Alumnus Theodore Burnes of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School has co-authored––with Jamila M. Dawson, licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT)—the recently published Essential Clinical Care for Sex Workers: A sex-positive handbook for mental health practitioners (Penguin/Random House 2023).
Despite the wide range of sex work—from street-based to OnlyFans—clinicians too often focus on what they think sex workers need, instead of building trust, developing rapport, and really doing the work to understand the unique stressors that make quality mental health care essential for sex worker communities.
Sex-positive therapists Theodore Burnes and Jamila Dawson break down everything that mental health providers need to know to work effectively with sex workers, while dispelling the tired, pervasive myths that continue to impact treatment today.
Theodore R. Burnes (Counseling, Clinical & School Psychology, Ph.D., ’06) is a Clinical Full Professor of Education in the Rossier School of Education at University of Southern California. He is a licensed psychologist and a licensed professional clinical counselor in the state of California. His professional interests include: the psychology of human sexual expression and sex-positivity; teaching and training pedagogy in mental health services; clinical supervision; social justice and advocacy; mental health and wellness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning (LGBTIQ) individuals; qualitative research epistemologies and ontologies.
Dr. Burnes is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (in Division 17 and Division 44) and is an Associate Editor for the journal Training and Education in Professional Psychology. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (CALPCC). Dr. Burnes also maintains a private practice in which he sees a range of clients and also supervises pre-licensed professionals.
