Parallel Session Proceedings »
3.6.12 Spirituality and Sex: Our Tales of Positive Disintegration
Growing up as young women of color, we did not know we were gifted. We wondered why we struggled to connect with others and felt lonely and unsatisfied as young adults. This session will share the arc of discovery of our own giftedness and our experiences of adult development. and our experiences moving along the levels of Dabrowski’s theory of positive disintegration in two deeply intertwined areas of our lives: spirituality and sex. Both of us were raised in religious cultures that valued purity and established rigid norms and expectations for us as women. As we tried to live “perfect” lives, we were unable to reach our internal ideas of what perfection was which led to much stress and trauma during early adulthood. We will share how our overexcitabilities have supported our moral disintegration and development in alignment with Dabrowski’s theories. This session is not explicit, but we will discuss adult themes with vulnerability and openness and share the dynamisms that have impacted our development.