Providing Sexuality Training for Psychologists: The Role of Predoctoral Internship Sites

Authors

Dena M. Abbott, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Debra Mollen, Texas Woman's UniversityFollow
Elyxcus J. Anaya, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Theodore R. Burnes, Antioch UniversityFollow
Madeline M. Jones, Louisiana Tech University
Victoria A. Rukus, Louisiana Tech University

ORCID IDs

Dena M. Abbott

Debra Mollen

Elyxcus J. Anaya

Theodore R. Burnes

Madeline M. Jones

Victoria A. Rukus

Date of this Version

2021

Citation

American Journal of Sexuality Education 16:2 (2021), pp. 161–180.

doi: 10.1080/15546128.2021.1892555

Comments

Copyright © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Used by permission.

Abstract

Sexuality education positively impacts health service psychologists’ ability to address sexuality, a vital component of overall health and well-being. There is little information about the integration of sexuality into the applied, fieldwork components of psychologists’ training. We surveyed 139 representatives of APA-accredited doctoral internship programs to assess sexuality content during internship training. Participants completed a survey assessing content integration of 12 domains specific to human sexuality. The most endorsed training related to sexual orientation and gender identity, sexual behavior, sexual ethics, and sex therapy were infrequent in the internship training curriculum. Implications for research, practice, training, supervision, and advocacy are discussed.