The Kink Aware Professionals directory is a list, maintained with the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, of people who say they can work with clients involved in kink, fetish, or non-monogamy. A listing is a self-description. It is not a license, a board certification, or a promise that the person is good at the job. You still check the license and you still interview them.
How to use the list
- Search at kinkawareprofessionals.org, or from ncsfreedom.org, by place and by profession.
- Confirm the person is licensed where you are, and that the listing is current. Many entries are stale.
- A therapist on the list is not a physician, and a physician is not a lawyer. Read the profession before you book.
- For therapy, the consult questions are in how to find a kink-aware therapist. This page does not repeat them.
- The directory is not a place to find a play partner. A professional who steers the appointment toward sex or a scene is a reason to leave.
What the listing does and does not mean
"Kink aware" on this list means the person has asked to be described that way. It does not mean they have passed an exam, completed a supervision hour requirement, or been reviewed by the clients who came before you. Some of the people on it have deep practices. Some added the listing years ago and have not thought about the subject since. The email that goes unanswered is information. Move to the next name rather than treating silence as a waitlist.
Match the profession to the problem. Depression, a partner who ignores a stop, and a letter for a court are three different appointments. The clinical standard you can reasonably expect from a mental-health clinician is discussed in the 2019 Kink Clinical Practice Guidelines at kinkguidelines.com, with later revision notes on the TASHRA site. Those guidelines are written for the clinician. They are a way to notice when the person in front of you has not done the reading. They are not a warranty.
Physicians and other health care
Use a listed physician when you need care that will go badly if you hide the relevant fact: bruising you did not get in a fall, a piercing that is new, numbness after surgery, blood thinners, pregnancy, or an injury from a toy or a scene. Tell them the fact that changes the medicine. You do not owe them the story of the negotiation beyond that. A competent clinician can hear "this bruise is from consensual impact" and then examine the bruise. A clinician who wants the erotic detail, who moralizes, or who refuses to treat an injury because of how you got it is the wrong room. Ask for the medical next step, or leave and use urgent care if the injury will not wait.
A bodyworker on the directory is not a physician and is not a play partner you have paid to touch you sexually. If the session changes into a scene you did not book, stop it. Licensure and the remedy for a violation depend on the state and the credential. The directory will not adjudicate that for you.
Lawyers
A lawyer who will not panic at the word kink can still be the wrong lawyer. Family law, criminal defense, and the federal record-keeping rules for explicit images are different practices. Ask what they have filed or defended in the last two years, not whether they are comfortable with your lifestyle. Comfort does not produce a pleading. The limits of consent as a criminal defense are in the article on BDSM and criminal law. The image rules are in the 2257 article. Bring those questions to counsel. Do not bring this page to court in place of counsel.
If a partner is hurting you and you cannot leave safely, a directory search is the wrong first call. In the United States the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233 and thehotline.org. If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 988. A kink-aware professional is for the appointment after you are safe enough to attend one.