Poly Lifestyle And Other Nontraditional Partnerships

Misunderstanding, stereotyping, pathologizing, hypersexualizing — you’ve heard plenty, we know. We have worked with many individuals and partners who hesitated for several valuable sessions before disclosing their relationship status or lifestyle.

It makes sense. Who wants their counselor judging them or making unwarranted assumptions? Who wants to waste expensive therapy sessions justifying their lifestyle?

Partners who practice consensual nonmonogamy or CNM, also called ethical nonmonogamy or ENM, and/or kink deserve the same space and quality of care as every other relationship. Satya Counseling offers sex-positive and kink-knowledgable therapy. We’re here to help you navigate your issues, not assume that your lifestyle is problematic. We understand that kink and poly lifestyles can be positive and healthy modes of sexual expression. 

There are a lot of great therapists out there who want to be open and affirming; it’s important to find someone who’s right for you. The Klink Clinical Practice Guidelines Project classifies three styles of kink-affirming therapy. Kink-friendly indicates some awareness and an openness to not pathologize kink behaviors. Kink-aware applies to clinicians who have worked with kink-identified clients and are familiar with the practices of and concepts in kink culture. Kink-knowledgeable clinicians are able to affirm kink and recognize when treatments need to focus on kink behavior, or if it is a peripheral part of treatment. 

Happy triad after poly counseling Chicago; kink counseling Chicago;

Schedule online easily, fill out our contact form if you have questions, or keep reading to learn more!

Heart image representing kink friendly therapy

Satya is a Safe Space for Polyamory and Other Nontraditional Partnerships

Open relationships
Partners in an open relationship consensually agree to have a non-monogamous relationship – partners aren’t exclusive to one another romantically and/or sexually.

Polyamory with primary relationships
Polyamorous relationships may have “primary” and “secondary” rankings to indicate the level of commitment and importance of their different partners. The primary partner is the person at the top of the polyamorous structure. 

Polyamory with non-hierarchical relationships
In a non-hierarchical polyamorous relationship, every partner is considered in decisions, and there is no privilege to certain partners based on living situation, length of relationship, etc. 

Polyfidelity
In a polyfidelity relationship, partners are considered equal, and romantic and sexual relationships are exclusive to the pod. 

Swinging
Swinging is a form of CNM, where individuals can have sex with other partners, together or apart. 

BDSM
The initials BDSM stand for Bondage, Dominance, Submission, and Sadomasochism, and is an umbrella term for a wide range of sexual practices that may involve physical restraints, an unequal power relationship, or pain. 

Fetishes
A fetish is a form of sexual desire which depends on an object, a body part, or a situation for gratification. 

Whether you’re seeking individual or couples therapy for issues unrelated, tangential, or related to the poly lifestyle or nontraditional partnerships, speak freely. In our experience, nontraditional couples often “graduate” from couples counseling sooner. The poly lifestyle demands such transparency and excellent communication that partners often come flying in to counseling when they first start to struggle and are very open to strategies about how to communicate effectively. In contrast, the Gottmans found that many “traditional” couples will wait up to six years to seek help once they start to think about counseling.

At Satya, our one stipulation is that we do not keep secrets between partners, though we will gladly work with a partner or two if they need help strategizing how to address something with another partner.

Triad benefitting from finding a polyamory friendly therapist Chicago; CNM therapist Chicago; ENM therapist Chicago

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