Kink-informed refers to a person who has achieved a level of understanding of sexual kinks that allows them to address the topic with someone that they serve. A counselor, teacher, coach, therapist, or anyone else in a position where they interact with other people in an attempt to guide them may opt to receive special training to become kink-informed.
Because individuals in the kink community have unique needs, research suggests many struggle to find kink-informed mental health care.
The importance of being kink-informed is that it provides the professional individual with the tools that they need to be kink-positive and kink-aware. This is useful when someone comes to them with questions or concerns about a particular kink that they may have.
Rather than being blindsided by a question that someone brings up regarding a kink, the kink-informed professional can help walk the person they are guiding through their thoughts and emotions about the kink.
People who go to therapists, counselors, and others for help often come from a place of vulnerability, and that vulnerability can be turned up to the max when they begin to talk about kinks. The society stigmas that have been drilled into people in regards to kinks can often cause some individuals to clam up about these topics.