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In Person
The Adolescent & Young Adult Collective (AYAC) 2026

Emotional Intimacy at the Mezzo Level (1C)

Maia Fohrman, LCSW, CSAT
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Description

This interactive presentation focuses on the social context for intimacy across the lifespan, outlining the unique stressors both young and mature adults face as they navigate individuation and connection. The discussion will be based on Patrick Carnes' framework connecting addictive behaviors with western social pressures, which incentivizes addiction. Participants will explore how convenience, escapism, technology, objectification, and other social factors are crucial in influencing relationships in unhealthy ways and learn strategies for fostering personal integrity and healthier relational dynamics. The session blends interdisciplinary research and the presenter’s clinical research.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Define and distinguish between physical and emotional intimacy.

  • Choose a "relationship role model" and explain how emulating such traits contributes to building a healthier community.

  • Identify 2-3 evidenced based interventions that can counter-act unhealthy social norms.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is for participants to identify unhealthy, internalized social messages that influence behaviors and expectations in intimate relationships (or lack of them), and explore what being "whole and undivided" (definition for integrity) looks like in a society that encourages addictive behaviors.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Maia Fohrman, LCSW, CSAT
Maia Fohrman, LCSW, CSAT, has been practicing for 13 years in the field of mental health. Maia started my career in Burlington, VT, where she was a founding member of the UVM Collegiate Recovery Community in 2011. She gained experience working with adults in the first rural Housing First program, simultaneously interfacing with the county women's jail as a peer support for incarcerated women struggling with substance use and mental health disorders. Subsequently, she returned home to Chicago to complete her MSW degree, and focused on teen mental health. Maia moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and continued her work with adult mental health and substance use disorders. Over time, her interests evolved towards matters of intimacy, and she now specializes in sex and love addiction broadly, with more specific interests in chemsex and offending behavior. Maia has held positions as varied as clinical director in a luxury inpatient program, case management with unhoused people suffering from serious mental illness, individual and family therapist, and now facilitates groups on the topic of sex and love while also maintaining a private practice in Echo Park and Beverly Hills, CA. Outside of work, Maia enjoys film, drawing portraits and sketching Zines, as well as spending time with dear friends, her partner, and her kitten.

Financially sponsored by Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa

Financially Sponsored By

  • Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers