Serving the LGBTQ+ Community with Education and Empathy

Bruno Santos earned his bachelor’s degree and started his first master’s while serving in the Air Force (2015–21). He used the GI Bill to pursue his second master, the MPS in Sexual Health, and graduated this past spring.

As a practicing clinician, Bruno Santos felt that he needed to learn more about human sexuality in order to more fully serve the LGBTQ+ community. “I found that as a gay man, the knowledge that I gained in social work was not enough for what I wanted to do,” he says. “There was a gap in knowledge, as well as a gap for me as a person. So the decision to return to school to earn a master's degree in sexual health was to fill that gap.”

Why It’s So Important to Understand Human Sexuality

Bruno is a full-time social worker in Salt Lake City, Utah, and recognizes that many of his clients experience a lot of sexual shame. He grew up in a religious household and understands how sex and sexuality can sometimes lead to secrecy and feelings of guilt.

“People are coming to my office saying they’re addicted to porn or addicted to some type of sexual behavior, and sometimes they're not really addicted. Sometimes it's a lack of knowledge, often in the LGBTQ plus community,” he says.

To help those people understand some of their sexual behaviors, and to determine whether they are in fact compulsive, he first defines what that actually means. He can then provide the support and treatment they need to manage that compulsion.

He adds that he, too, had to learn how to liberate himself from feelings of shame he had as a young person, but “now it feels so free to be in a space with people—and not just gay men but people in general—where they have the space to talk about sex.” 

Bruno highlights that while men are often given more freedom to explore sexually, this does not translate into having healthy spaces to discuss sex. "We only talk about sex when we've done something wrong or something has gone wrong."

Talking about sex and sexuality in an open and honest way, not only in the context of punishment or deviance, is critical to healthy relationships. Bruno says that his education has helped him approach his clients with more neutrality and empathy.

“I feel that today my knowledge base of human sexuality is broader. I have more capacity to provide psychosexual education to my clients. And I feel like I'm using the knowledge that I have acquired in this program almost on a daily basis.”

3 Pro Tips for Students

1. “The first one would be, and this is advice for anyone entering a master's program, manage your time. I completed my second master's degree while working full time with two kids. I took time out of my weekend to complete all my assignments. I read through the articles that I needed to read throughout the week, when I had time between clients. Then on the weekend I would sit down and complete my assignments. So I'd say it’s essential to manage your time.”
    
2. “The second thing that I would say to a new student is to fill in the gaps, seek to understand the theoretical approaches that are being taught because they will be fundamental to help future clients, whether that's teaching sexual health or working with a client one on one. That theoretical approach is fundamental to have a comprehensive understanding of human sexuality.” (Bruno took Strategies for Teaching Adults as an elective.)
    
3. “The last thing I would say to a new student is pursue what interests you. Because even within the program, they offer classes on gender, gender care, compulsive sexual behavior, sex and relationships. So pursue what interests you. When I pursue what interests me, I feel motivated.”

Memorable Courses

• Foundations of Human Sexuality
• Compulsive Sexual Behavior

Bruno is a recipient of a CCAPS Larson Legacy scholarship.