|
Dr. Joe Kort & Associates, PC
25600 Woodward, suite 218
Royal Oak, Michigan 48067
248-399-7317
WOULD THE SMALL CHILD YOU ONCE WERE LOOK UP TO THE ADULT YOU HAVE BECOME? |
|
|
|
|
Greetings! Welcome all the new subscribers this month to Kort's Korner. I hope you enjoy my newsletters. I always welcome feedback and input for future mailings.
This month a colleague and friend of mine, Joe Amico, is coming to Michigan to speak to therapists and other clinicians working with gay men who abuse the party drug called Crystal Meth, who are HIV positive and are diagnosed with sexual addiction. For more information about his lectures see below.
Also I am providing a 4 week teleclass to therapists working with lesbian and gay men this fall which you can register for in this email.
Gay Men and Belonging Most prepubescent and adolescent boys achieve their sense of belonging through sports, horsing around with other guys, and talking about girls. At least tacitly, their fathers encourage them in these "masculine" pastimes. But even when a gay teenager succeeds in coming out, he nearly always lacks the kind of supportive peer group that his straight counterpart enjoys. His initiation into gay manhood comes later (if at all), inside bathhouses and gay bars. Later, sex parties and sex clubs become places where he can automatically fit in. To feel that they're "one of the gang," some gay men even contract HIV on purpose-and are given the frivolous nickname of "bug chasers." Or they begin using and abusing drugs to gain that sense of belonging.
Circuit parties offer many gay men a niche-a place to finally belong. This is what makes it so compelling to so many. To escape being teased or stigmatized as "queer" or "a sissy," we gay boys were socialized to avoid contact with one another from very early on. We were taught to run from, rather than support and befriend, one another-forming a big obstacle to our sense of belonging and leaving an inner void that still needs to be filled. This inner void will get in the way of finding a partner and, ultimately, of feeling comfortable in any relationship-even friendships-with other gay men. So you now must go against the grain of the way you were imprinted.
Some gay men discover the circuit club scene, meet people there, and often begin working out to shape their bodies, doing party drugs and steroids, and having a lot of sex. Many travel all over the country, saving most of their time and money for the next circuit party. Over time, they begin to realize that the circuit scene, drug use, and attempts at relationships with men also frequenting the circuit scene are going nowhere. Many become addicted to the drug crystal meth and believe they can stop using and that they control but discover that it controls them.
Crystal meth and sex become the common denominator in keeping their friendships and a sense of belonging.
Gay men describe the rush they get from doing crystal and the high of staying up all night having sex. They describe feeling "alive, connected and a part of something," which they don't feel otherwise.
Crystal seems to provide a false sense of belonging to gay men; its pseudointimacy helps them feel connected, particularly when sex is involved. Obviously, this is not true attachment, and these guys, are taking each other down through these superficial attachments and a false sense of belonging. The drug use and sex may seem easy and pleasurable, but the severe damage done to mind and body will not lead to real self-esteem or love of others. Relationships demand emotions and hard work, neither of which is needed to do drugs and have sex.
In Tweakers: How Crystal Meth is Ravaging Gay America, Frank Sanello writes:
The brain's natural reward system governs basic needs and drives like hunger, sex and thirst. When those needs are naturally satisfied, the brain rewards its owner with a small dose of pleasure-inducing neurochemicals such as dopamine. Crystal-tricky drug that it is-artificially rewards the user's brain by releasing torrents of dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Both the initial rush and the prolonged high from crystal occur from this sleight-of-hand stimulation of the brain.
But this gusher of dopamine short-circuits the body's natural survival instincts. The brain's hunger, sleep and thirst centers shut down because of the increased amount of dopamine in the brain while an individual is using crystal.
Crystal is dopamine's evil twin. Both drugs have a similar molecular structure. Dopamine affects the brain and spinal cord by interfering with the normal release of neurotransmitters, which are chemical substances used for communication between nerve cells. Dopamine is the main neurotransmitter methamphetamine acts on, and it's part of the brain's natural reward system.
When you feel good about a job well done, derive gratification from family or social relationships, experience an overall feeling of contentment or believe that your life has meaning, dopamine is the neurochemical that creates these positive feelings
How sad that finding a sense of empowerment, community, and belonging-as well as embracing masculine energy-has to be fraught with out-of-control chemical use and risking one's life with overdoses, brain damage, and STDs, including HIV. What should bring those feelings of contentment is attachment to others. Dopamine and other chemicals in our body are ready for use once contact and connection are made naturally. True male bonding takes work-it involves real blood, sweat, and tears. The experience of these tweakers involves none of that. These men think they're bonded, but they're not; they need to learn to love and bond naturally to each other.
Warmly,
Joe Kort, Ph.D., LMSW |
 |  |  |
'Quadruple Diagnosis in Gay Men,' and will be presented by Joe Amico, M.Div., CAS, LISAC
Presented in 4 different locations in Michigan!
Gay men often have a combination of diagnoses that dovetail on each other in terms of appropriate treatment. Long term HIV/AIDS clients often decide to take "drug holidays" from their medical protocols in order to PNP (Party and Play). The Party stands for substance abuse (often crystal meth) and the Play represents unsafe and repetitive sexual behavior. A recent study shows gay men suffer from severe depression at twice the rate of the general male population.
This course will:
- Explore and increase awareness of this combination of diagnoses
- Address methods for treatment recovery for gay men suffering from HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse, Depression and Sexual Compulsivity
~
Joe Amico, M.Div, CAS, LISAC, National Marketing Coordinator for Sante Center for Healing will be hosting four different events in Michigan and would love to see you there! There will be two networking luncheons and two CEU luncheons offered! Take a look at the dates, times and places below, pick the best for you and RSVP with your choice!
RSVP to Donella Burton at donella@santecenter.com or 800.258.4250 ext. 271
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, July 27th- Grand Rapids, MI Area
Where: Grand Traverse Pie Company
3224 28th St. SE
Kentwood, MI 49521
(616) 977-7600
Time: 1 pm- 2 pm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, July 28th- Lansing, MI Area
Where: Grand Traverse Pie Company
1403 E. Grand River
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 203- 3304
Time: 1 pm- 2 pm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, July 29- Ann Arbor, MI Area
Where: United Way of
Washtenaw County
2305 Platt Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 971-8200
Time: 1 pm- 3 pm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, July 30- Detroit, MI Area
Where:
Jewish Family Services of Metropolitan Detroit
6555 West Maple Rd.
West Bloomfild, MI 48322
(248) 592-2300
Time: 1 pm- 3 pm
Stephanie Appel, LMSW
Community Outreach Coordinator
Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan Detroit
6555 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248-592-2667 or sappel@jfsdetroit.org
Both CEU luncheons will be co-sponsored by Sante Center for Healing and Jewish Family Services.
|
|
|
|
NEW TELECLASS!
Sign up NOW- class starts:
September 14, 2010
GAY AFFIRMAIVE THERAPY FOR THE STRAIGHT CLINICIAN
with Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW
Gay Affirmative Therapy for the Straight Clinician Teleclass with Dr. Joe Kort
Based on the book, Gay Affirmative Therapy for the Straight Clinician: The Essential Guide published by WW Norton Books, 2008
Sept 14, 21, 29, October 5, 2010
2-3PM EST
Cost: $100 per person for the entire course
This class begins Tuesdays, September 14 and runs for four consecutive weeks. You do not need to be on the call to listen, class will be recorded and sent to you directly.
Click here to register.
Click here to learn more about Gay Affirmative Therapy. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
