Tantra with a Twist: A Tantra-Informed Communication Framework and Clinical Implications
1h 48m
Markie Twist
Professor of Human Development & Sexologist
Content and Aim: The practice of Tantra is believed to have started in the middle of the first millennium CE [common or current era] in what is now India. What we know of Tantra today has been primarily preserved through the works of the Kama Sutra and the Ananga Ranga. Despite the value placed upon Tantra by practitioners and professionals alike, there is very little scholarly activity supporting its use. Thus, in this talk I will discuss Tantric-informed practices through an informed position, including: a scholarly-based brief history of Tantra, Westernization and related waves of Tantra, a reflection on of appropriation versus application, describing and discussing modern applications of Tantra that are rooted in the original intention of connection, integration, and relational communication, including an overview of the techniques and strategies shared in “Tantra with a Twist,” which is a tantra-informed communication framework that has clinical implications for psychosexual and relationship therapy practices.
Learning objectives: This is a beginning instructional course designed to help clinicians:
- Understand the background and contexts of Tantra
- Review a scholarly and practitioner-based tantra-informed communication framework
- Be introduced to how to apply a tantra-informed communication framework in practice
Produced in 2024
Markie Twist
Professor of Human Development & Sexologist
Lecturer
Markie L. C. Twist, PhD, MEd, MA, LMHC, LMFT, CSE, CSE-S, RegCOSRT (dr./she/they) was born in Alaxsxaq (Alaska) and raised in a small village on the road-system and currently resides in what colonizers call, “Las Vegas, Nevada,” but was and is Nuwu (Southern Paiute) land. Dr. Markie is Teaching Faculty at the Graduate Student Research Chairperson in the Doctoral and Masters Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) programs, as well as the Director of Outcomes and Accreditation in the Relational Therapy Division at Antioch University (New England and Seattle campuses) in the Graduate School of Counseling, Therapy, and Psychology.
Dr. Markie is also the Session Instructor in the University of Guelph Professional Sexuality Practices Clinical Training Program. Dr. Markie has also been a faculty member of the CFT Program and the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has also served in positions in the University of Wisconsin-System (Sex Therapy Certificate Program), as well as the University of Alaska Anchorage (Psychology department). Dr. Markie is a registered member of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT), a licensed marriage and family therapist (IA, NV) and mental health counselor (IA), as well as a clinical fellow and approved supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and certified sexuality educator and supervisor through the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT).
Dr. Markie is co-author of the books, The Internet Family: Technology in Couple and Family Relationships, The Couple and Family Technology Framework: Intimate Relationships in a Digital Age, and Focused Genograms: Attachment Focused Intergenerational Assessment of Individuals, Couples, and Families (2nd ed.). Dr. Markie serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Sexual and Relationship Therapy: International Perspectives on Theory, Research and Practice and is coeditor of the book, Eco-Informed Practice: Family Therapy in an Age of Ecological Peril. Some of Dr. Markie’s honors include being the recipient of: the 2020 Wisconsin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (WAMFT) Carl Whitaker Award, a 2019 University of Wisconsin (UW) System Honoree of the Dr. P. B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ+ People, the 2018 Delta Kappa Zeta Chapter Charles Cole Outstanding Professional Development Award, and a 2017 Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality Rising Scholar Emerging Professional Award.
Dr. Markie regularly consults, engages in scholarship, presents, and clinically works in the areas of eco-informed family therapy, tantra-informed communication practices, digihealth, digiattachment, and digisexuality, and gender, sexual, erotic, and relational diversity (GSERD). You can learn more about Dr. Markie at https://drmarkie.com/ or follow them at Instagram/Threads @dr_markie or Facebook at drmarkietwist.