Margaret E. “Margie” Nichols Jacobson (born 1947) is an American psychologist and sex therapist who specializes in LGBTQ+ clients, “including kink and consensual nonmonogamy (swinging, polyamory, etc.).”

Background

Nichols attended Radcliffe College before earning a Bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1970. She earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1981 and is a licensed therapist in New Jersey. She did post-doctoral work in sex therapy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now part of Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences.

In 1983 Nichols founded the Institute for Personal Growth. In 1985, she was a founder and the first director of the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation. She became a diplomate of the American Board of Sexology in 1985.

In 2003 she became and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and became a Certified Sex Therapy Supervisor in 2011.

Review of Alice Dreger

In 2008, Nichols published a scathing commentary on a paper by Alice Dreger. Her review describes and contextualizes Dreger’s activism within the history of disease models of gender identity and expression.

Review of Anne Lawrence

In 2013, Nichols published a review of Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies: Narratives of Autogynephilic Transsexualism, a book by Anne Lawrence. The review describes and contextualizes Lawrence’s activism within the history of disease models of gender identity and expression.

References

Nichols M (2008). Dreger on the Bailey Controversy: Lost in the Drama, Missing the Big Picture. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2008 Jun;37(3):476-80; discussion 505-10. [PDF] https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9329-x

Nichols M (2013). A Review of “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies: Narratives of Autogynephilic Transsexualism.” Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 40:1:71-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2013.854559

The Great Escape: Welcome to the World of Gender Fluidity. published in Psychotherapy Networker, March/April 2016.

Therapy with LGBTQ Clients:  Working with Sex and Gender Variance from a Queer Theory Model. published in Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, Fifth Edition, edited by Yitzchak M. Binik and Kathryn Hall, Guilford Press, 2014.

Nichols ME (2000) Sex Therapy with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and “Kinky” Clients. published in Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, Third Edition, edited by Sandra Leiblum and Ray Rosen, Guilford Press, 2000.

Michols ME, Fedor JP (2015). Sex Therapy with Clients Who Practice “Kink.”

Media

Resources

Institute for Personal Growth (ipgcounseling.com)

Hyacinth (hyacinth.org)