Polyamory

Understanding various types of relationships is essential to becoming an effective, culturally sensitive family therapist. A counselor’s negative biases, if left unchecked and uninformed, can result in inadvertent shaming of clients and ultimately hinder the therapeutic process. Although many people may believe that monogamy is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship, this assumption does not necessarily hold true for everyone. Consensual non-monogamy, or CNM, represents a broad range of relationships in which people agree to have multiple emotional, romantic, and/or sexual relationships with others. These relationships vary by multiple factors, such as whether sexual, emotional, or romantic aspects of connections are emphasized. One type of CNM is polyamory. Typically, polyamory consists of having more than one emotionally intimate relationship simultaneously with everyone’s consent. This entry ...