How gender and sexually diverse-friendly is your therapy training? (original) (raw)
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The recent publication of the memorandum of understanding on gay to straight conversion therapy brought many key psychology, health, counselling, and psychotherapy organisations together for the first time to collaborate on a subject on which they had no disagreement. The memorandum clearly states that efforts to try to change sexual orientation through psychological therapies are unethical and potentially harmful. Clearly, therapy has come a long way since the declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM, 1973) and the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD, 1992). What the document left out was conversion therapy as it applies to gender and sexual diversity (GSD) identities and practices beyond gay identities and same sex attractions. For example, in relation to transgender, some therapists still deem it acceptable to try to eliminate behaviour in children th...
Gender, sexuality, and relationships are all given a high level of importance in 21st century western culture. We’re generally asked to identify ourselves on the basis of our gender, sexual ‘orientation’, and relationship status on forms and on social media, and there are moral panics over those who step outside the perceived norm in any of these areas. Consider recent news stories, TV documentaries, and social media ‘storms’ around trans people or sex addiction for example. Gender, sexuality, and relationships are likely to be of great significance in our clients’ lives, and it is important to have a good working knowledge of the diversity of forms they can take. Before going into this however, we need to have a clear sense of the understanding of gender, sexuality, and relationships that dominates in our current cultural context. This understanding will shape how we – and our clients – make sense of ourselves and others, and how we experience the world.
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Whilst currently not mandated as a part of psychological studies in Australia, awareness of the mental health issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people is necessary to provide culturally appropriate services to this population. The findings reported in this paper represent one attempt at developing a workshop for psychology students on psychological practice with LGBT people, with a specific focus on the effects of heteronormativity. Measures assessed before and after the workshop showed significant changes on attitudes, knowledge, behavioural intent, and cultural competency. It is suggested that workshops such as this may usefully contribute to ensuring that psychology graduates in Australia are aware of evidence-based practice as it pertains to working with LGBT people, and that they are able to apply this to best meet the needs of LGBT clients.
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Gender and sexual diversities This chapter will focus on working with gender and sexual diversities (GSD). This is a more inclusive term for the more traditionally used LGBT (IQ) (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/ sexual, intersex, questioning). It encompasses a wider range of gender and sexual diversity identities including, but not restricted to, people who either engage in Kink/BDSM (bondage, dominance, discipline, submission, sadism and masochism) practices or lifestyle -irrespective of sexual orientation (Langdridge and Barker 2007) -as well as people who may identify anywhere across the gender spectrum and not simply intersex or transgender. Gender and sexual diversities (GSD) are also opening up the debate on different possibilities in relationships such as asexuality (Rothblum and Brehony 1993) and celibacy or polyamory, swingers and other forms of consensual non-monogamy (Barker and Langdridge 2010). Recent theories (Diamond 2008) around sexual orientation elaborate on i...
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The social and political landscape for sexual minority (SM) and transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people has improved in the United States during the past several years. The Supreme Court's ruling that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states was a visible, dramatic, and (for some) surprising change that affected the quality of life for many SM individuals. Shifts in attitudes and policies on other key issues (e.g., domestic partnership benefits, adoption, parenting) affecting both SM and TGNC communities have gained positive ground (American Civil Liberties Union, 2015) since the last publication of this handbook. However, in comparison with people in the general population, SM and TGNC people still face high rates of discrimination, interpersonal harassment and violence (Federal
Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of Nsrc, 2008
This article presents a set of preliminary policy recommendations regarding competency trainings for health care providers to improve service delivery to transgender and gender-nonconforming clients. These recommendations are based in part on a program evaluation of trainings conducted in the northwestern United States in 2005–2006. Using a mixed-methods approach, the evaluation assessed the effectiveness of 3 competency trainings administered by a nonprofit health education and outreach organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender-nonconforming, and questioning people. Quantitative data indicated that the trainings were effective in transferring knowledge. Qualitative data confirmed this finding and elicited a number of themes about providers’ experience of the trainings and their posttraining questions about interacting with transgender and gender-nonconforming patients and clients. The authors propose policy recommendations to guide curriculum developers and trainers in developing content and structure and to facilitate implementation of lessons learned in trainings at an agency- or organization-wide level.