity that link a diverse range of contemporary friendships that exist cross-culturally. This highly original book teases out commonalities between experiences of affinity that are enmeshed with the differences between social, national, legal, and cultural frameworks that surround these relationships of affinity and affect, and troubles forms of government and legal regulation that prohibit or fail to recognize the consensual interdependence connecting diverse forms of human friendship.




Desiring an Angel


Book Description

Enjoy this steamy polyamory bisexual contemporary novel by USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author Lynn Burke... I’ve been called a ray of sunshine but can’t get my head out of the clouds, and I sure as hell can’t carry on an intelligent conversation. What I do excel at? Cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. But I’m no 1950s housewife looking for a husband. Independent and driven, I want to fulfill my daydreams of having two men love me until I breathe my last. Missing Link provides me with the opportunity to fulfill my desires with Rhett and Ashton, long-time partners who are looking for an angel to share in their life. When unforeseen circumstances leave me homeless, Ashton offers me my greatest fantasy come to life which places me in close proximity to the two hot men. The problem? Reservations and impenetrable stoicism keep me from winning Rhett’s heart. But tragedy brings crippling emotions, forcing a battle of the wills. Can Rhett find the strength to be vulnerable, or will Ashton be the only person whose love he’ll trust in? Desiring an Angel is the third standalone novel in the LGBTQ polyamorous Missing Link Series. HEA guaranteed, this hurt/comfort steamy billionaire menage romance begins because of a dating app. Perfect for readers who enjoy strong, independent heroines and protective, bisexual swoon-worthy heroes. If you’re a fan of Fiona Cole, Kenzie Haven, Roxanne Riley, Alyssa Turner, Ashley Jade, & Allyson Lindt, you’re going to love the Missing Link Series!




Rites of Pleasure


Book Description

Few belief systems are more open to diverse sexual expression than Paganism. So how can Pagans practice healthy, sacred sexuality in a society that often devalues such intimacy? In Rites of Pleasures, Jennifer Hunter takes a candid, in-depth look at different practices and gender roles within Paganism, from monogamy and marriage to sexual gatherings and polyamory. The result is a book filled with true erotic inspiration for those who wish to remove the mental obstacles that can prevent full and pure sexual pleasure.




The Smart Girl's Guide to Polyamory


Book Description

No one likes a know-it-all, but everyone loves a girl with brains and heart. The Smart Girl's Guide to Polyamory is an intelligent and comprehensive guide to polyamory, open relationships, and other forms of alternative love, offering relationship advice radically different from anything you'll find on the magazine rack. This practical guidebook will help women break free of the mold of traditional monogamy, without the constraints of jealousy, possessiveness, insecurity, and competition. The Smart Girl's Guide to Polyamory incorporates interviews and real-world advice from women of all ages in nontraditional relationships, as well as exercises for building self-awareness, confidence in communication, and strategies for managing and eliminating jealousy. If you're curious about exploring group sex, opening up your current monogamous relationship, or ready to “come out” as polyamorous, this book covers it all! Whether you're a seasoned graduate, a timid freshman, or somewhere in between, you'll learn how to discover and craft unique relationships that are healthy, happy, sexy, and tailor-made for you. Because when it comes to your love life, being a know-it-all is actually a great thing to be.




More Than Two


Book Description

"From Ancient Greece through the many dynasties of China to current practices of non-monogamy, people have openly engaged in multiple intimate relationships. Not until the late 20th century, however, was a word coined that encapsulated the practice, as well as its philosophies, edicts and ethics: polyamory (poly = many + amore = love). For Franklin Veaux, who has been polyamorous for his entire adult life, the emerging framework and subsequent vocabulary for his lifestyle was a light in the dark. Candidly sharing his experiences and thoughts online catapulted his website morethantwo.com, among the first dedicated to the poly lifestyle, to one of the top-ranking on the subject. In recent years, as more people have discovered polyamory as a legitimate and desirable option for how they conduct their relationships, Franklin and one of his partners, Eve Rickert, saw that there was a growing need for a comprehensive guide to the lifestyle. More Than Two is that guide. This wide-ranging resource explores the often-complex world of living polyamorously: the nuances (no, this isn't swinging), the relationship options (do you suit a V, an N, an open network?), the myths (don't count on wild orgies and endless sex but don't rule them out either!) and the expectations (communication, transparency and trust are paramount). More Than Two is entirely without judgment and peppered with a good dose of humor. In it the authors share not only their hard-won philosophies about polyamory, but also their hurts and embarrassments. Living poly is not always an easy road, and they hope that by reading this book, you'll avoid some of the mistakes they've made along the way. Challenging the notion of what society considers a healthy and successful relationship, they offer up personal stories from their own lives as well as of those in the wider poly world, emphasizing that this lifestyle choice isn't for the noncommittal. Polyamory is all about the relationships and the individuals participating. Charting a Relationship Bill of Rights, the authors underscore the importance of engaging in ethical polyamory and guide readers through the thorny issues of jealousy and insecurity with the aim of encouraging readers to work consistently and conscientiously on both their relationships and themselves. And no, they're not trying to convert you: they know that polyamory isn't for everyone. Veaux and Rickert simply provide those who might be embarking on this lifestyle or those who have always known they are poly with a set of tools and many questions to help them make informed decisions and set them on a path to enjoying multiple happy, strong, enriching relationships."--Amazon.com.