Editing BDSM (section)

=== History of psychotherapy and current recommendations ===
Psychiatry has an insensitive history in the area of BDSM. There have been many involvements by institutions of political power to marginalize subgroups and sexual minorities.<ref name="a3" /> Mental health professionals have a long history of holding negative assumptions and stereotypes about the BDSM community. Beginning with the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM]]-II, Sexual Sadism and Sexual Masochism were listed as sexually deviant behaviours. Sadism and masochism were also found in the personality disorder section.<ref>American Psychiatric Association. (1968). ''Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders'' (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.</ref> This negative assumption has not changed significantly which is evident in the continued inclusion of Sexual Sadism and Sexual Masochism as [[paraphilia]]s in the [[DSM-IV-TR]].<ref>American Psychiatric Association. (2000). ''Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders'' (4th ed. rev.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.</ref> The [[DSM-5|DSM-V]], however, has depathologized the language around [[paraphilia]]s in a way that signifies "the [[American Psychiatric Association|APA]]’s intent to not demand treatment for healthy consenting adult sexual expression".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ncsfreedom.org/press/blog/item/the-dsm-5-says-kink-is-ok.html|title=NCSF Blog|website=ncsfreedom.org|access-date=5 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422123917/https://ncsfreedom.org/press/blog/item/the-dsm-5-says-kink-is-ok.html|archive-date=22 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Still, biases and misinformation can result in pathologizing and unintentional harm to clients who identify as sadists and/or masochists and medical professionals who have been trained under older editions of the DSM can be slow to change in their ways of clinical practice.

According to Kolmes et al. (2006), major themes of biased and inadequate care to BDSM clients are:
* Considering BDSM to be unhealthy
* Requiring a client to give up BDSM activities in order to continue in treatment
* Confusing BDSM with abuse
* Having to educate the therapist about BDSM
* Assuming that BDSM interests are indicative of past family/spousal abuse
* Therapists misrepresenting their expertise by stating that they are BDSM-positive when they lack knowledge of BDSM practices

These same researchers suggested that therapists should be open to learning more about BDSM, to show comfort in talking about BDSM issues, and to understand and promote "safe, sane, consensual" BDSM.<ref name="a3" />

There has also been research which suggests BDSM can be a beneficial way for victims of sexual assault to deal with their trauma, most notably by Corie Hammers, but this work is limited in scope and, to date, has not undergone empirical testing as a treatment.{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}