Adam A. Neal, M.A., AMFT/APCC (Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist #108784; Registered Associate Professional Clinical Counselor #5482), has worked in community-agency and educational settings providing psychotherapy to adolescents and adults. Adam completed his master’s in counseling psychology at Sofia University (f/k/a The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) in Palo Alto, CA, and earned an additional certificate in Creative Expression. He now serves as adjunct faculty at Sofia, teaching courses such as Human Sexuality, Systems Theory and Application, Transpersonal Theory and Literature, and Critical Thinking and Scholarly Writing.
Adam has contributed writing to the AAMFT-CA newsletter, Psychology Tomorrow Magazine, TravelLady.com, and AssociatedContent. com. In addition, he has sold writing for greeting cards to American Greetings and has contributed writing for use in statewide standardized tests through Inksplash, an education publishing company based in New York City. Adam served as associate editor of Psychology Tomorrow Magazine and managing director of the Alternative Therapists Directory (now the Wellness Providers Network), both founded by psychotherapist, author, and educator Stanley Siegel.
Adam has been the editor of four books, including a compilation of essays by mental health professionals about sexuality, How Sex Heals, and the latest edition of TOOLBOX Primer by Dovetail Learning, an education company based in Sebastopol, CA. He has also served as editor of several master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, mainly in the areas of psychology and business administration. Adam is passionate about supporting individuals in their growth, especially in the areas of sexuality and spirituality.
Adam A. Neal M.A. AMFT/APCC, published in “The Therapist” for his article centered around inclusivity in sex therapy.
Palo Alto, California, August 23, 2019 – Adam A. Neal, M.A., AMFT/APCC, an alumnus of Sofia University’s Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology program and current adjunct faculty member at Sofia, had his article published in the July/August issue of The Therapist, a statewide professional magazine for Marriage and Family Therapists in California.
Neal’s article titled, Delving into Desire: Discrepancy or Disorder, explores how therapists can work with clients in terms of their sexual interest in ways that are informed, culturally sensitive, and nonjudgmental. Neal addresses the importance of broadening the understanding of sexual desire, questioning the mainstream paradigm that tends to exclude those of non-traditional gender expression and relationship configurations.
“I felt inspired to write this article as a member of the LGBTQIA community who has experienced a sense of exclusion from mainstream media with regard to sexual desire and issues,” Neal says. He understands that the mental health community still has a long way to go in terms of normalizing alternative sexualities, non-traditional gender expression, and unconventional relationship types.
His goal is to expand the current discussion of desire in therapy to be more inclusive of those with non-traditional forms of gender expression (e.g. gender non-conforming, transgender, etc.) as well as those in non-traditional relationships, such as non-monogamous relationships or polyamorous relationships.
Jennifer Crane, LMFT and Program Chair for Sofia’s Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology program is ecstatic to hear of Adam’s achievements. “The MACP program at Sofia University strives to provide a practical and transpersonal education to our students by preparing them for the many clinical issues and challenges they will face in the real world; I’m so very proud of his accomplishment, his work as an associate and the studentship he exhibited at Sofia to get him where he is now,” she says.
“The transpersonal ideology at Sofia gave me the space to recognize not only my desire to work clinically with others, but also my calling to serve others in ways that are not ordinarily expressed in words in mainstream practice,” Neal says.
“Delving into Desire: Discrepancy or Disorder” was first printed in the (July/August 2019) of The Therapist, a publication of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). The article is copyrighted and has been reprinted with the permission of CAMFT. For more information regarding CAMFT, please log on to www.camft.org
