According to UNESCO (2018), Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will empower them to: realize their health, well-being and dignity; develop respectful social and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and, understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.

The area of sexuality is a major developmental concern during adolescence. Sexuality is an integral part of identity development and is aided by the emergence of appropriate assertiveness, independence and autonomy. Teens may need reassurance about their growth and development. This is particularly true in early-maturing or late-maturing teenagers as well as those with chronic illness.

Adolescents may have worries, questions or misunderstandings about many issues

  • Masturbation,

  • Menstruation,

  • Wet dreams,

  • Erections,

  • Sexual fantasies,

  • Orgasms and

  • Sexual orientation.

Adolescents who have been sexually abused may have difficulty achieving self-identity, especially in the area of sexuality (and sexual function), and may need therapeutic intervention. Teens in residential treatment centres and teens living on the street should not be forgotten. The primary care physician may be one of the few information resources available to these adolescents.

We at Beyond Therapy provide comprehensive sexuality education and one-on-one counselling services that equip young people with what they need to make safe, healthy decisions throughout their lives.

Our sexuality education programs, which provide young people with opportunities to gain knowledge about adolescent sexuality and examine their goals, are respectful, non-judgmental, inclusive of the needs of all sexual identities, and culturally responsive to young people from different backgrounds.

Remain open to a dialogue around the teenagers’ current issues of concern and/or areas of misinformation.

Fact to Ponder: Each day, a human mind spends 70% of its time over thinking and worrying.