A Clinician's Guide to Gender-Affirming Care: Working with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients

by Sand C. Chang PhD, Anneliese A. Singh PhD, LPC, lore m. dickey PhD, Mira Krishnan PhD, ABPP (Foreword by)

Overview

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TNGC) clients have complex mental health concerns, and are more likely than ever to seek out treatment. This comprehensive resource outlines the latest research and recommendations to provide you with the requisite knowledge, skills, and awareness to treat TNGC clients with competent and affirming care.

As you know, TNGC clients have different needs based on who they are in relation to the world. Written by three psychologists who specialize in working with the TGNC population, this important book draws on the perspective that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for working with TNGC clients. It offers interventions tailored to developmental stages and situational factors—for example, cultural intersections such as race, class, and religion.

This book provides up-to-date information on language, etiquette, and appropriate communication and conduct in treating TGNC clients, and discusses the history, cultural context, and ethical and legal issues that can arise in working with gender-diverse individuals in a clinical setting. You’ll also find information about informed consent approaches that call for a shift in the role of the mental health provider in the position of assessment and referral for the purposes of gender-affirming medical care (such as hormones, surgery, and other procedures).

As changes in recent transgender health care and insurance coverage have provided increased access for a broader range of consumers, it is essential to understand transgender and gender nonconforming clients’ different needs. This book provides practical exercises and skills you can use to help TNGC clients thrive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684030521
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	12/01/2018
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	406,291
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Sand C. Chang, PhD, is a Chinese American nonbinary psychologist and trainer. They are the clinical practice consultant for Kaiser Permanente Northern California Transgender Services. They also have a private practice in Oakland, CA, specializing in trauma/EMDR, addictions, and eating disorders. Sand served on the task force that authored the 2015 APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients, and is past chair of the American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (CSOGD). Outside of their professional work, Sand is a dancer, avid foodie, and pug enthusiast.


Anneliese A. Singh, PhD, LPC, is a professor and associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the college of education at the University of Georgia. Singh is cofounder of the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition to work on reducing heterosexism, transprejudice, racism, and other oppressions in Georgia schools. She founded the Trans Resilience Project, where she translated her findings from nearly twenty years of research on trans people’s resilience to oppression into practice and advocacy efforts. She is author of The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook. She’s delivered widely viewed TEDx Talks, and recorded a podcast for the American Psychological Association on her research with transgender youth and resilience.


lore m. dickey, PhD, is a behavioral health consultant at North Country HealthCare in Bullhead City, AZ. He has a long history of LGBTQ advocacy and social justice work, and has presented throughout the world on trans-affirmative practice with gender-diverse people. His research and clinical work focus on addressing the needs of gender-diverse individuals. After working for several years in academia, lore recently took on a job working in an integrated behavioral health care setting. lore is the founder of My Bandana Project which is a suicide prevention intervention for transgender people.


Mira Krishnan, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified neuropsychologist and consultant. She is clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University, and cochair of the Committee for Transgender People and Gender Diversity, of Division 44 of the APA. In 2015, she was recognized as one of the Trans 100, an annual recognition of influential transgender Americans.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Trans Communities and Health in Context

1 Challenge Your Gender Training 9

2 Respect Client Self-Determination 19

3 Understand Cultural Landscapes of Gender Diversity 35

4 Know the History of Trans Health Care in the U.S. 45

5 Consider Diverse Genders and Sexualities 57

Part 2 Foundations for Affirming Mental Health Care

6 Understand Your Role as a Mental Health Provider 69

7 Develop Trans-Affirming Mental Health Diagnostic Skills 81

8 Identify Barriers and Challenges 89

9 Cultivate Resilience 99

10 Assess Mental Health Needs 109

Part 3 Transition-Related Care

11 Know Options for Social, Medical, and Legal Transition 125

12 Assess and Refer for Gender-Affirming Medical Care 141

13 Collaborate with Interdisciplinary Providers and Trans Communities 169

Part 4 Counseling and Psychotherapy

14 Practice Affirming Individual Counseling 181

15 Support Trans Clients in Relationship and Family Counseling 195

16 Connect Clients to Group Support 205

17 Affirm Trans Clients Across the Lifespan 211

18 Support Gender Expansive Youth 223

Part 5 Special Topics and Concerns

19 Create Trans-Affirming Practice Environments 239

20 Be a Strong Trans Advocate 249

21 Empower Trans Counselors 257

Final Remarks 269

Acknowledgments 270

Appendices

A Trans-Affirming Glossary-A Quick Reference Guide 273

B Trans-Affirming Counseling Resources 279

References 281

Index 291

Interviews

Chang resides in Oakland, CA; Singh resides in Avondale Estates, GA; dickey resides in
Flagstaff, AZ.

Editorial Reviews

This unprecedented resource for clinicians and service providers seeking to deepen their analysis of gender and capacity to provide care to trans people is accessible, reflective, complex, thorough, and practical. A Clinician’s Guide to Gender-Affirming Care situates trans mental health care in a sociopolitical context requiring practitioners to contend with the medical and mental health systems’ ability to perniciously perpetuate structural violence. Finally, a comprehensive resource that gives clinicians a road map to be in deep solidarity with trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people who deserve access to care rooted in dignity and justice.”
—Erica Woodland, MSW, LCSW, healing justice practitioner, psychotherapist, consultant, and founding director of the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network

Erica Woodland

Chang, Singh, and dickey have created the essential guide for clinicians who want to dive deeper into developing and expanding their skills for affirmative gender-related care. It is practical, comprehensive, and reminds providers that competent gender-related work begins with the clinician’s personal examination of their gender socialization. Experiential activities guide clinicians to dive deeper into their own socialization as they develop their clinical knowledge of gender-related and transition care. A Clinician’s Guide to Gender-Affirming Care is a necessary reference for all mental health providers.”
—julie graham, MFT, nationally recognized specialist in gender health care; consultant on gender-related healthcare and trauma issues for gender and sexual minorities; director of Gender Health SF

julie graham

Packed with a wealth of case studies, historical facts, and actionable recommendations, A Clinician’s Guide to Gender-Affirming Care is a powerful actualization of the authors’ commitments to creating trans justice. Chang, Singh, and dickey go beyond simply compiling information to create a compelling, deeply empathetic, and effective resource that bridges the gap between helping professionals and the trans communities they serve. A must-read for all aspiring trans allies and coconspirators!”
—Lily Zheng, diversity consultant, and coauthor of Gender Ambiguity in the Workplace

Lily Zheng

One of the biggest challenges to offering competent care and support to trans and other gender-diverse people is society’s tendency to assume that a singular gender narrative exists. Academic research, professional association guidelines, media stories, and standards of care have too often been crafted from the individual experiences of too few. How deeply refreshing it is to find a resource that gently, persistently encourages the clinician to consider an individual’s gender pathway within an ever-widening context of individuality, family, culture, and systems. A Clinician’s Guide to Gender-Affirming Care supports the clinician in considering not only the intersecting identities of their patient—their age, sexuality, race, faith, and more—but for the clinician to factor themselves into the equation. This guide provides many illustrative examples of complex people in an easy-to-read format that will surely make this text a dog-eared, must-have in any clinician’s practice.”
—Aidan Key, K-12 gender education specialist, author, national speaker, and director of the parent support organization Gender Diversity

Aidan Key

As healers, we are taking on a major responsibility when we devote ourselves to helping others. It can be such an enormous gift, but it’s profoundly important that we fill our souls with the best tools to meet our clients’ needs. It’s time for a paradigm shift, and this book provides a path to freedom from the shackles of transphobia that will revolutionize your healing practice.”
—Danielle Castro, MA, MFT, research director at the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, and the Division of Prevention Science at University of California, San Francisco

Danielle Castro