Mxstress Rowen (Pronouns: They.Them.Their/it.its/We), 1/3 of the Thrive 2026 BDSM & Mental Health Virtual Conference Professional Track Team, is an education professional, researcher, public speaker, professional dominatrix, and BDSM educator with over fifteen years of facilitation experience. Their work spans disciplines but focuses on the experiences of individuals with historically marginalized or minoritized identities, especially queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people of color. They use humor, empathy, and honesty to empower all in a shared pursuit of justice, liberation, community, and dismantling systemic oppression. Their community building is often found through BDSM, kink, and fetish event volunteering and mutual aid.

This presentation explores BDSM through liberatory frameworks, engaging the Neurodiversity Paradigm alongside crip theory, neuroqueering, and social models of disability. Rather than viewing kink or neurodivergence through a pathological lens, BDSM is positioned as a radical practice of resistance, intimacy, and meaning-making. By weaving research, lived experience, and liberatory theory, we will consider what it means to honor diverse needs, embrace authentic selves, and reimagine BDSM as more than erotic practice—as a transformative site of resilience, resistance, and liberation.

 

Are you excited about the THRIVE experience and want to help it continue?

Consider donating to help PK/THRIVE continue to provide education.

PayPal - AffirmingMatters@gmail.com

CashApp - $AffirmingMatters

Venmo - @‌AffirmingMatters

Please include "THRIVE 2026" in the note.

Get your PK & THRIVE swag! https://www.redbubble.com/people/DevynStone/shop

Check out other events PK is hosting here:

https://www.facebook.com/PragmaticKink

https://fetlife.com/PragmaticKink

Find more info on THRIVE https://THRIVEVirtualCon.com/

Send a quick message if you would like to suggest topics, present, or support in another way. PKinkingEvents@gmail.com

Child sexual abuse and incestuous abuse is largely stigmatized, even in healthcare, wellness, and psychology fields. Those who were victimized sexually in the past often experience issues relating to disclosure, support, and understanding from their healthcare providers. Furthermore, CSA and/or incest are mystified even by spaces that seek to educate providers on best practices. This class seeks to break through the stigma and openly discuss the prevalence of CSA and incestuous abuse, struggles faced by victim-survivors. It provides basic information for how to handle disclosure, work constructively with clients, and dismantle stigma surrounding CSA. Additionally, the class discusses the intersection of trauma and kink and provides guidance for how to support victim-survivors through their journey, including in BDSM play.

 

Are you excited about the THRIVE experience and want to help it continue?

Consider donating to help PK/THRIVE continue to provide education.

PayPal - AffirmingMatters@gmail.com

CashApp - $AffirmingMatters

Venmo - @‌AffirmingMatters

Please include "THRIVE 2026" in the note.

Get your PK & THRIVE swag! https://www.redbubble.com/people/DevynStone/shop

Check out other events PK is hosting here:

https://www.facebook.com/PragmaticKink

https://fetlife.com/PragmaticKink

Find more info on THRIVE https://THRIVEVirtualCon.com/

Send a quick message if you would like to suggest topics, present, or support in another way. PKinkingEvents@gmail.com

Navigating the public kink scene can be scary as a mental health professional (especially when you work with kinksters!) Ask 5 people if they believe professionals can be public with their kinks, and you’ll receive 5 different answers. Torie and AJ have found ways to be professionals involved in their local kink community, and they want to share how they do so, what considerations to take when publicly navigating kink, where ethics fall into this, how to discuss your involvement in the community with clients/patients, self-disclosure, and how to navigate running into clients in kink spaces.

 

Are you excited about the THRIVE experience and want to help it continue?

Consider donating to help PK/THRIVE continue to provide education.

PayPal - AffirmingMatters@gmail.com

CashApp - $AffirmingMatters

Venmo - @‌AffirmingMatters

Please include "THRIVE 2026" in the note.

Get your PK & THRIVE swag! https://www.redbubble.com/people/DevynStone/shop

Check out other events PK is hosting here:

https://www.facebook.com/PragmaticKink

https://fetlife.com/PragmaticKink

Find more info on THRIVE https://THRIVEVirtualCon.com/

Send a quick message if you would like to suggest topics, present, or support in another way. PKinkingEvents@gmail.com

When it comes to sex/kink, trans and gender diverse people and our therapists are often hesitant to bring the body and it's sensations into it. In this class, Deirdre (Dee) Church will teach somatic skills around approaching the body in sex/kink with trans and gender diverse clients, as well as common ways we as trans people have adapted to relational and developmental trauma/injury in regards to sex/kink.

 

Are you excited about the THRIVE experience and want to help it continue?

Consider donating to help PK/THRIVE continue to provide education.

PayPal - AffirmingMatters@gmail.com

CashApp - $AffirmingMatters

Venmo - @‌AffirmingMatters

Please include "THRIVE 2026" in the note.

Get your PK & THRIVE swag! https://www.redbubble.com/people/DevynStone/shop

Check out other events PK is hosting here:

https://www.facebook.com/PragmaticKink

https://fetlife.com/PragmaticKink

Find more info on THRIVE https://THRIVEVirtualCon.com/

Send a quick message if you would like to suggest topics, present, or support in another way. PKinkingEvents@gmail.com

This course explores the complex overlap between neurodivergence, gender identity, and BDSM. Led by a neuroqueer psychiatric nurse practitioner, we will dismantle the pathologization often found in these intersections to reveal how unique brains experience identity and pleasure. Participants will examine how sensory processing, executive function, and diverse communication styles influence gender expression and power dynamics. Moving beyond basic awareness, we will discuss practical frameworks for consent negotiation, sensory-friendly scene crafting, and the unique therapeutic potential of kink for neurodivergent individuals. This session offers a roadmap for understanding how neurotypes inform the way we navigate intimacy, identity, and control, fostering a safer, more inclusive approach to sexuality.

 

Are you excited about the THRIVE experience and want to help it continue?

Consider donating to help PK/THRIVE continue to provide education.

PayPal - AffirmingMatters@gmail.com

CashApp - $AffirmingMatters

Venmo - @‌AffirmingMatters

Please include "THRIVE 2026" in the note.

Get your PK & THRIVE swag! https://www.redbubble.com/people/DevynStone/shop

Check out other events PK is hosting here:

https://www.facebook.com/PragmaticKink

https://fetlife.com/PragmaticKink

Find more info on THRIVE https://THRIVEVirtualCon.com/

Send a quick message if you would like to suggest topics, present, or support in another way. PKinkingEvents@gmail.com

This class offers mental health and wellness professionals a culturally competent, neurodiversity-affirming framework for understanding clients who engage in BDSM and other alternative sexual practices. Using a bio/psycho/social lens, we explore how race, culture, trauma, sensory processing, and communication differences shape erotic expression and relational needs. Participants will learn how to differentiate pathology from preference, recognize the impact of masking and neurodivergence on negotiation and consent, and understand how sensory profiles influence play, arousal, and aftercare. Through case examples and reflective practice, the class provides practical tools for assessment, safety planning, and treatment that honors autonomy, identity, and lived experience. This training supports clinicians and healers in offering affirming, nonjudgmental care to clients whose sexualities, neurotypes, or lifestyles fall outside mainstream narratives.

 

Are you excited about the THRIVE experience and want to help it continue?

Consider donating to help PK/THRIVE continue to provide education.

PayPal - AffirmingMatters@gmail.com

CashApp - $AffirmingMatters

Venmo - @‌AffirmingMatters

Please include "THRIVE 2026" in the note.

Get your PK & THRIVE swag! https://www.redbubble.com/people/DevynStone/shop

Check out other events PK is hosting here:

https://www.facebook.com/PragmaticKink

https://fetlife.com/PragmaticKink

Find more info on THRIVE https://THRIVEVirtualCon.com/

Send a quick message if you would like to suggest topics, present, or support in another way. PKinkingEvents@gmail.com