The presentation reviews and summarize the Transgender Population. The definition of Transgender which will include Gender Identity and Gender Queer will be explained. This presentation will also discuss how to best serve the transgender community in a counseling capacity. This will include supporting them psychologically, helping with campus resources, navigating referrals for medical issues, including hormone therapy and possible gender affirming surgery. Participants will be provided examples of how to write a support letter for hormone therapy and gender affirming surgery using the Standards of Care from WPATH. The presentation will finally explain the challenges this population faces especially with the political issues in the media. The expected outcome of this presentation is that participants will acquire an overall increased competency to work with the Transgender population in a counseling setting.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to describe what transgender means and discuss how gender is different from sexual orientation.
Participants will describe and use gender inclusive language when working with transgender clients.
Participants will be able to utilize different resources to support transgender clients.
Within the diverse LGBTQ+ community, queer people of color (QPOC) represent a variety of gender, affectional and cultural identities and experiences. Intersectionality offers a unique lens for understanding multiple minority identities, cultural strengths and resilience. Using intersectionality as a conceptual framework, the presenters will review current research, share personal and professional reflections from the field and identify culturally relevant affirming counseling practices with QPOC.
Learning Objectives:
Describe intersectionality as a framework for understanding the diverse experiences of Queer people of Color.
Identify, assess and emphasize cultural strengths and resilience with Queer people of Color in counseling practice.
Implement culturally competent affirmative counseling knowledge and skills in counseling practice.
This session will examine the resiliency factors and the strategies transgender (trans) college students use to navigate gender-dichotomous collegiate environments. The multiple intersections of college trans* students and their various social identities are highlighted as well as the importance of coping strategies for a successful college experience. One of the presenters identifies as trans* and will share his insights as well as provide first hand suggestions that will inform and assist college counselors, student affairs professionals, faculty, and administrators working with college trans* students. Additional recommendations such as the (un)learning of normative gender constructs, the use of appropriate language in the curricula, and suggestions for providing a safe environment, inside and outside the classroom, will also be explored. Affirmative- and resilience-based counseling and “helping” approaches for working with trans* college students will conclude this training.
Learning Objectives:
Awareness and understand the intersection of multiple identities of college trans students.
Strategies that trans students use to navigate the campus and the college experience.
Begin the process of (un)learning the use of traditional gender constructs.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer youth (LGBTQ) experience a variety of struggles when coming out to their families of origin. These struggles include lack of acceptance and support by their families as well as isolation, depression, engagement in risk taking behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, and the risk of suicide. The focus of this presentation will be to address prior research on family support and acceptance with LGBTQ youth in their sexual identity development, and possible solutions for counselors to provide assistance with the youth and their families during this adjustment process.
Learning Objectives:
To educate counseling professionals about LGBTQ youth and the impact of disclosure of their sexual and/or gender identity as well as the consequences on the lack of emotional support from caregivers.
Benefits to providing support and acceptance to LGBTQ youth, including research evidence and how caregivers can assist in the youth’s coming out process.
Treatment approaches and resources to assist LGBTQ youth and their families.
Asians are the fastest growing minority population in the USA; their population is projected to double to eight percent by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). South Asians comprise approximately a third of this population. By inference then, the South Asian LGBTQ population will also become a significant minority in the larger LGBTQ population. South Asian cultural values and beliefs significantly influence sexual identity development for both first- and second-generation same-sex attracted women, leading to unique experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Counselors working with this population must, therefore, sensitively incorporate these cultural factors for effective treatment planning and to avoid further harm by unintentionally reinforcing existing experiences of injustice and oppression.
Learning Objectives:
Gain an understanding of the cultural factors Influencing gender and sexual identity development.
Gain an understanding of the impact of immigration status on sexual identity development.
Gain an understanding of treatment strategies for mental health counselors working with this population.
Description: The
counseling experiences of 13 transgender and gender nonconforming individuals
were examined via semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Using multiple
standards of trustworthiness (e.g., member checking, negative case analysis),
researchers analyzed each interview from an interpretative phenomenological
analytic framework. Four main themes were identified: (a) mental
health professional selection process, (b) trans-affirmative approach, (c) trans-negative approach, and (d) support systems beyond counseling. Implications
for implementing culturally responsive TGNC affirmative counseling, TGNC
sensitive counselor training, and social justice oriented research are
discussed.
Objectives:
Examine transgender and gender-nonconforming clients’ counseling experiences.
Explore factors that support culturally responsive affirmative counseling for transgender and gender-nonconforming clients.
For several decades, civil rights-based protections for LGBTQ- identified individuals were increasingly solidified through case law, federal guidance, and legislation. Through the lens of Title IX, college student affairs and other equity issues resources, we will discuss how counselors can support their students and clients through awareness of legal and policy protections in school and workplace. Identifying the available legal rights and resources that can support client advocacy, whether in a school or agency setting, is vital to the focused empowerment by counselors that encourage client self advocacy.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will learn to identify and monitor LGBTQ civil rights protections in school and workplace.
Participants will learn to identify options for advocating for LGBTQ rights as well as offering students and clients tools for self advocating in a strength-based atmosphere.
Following up on a presentation at the 2017 ACA Annual Conference and Expo, this educational session will provide attendees with contextually informed strategies for working with and advocating for trans- military service members and veterans during an uncertain time. In 2016 the Pentagon ended the ban on trans-people serving openly in the U.S. military—yet recent moves by the Trump Administration leave trans-service members feeling uncertain and fearful about their future. All counselors must be prepared for those service members, in the face of this uncertainty, to continue to seek services outside of the military. The authors will review background information in the context of the current political environment, followed by two case studies, based on original qualitative interviews with trans-military service members. They will then lead audience members in a workshop-style, small-group activity in which they will apply the information presented to the presented cases.
Learning Objectives:
Gain a better understanding of the unique mental health challenges faced by trans military personnel and veterans, as well as the barriers they have historically faced to both medical and mental health treatment.
Learn key concepts related to minority stress and identity concealment, and be able to apply those concepts, using the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies framework, to the experiences of trans military clients through a case example.
Apply at least three potential counseling interventions/approaches, rooted in evidence-based treatments, that may be appropriate for the trans* military population.
Counselors who identify as LGBTQ+ often struggle with whether to disclose this identity to their clients. We will explore some of those struggles and review literature that addresses how disclosure may be performed ethically, as well as how disclosure of LGBTQ+ identity may serve to advocate for the LGBTQ+ population by role modeling and normalization. We will present an ethical decision-making model specifically for LGBTQ+ identity disclosure and apply the model to case vignettes through a group discussion.
Learning Objectives:
Attendees will learn about the challenges that LGBTQ+ counselors face when considering disclosing this identity to clients through research and case examples.
Attendees will review literature concerning self-disclosure and advocacy while exploring how these two concepts may interact specifically in regards to LGBTQ+ identity disclosure.
Attendees will engage in an experiential activity in which they utilize an ethical decision making model to approach a number of vignettes regarding LGBTQ+ identity disclosure.
