This issue continues the fifth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of five studies published between August 2024 and March 2025. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Line Christophersen, a PhD candidate at Griffith University in Australia. The full text is available to read for free on our site.
Today, B4U-ACT published a new report on injustices experienced by minor-attracted people and professionals within the mental health system and academia. This report was written and compiled by the MAP Mental Health and Human Rights Study Group, a working group consisting of ten therapists, researchers, and minor-attracted people. The group was formed in November of 2023 as a result of a discussion at a monthly meeting of B4U-ACT’s Dialog on Therapy.
Over the next several months the group solicited stories from MAPs, clinicians who work with them, and scholars who study their lives about injustices and unfair treatment they have faced. After collecting these stories, the group developed this document to educate professionals and the public about these injustices and the widespread impacts they have.
Our hope is that this document provides insight into the unique challenges and stigma facing people attracted to children and adolescents and the professionals who work with this population, and becomes a foundation for future work to address the systemic and structural restrictions which produce these issues.
B4U-ACT also wishes to express our deep gratitude to the minor-attracted people, mental health professionals, and researchers who shared their experiences of injustices, discrimination, harassment and other mistreatment over the course of the project. This report would not have been possible without you.
As we continue to pursue our mission of improving public and professional understanding of people attracted to children and adolescents, and promoting compassionate and effective mental health resources for this population, B4U-ACT is seeking an Executive Director to help drive sustainable growth and provide leadership and expertise in nonprofit operations.
Through strategic leadership, financial stewardship, advocacy, public relations, and operations management, this position will be responsible for creating and executing long-term strategic plans to pursue B4U-ACT’s mission through continued partnership with mental health professionals, researchers, and minor-attracted people.
B4U-ACT is seeking an experienced and passionate Executive Director to lead our organization, support our mission, and drive sustainable growth. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in nonprofit leadership, advocacy, and community engagement. This individual will be responsible for strategic planning, fundraising, building partnerships, supporting succession planning, and expanding our presence in public health and mental health spaces. The position is volunteer based initially, with the potential for compensation as funding permits.
This role is an opportunity for a compassionate leader to make a meaningful impact in a complex and sensitive area. If you are a strategic thinker with the dedication to promote B4U-ACT’s mission, we encourage you to apply.
Interested applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter detailing their relevant experience and commitment to B4U-ACT’s mission. Please feel free to ask any questions about the position or the operations you would be managing. Applications and questions can be sent to careers@b4uact.org.
This issue begins the fifth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of six studies published between July and November 2024. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Rachel Murphy, a PhD candidate at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom. The full text is available to read for free on our site.
Registration has opened for B4U-ACT’s 2025 Professional Conference, which will be held on May 2-4, 2025. For more details and to register, please find the main page about the conference here.
Below is the flier for the event. Click anywhere in the document to open it in a new tab.
This issue concludes the fourth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of sive studies published between April and August 2024. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Ace Oh, a psychotherapist and research assistant from New York, who is on B4U-ACT’s therapist referral list and is also a frequent contributor to the B4QR journal. The full text is available to read for free on our site.
This issue continues the fourth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of six studies published between August 2023 and April 2024. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Jessica VerBout, a PhD student at the Modern Sex Therapy Institute. The full text is available to read for free on our site.
Submissions have re-opened for our “Stories of Hope” section on b4uact.org. If you’re someone who is attracted to children or adolescents and wish to share your story on our site, now is your opportunity.
In early 2012, B4U-ACT put out our first call for “Stories of Hope”: personal anecdotes from minor-attracted people about their lives and reasons for hope towards the future. Four stories were posted to the website, from MAPs with various ages, life circumstances, and genders and ages of attraction. The stories reflected varying life experiences, ranging from different hobbies, interests, and relationship statuses, to more difficult to discuss details such as mental health struggles and past criminal convictions.
Now, 12 years later, we’d like to update this section with new stories. The lived experiences of MAPs have changed along with other changes in society, and new resources and reasons for hope have emerged in this time.
If you’d like to submit your own story, please read the following guidelines, and submit using the Google form below, or by email to b4uact-stories-of-hope@protonmail.com.
If you submit via email, please include a first name you’d like associated with the story, and include the statement “I consent to B4U-ACT’s use of my story and pseudonym on its website.” Do not include any information that would trigger mandatory reporting, or that could be used to identify you.
Guidelines:
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In a new article in Psychotherapy Networker magazine, author Chris Lyford writes about B4U-ACT and discusses mental health professionals who work with people attracted to children. Alexandra Roth, a longtime member of B4U-ACT’s referral list of therapists, and Russell Dick, B4U-ACT’s Chairperson and Co-Founder, provided interviews for the piece.
Excerpt:
“A lot of people think the more you shame someone, the less likely that person is to do something wrong,” Roth explains, “but shame actually makes it harder for someone to make good choices.” Because most pedophiles struggle with loneliness, fear, self-hatred, and suicidal ideation as a result of their desires, she says, “therapy with them often has to do with addressing problems of identity and how they’ve been affected by stigma.” Many times, she says, the work doesn’t center around the client’s attraction to minors at all. “We’re focused on problems that might bring any other client to therapy, like depression or problematic relationships with parents or partners.”
Read the full article here:
https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/article/the-client-no-one-wants-to-treat/
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This issue begins the fourth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of six studies published between June and November 2023. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Ellie Woodward, a PhD candidate at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. The full text is available to read for free on our site.
