Meg-John Barker

The Open University (UK) · Department of Psychology

This chapter overviews psychotherapeutic and counselling practice with non-binary clients. It outlines what is known, to date, about the mental health of non-binary people, and then explores the ways in which the major psychotherapeutic approaches understand gender identity and expression, and what this means for non-binary client experience. The c...

This chapter introduces the non-binary movement by summarising what has happened in non-binary activism so far in the UK, US, and Canada particularly. The first half of the chapter charts the history of the non-binary movement, highlighting the issues which non-binary activism has focused on. The second half of the chapter presents a personal refle...

This book addresses the emerging field of genderqueer or non-binary genders - that is, individuals who do not identify as male or female. It considers theoretical, research, practice, and activist perspectives; and outlines a basis for good practice when working with non-binary individuals. The first section provides an overview of historical, leg...

Historically trans people have often wrongly been advised that the gender role transition process would result in the breakdown of their relationships, and couples have often been provided with little support through this process. This paper presents an in-depth narrative analysis of the accounts of six cisgender women who have been partnered with...

This chapter summarizes much of what has been written on mindful sex therapy and brings together the broader literatures around mindfulness and sexuality to point to potentially fruitful future directions in this area. It considers what mindfulness might have to offer to sex therapists by applying the theories and practices of mindfulness to sexual...

Some people have a gender which is neither male nor female and may identify as both male and female at one time, as different genders at different times, as no gender at all, or dispute the very idea of only two genders. The umbrella terms for such genders are 'genderqueer' or 'non-binary' genders. Such gender identities outside of the binary of fe...

The aim of the study was to evaluate a 90-minute professional training and education workshop on working with women affected by “female genital mutilation” (FGM). Forty-nine psychosexual therapists attended the workshop and completed the same questionnaire eliciting FGM knowledge and attitudes at the beginning and end of the workshop. Pre- and post...

The media are widely acknowledged as important in sex and relationship education, but they are usually associated with ‘bad’ effects on young people in contrast to the ‘good’ knowledge represented by more informational and educational formats. In this paper we look at sex advice giving in newspapers, magazines and television in the UK, in sex advic...

Perhaps the most important, and consistent, finding in existing research on bisexuality is the fact that bisexual people are more prone to mental health problems than either heterosexual, or lesbian and gay, people. This article considers bisexual mental health from an individual, and a community, perspective. It asks how we, as individuals, genera...

The authors emphasise how a broad understanding and respect for gender and sexual diversity is valuable for all psychotherapists working with sex and relationships.

The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender gives a thorough overview of all of the normative - and many of the less common - sexualities, genders and relationship forms including: Asexuality; Bisexuality; BDSM; Gay; Heterosexuality; Kink; Lesbian; Further sexualities; Trans sexualities; Cisgender; Intersex; Further genders; Non...

In this chapter, we cover those gender forms which fall outside the common binary of women and men. However, as we will see, bisecting the world into women and men — or, indeed, women, men, and others — is not necessarily a useful way of conceptualising things. Consequently, we have entitled this chapter ‘Further Genders’ in order to be comprehensi...

It is difficult to pinpoint an exact moment when sex therapy began. While the use of psychology and psychotherapy, as they are currently understood, in treating sexual issues is a relatively recent phenomenon, human interest in sexual satisfaction is a timeless issue and ancient civilisations had a wide variety of strategies for dealing with sexual...

The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender gives a thorough overview of all of the normative - and many of the less common - sexualities, genders and relationship forms including: Asexuality; Bisexuality; BDSM; Gay; Heterosexuality; Kink; Lesbian; Further sexualities; Trans sexualities; Cisgender; Intersex; Further genders; Non...

This paper, made from an explicitly academic-practitioner stance, aims to highlight some of the problematic ways in which academic writing on trans people, and on the clinicians working in trans healthcare, has been presented in recent years. We argue that much work theorizes trans people and clinicians whilst failing to recognise the full and comp...

This paper provides a brief overview of mainstream psychological research on pornography, which has mainly focused on determining the effects of pornography on human attitudes and behaviour and the possible mechanisms for these effects. The methodological problems with such research are well known in the field of porn studies. Rather than using thi...

Open non-monogamy is an important and sensitive area for psychotherapists and counselors, as it can challenge the practitioner's personal values, and professional assumptions about dyadic sexual relationships. Additionally, the increased attention to non-monogamy in popular culture, and the sometimes-ambiguous distinction between monogamy and non-m...

Whilst the Fifty Shades trilogy has increased public awareness of BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism), the understandings of consent depicted in the novels remain reflective of those prevalent in wider heteronormative culture. Responsibility for consenting is located within the individual (woman) and consent r...

Public engagement and knowledge transfer are now necessary supplements to academic research and teaching activity for university-based psychologists in the United Kingdom. However, a “deficit model” of public understanding is often assumed by national policies. We argue that bidirectional approaches between researchers and concerned communities are...

In media and policy discourses on sexualisation, there has been an apparent split. Some have constructed young women as innocent children, incapable of meaningful sexual and commercial choices; others have treated young women as neo-liberal adults, agentic and savvy choice-makers. We analyse how the Bailey Review on the Sexualisation and Commercial...

Human Sexuality and its Problems is an influential text in the arenas of sex research and psychosexual medicine. The current edition specifically aimed to incorporate the full range of perspectives on human sexuality. However, an analysis of the book found that sociological, social psychological, feminist and queer perspectives were still marginali...

The authors are a group of researchers and writers who work on bisexuality, organize bisexual research conferences, and take part in discussions on many bisexual and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) academic forums. The authors have noticed, over the years, many problematic tendencies in research that focuses on, or includes, bisexua...

This paper explores the considerations of sexualisation and gender stereotyping in the recent UK government report Letting Children be Children. This report, the Bailey Review, claimed to represent the views of parents. However, closer reading reveals that, while the parents who were consulted were concerned about both the sexualisation and the gen...

In this article we aim to contribute to psychosocial debates around selfhood by focusing empirically upon memories of jealousy and the ways in which potential subjectivities are both opened up and closed down. The paper presents a phenomenological narrative analysis of our research on jealousy produced through a memory work group. We identify three...

This article presents the reflections of two academics on the blog Bitchy Jones's Diary (2006–2010), particularly its considerations of dominant femininity within the UK kink communities. Weaving together excerpts from the blog with our own dialogues, we consider the potentials of such a voice from within the communities in relation to more academi...

This article reproduces and discusses a series of blog posts posted by academics in anticipation of the report on commercialisation, sexualisation and childhood, ‘Letting Children Be Children’ by Reg Bailey for the UK Department of Education in June 2011. The article discusses the difficulty of ‘translating’ scholarly work for the public in a conte...

This brief article responds to Marianne Brandon's piece on bringing monogamy into the treatment room. First I reflect on the ways in which monogamy might be involved in the issues that bring people to sexual and relationship therapy. Then I consider various forms of open non-monogamy that would be useful for us to be aware of. Finally I give some a...

Following from the previous two articles in this series, in previous issues of this journal, this article will complete the journey through guidance writing for publication. In 2009 and 2010 Taylor & Francis funded two workshops on this topic for members of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy. Using some of the exercises and...

Following from the first article in this series, in the previous issue of this journal, this article will continue to take you through guidance about how to write for publication. In 2009 and 2010 Taylor & Francis funded two workshops on this topic for members of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy. Using some of the exercis...

This article charts the past, present and future of the BiReCon event, which was the inspiration for this special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality. We provide the historical context for such an academic conference on bisexuality, and the key research which had been conducted on bisexuality in the UK prior to this. The aims of the 2010 BiReCon ev...

This paper considers what existential psychotherapy has to offer the ever-expanding field of sex therapy. First it considers the critical stance that existential psychotherapy takes towards diagnosis and categorisation, explaining why it is important for sex therapists to engage critically with notions of ‘sexual dysfunction’, and suggesting ways i...

Over the next three issues three linked articles will take you through guidance about how to write for publication. In 2009 and 2010 Taylor & Francis funded two workshops on this topic for members of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy. Using some of the exercises and feedback from these workshops the article will consider:...

Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy focuses on common problems such as anxiety and depression, exploring how different therapeutic approaches understand and work with them. Counselling and psychotherapy are considered within the wider context of their history and the mental health systems in which they are often located. In addition to this...

The last decade has seen an explosion of interest in consensually non-monogamous relationships. This article critically reviews current research and theory in this area, focusing particularly on polyamory, swinging, and gay open relationships. The sociohistorical context in which these forms of relating emerged is considered and discussed in order...

Recent large-scale survey research has raised serious concerns in both the counselling community and the mass media about the ways in which counsellors work with lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) clients (Bartlett et al., 2009; Meads et al., 2009; Metro, 2009). The current questionnaire-based research focused on client experiences of their own, and c...

This paper considers the foundational role of self-care in illuminating and ameliorating relationship conflicts. Through a detailed consideration of the various ways in which self-care may help individuals to understand and work with conflict in their relationships, it presents a case for therapist encouragement of self-care practices alongside (an...

Most social scientific work on intimate relationships has assumed a monogamous structure, or has considered anything other than monogamy only in the context of 'infidelity'. Yet, in recent years there has been a growing interest among researchers and the public in exploring various patterns of intimacy that involve open non-monogamy. This volume ga...

On November 7, 2007, the UK Critical Sexology seminar series (www.criticalsexology.org.uk) hosted a one-day event focusing on international perspectives on bisexuality. This seminar drew together academics and activists from several different countries and disciplinary approaches, most of whom were informed, to some extent, by queer theory. As part...

This article summarizes the state of bisexuality in the United Kingdom today. First the authors provide an overview of the United Kingdom Bisexual Conference (BiCon) and the studies conducted at the Conference by the Bisexual Research Group in the summer of 2004. Then they provide an in-depth examination of the representations of bisexuality in the...

IntroductionMethodologyResults of Quantitatve AnalysisResults of Qualitative AnalysisConclusions AcknowledgementsReferences

The aim of the present study is to summarize key responses to Crossley's (2004) article 'Making sense of barebacking' from members of the British Psychological Society's Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section. These responses are assembled into four main themes: (1) terminology, including descriptions of sexual behaviour that are inaccurate and pejorativ...

The literature on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) affirmative psychotherapy suggests that heterosexist and homophobic discourses persist in the accounts of counsellors and therapists (Milton, Coyle & Legg, 2005) and that these may particularly cohere around the issue of same-sex parenting (Moon, 1994; Phillips, et al., 2000). The current research d...

Much academic literature on SM (sadomasochism) still portrays it as anti-feminist with authors arguing that, for example, SM reproduces and reinforces heterosexual gendered hierarchies and power imbalances. This study explored how women who identify as SMers understand and explain their practices in relation to feminist principles and gendered dyna...

About the book: Feeling Queer or Queer Feelings? presents highly innovative and contemporary ideas for counsellors, counselling and clinical psychologists and psychotherapists to consider in their work with non-heterosexual clients. Ground-breaking ideas are presented by new thinkers in the area for issues such as: coming out transgender desire the...

About the book: Psychological and medical perspectives on sadomasochism (SM) have historically been concerned with understanding it as a form of psychopathology. In the past (but still often today) studies of SM have been concerned with extreme and most often non-consensual acts. More recently, however, there has been growing interest in exploring...

Psychological and medical perspectives on sadomasochism (SM) have historically been concerned with understanding it as a form of psychopathology. In the past (but still often today) studies of SM have been concerned with extreme and most often non-consensual acts. More recently, however, there has been growing interest in exploring the meaning of s...

About the book: Psychological and medical perspectives on sadomasochism (SM) have historically been concerned with understanding it as a form of psychopathology. In the past (but still often today) studies of SM have been concerned with extreme and most often non-consensual acts. More recently, however, there has been growing interest in exploring...

Polyamory is an emerging sexual story that troubles mononormativity: the dominant discourse of monogamy which is reproduced and perpetuated in everyday conversation and saturates mainstream media depictions. Through an analysis of online discussions, websites and self-help books, this article explores the ways in which members of polyamorous commun...

This article addresses bisexuality, non-monogamy and SM and the ways these are represented in psychological literature. It offers some challenges to conventional perceptions and ways forward for studying these areas, based in my experiences of researching sexual communities over the last few years.

This paper addresses the methodology used in research centring on a group of polyamorous women. It outlines the methodological processes of participant led research and highlights some key ethical and epistemological considerations. The research centred on a focus group discussion. Participants were involved in every stage of the research and the r...

Much academic literature on SM (sadomasochism) still portrays it as anti-feminist with authors arguing that, for example, SM reproduces and reinforces heterosexual gendered hierarchies and power imbalances. This study explored how women who identify as SMers understand and explain their practices in relation to feminist principles and gendered dyna...

Meg Barker in conversation with Dossie Easton.

According to the writings of members of the polyamorous community, polyamory is a type of non-monogamous relationship orientation in which it is considered acceptable to love more than one person and emphasis is placed on openness and honesty within one’s relationships. The proliferation of websites, e-mail groups and books on the topic since the m...

Meg Barker in conversation with Jenni Yockney.

The Journal of Transport and Land Use enters its fourth year with this issue. We are pleased to see how far it has come. As an open access journal, we are doing something that remains in some ways experimental, but in others quite proven. Our readership is large and growing, in one year (December 1, 2009 to December 1, 2010) we had 11,759 visits fr...

About the book: Feminist research is informed by a history of breaking silences, of demanding that women’s voices be heard, recorded and included in wider intellectual genealogies and histories. This has led to an emphasis on voice and speaking out in the research endeavour. Moments of secrecy and silence are less often addressed. This gives rise t...

About the book: Psychological and medical perspectives on sadomasochism (SM) have historically been concerned with understanding it as a form of psychopathology. In the past (but still often today) studies of SM have been concerned with extreme and most often non-consensual acts. More recently, however, there has been growing interest in exploring...

This essay reports the research that I have carried out on Internet slash fiction based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. I became interested in this area when I stumbled across slash fiction on the web myself and found that I enjoyed it. As someone who studies sexuality I was intrigued by this new (to me) form of erotic fiction and began...

[About the book] Most social scientific work on intimate relationships has assumed a monogamous structure, or has considered anything other than monogamy only in the context of 'infidelity'. Yet, in recent years there has been a growing interest among researchers and the public in exploring various patterns of intimacy that involve open non-monogam...