Queering Psychotherapy

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Schilt, K., & Westbrook, L. (2009). Doing gender, doing heteronormativity: “Gender normals,” transgender people, and the social maintenance of heterosexuality. Gender and Society, 23(4), 440–464. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243209340034. A members’ survey that we carried out in June 2021 found that 51% of respondents think we'll continue to see the impact of COVID-19 on people’s mental health for up to five years.

Another queering practice of this book is that there isn’t the usual control of the editor’s agenda other than reflecting on non-normative thinking and practice in a variety of therapeutic situations and considerations. So, in some cases I suggested topics participants may want to talk about, while others brought their own preferred talking points. The open dialogues resulting from Czyzselska’s invitation weave through a broad range of intersecting and intersectional contemporary psychotherapeutic topics from the perspectives of clinicians [...] The collection also gives important space to conversations with clinicians who identify as and work with trans, nonbinary, gender expansive, and intersex people.' Set” refers to the frame of mind participants enter a psychedelic experience with, including their lived experiences as beings with multiple intersecting identities, or as members of a particular community or communities, and beliefs surrounding trust, control, safety, etc. “Setting” refers to the context in which the psychedelic experience occurs, including the time of day, location of the dosing session, others in attendance, etc. These extra-pharmacological factors reliably and profoundly impact the outcomes of psychedelic-assisted therapy, and are consistently considered in preparatory, dosing, and integration sessions in MDMA-assisted therapy. American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for psychological practice withtransgender and gender nonconforming people. American Psychologist, 70(9), 832–864. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039906Gender and sexuality evolve throughout our lives. Therefore, I’m aware how much a binary understanding of these parts of our identities are experienced as restrictive. I’ve seen very often that people’s first response to feeling different is to feel distressed, and this is usually a product of the hetero- and cis-normative messages we receive from society (and internalised by the people in our lives) telling us to ‘be’ a certain way. The reaction that ‘I’m wrong’ or ‘This is a problem’ only serves to isolate, shame, and disempower. Cavnar, C. (2018, November 15). Can psychedelics “cure” gay people? Chacruna. https://chacruna.net/can-psychedelics-cure-gay-people/#fn-9073-5

Overall, this allows us to honour and respect an individual for exactly the person they are. The best-case scenario is that we can affirm, and celebrate them too. This applies to people of any sexual and gender orientation and expression including heterosexual, and cisgender people. Any chapters in particular where you feel you broke new ground — in queer publishing and in psychotherapy? The space of therapy can feel claustrophobic. If you’re queer or trans and working with a heteronormative therapist, the room itself can feel airless especially when you are trying to establish a workable relationship and understanding about your identity. An airless room fraught with misunderstandings. This book is a reservoir of information, knowledge and professional understandings which seek to widen out that space into a comfortable queer landscape. Invaluable.' Winslade, J., Monk, G., & Drewery, W. (1997). Sharpening the critical edge: A social constructionist approach to counselor education. In T. L. Sexton & B. L. Griffin (Eds.), Constructivist thinking in counseling practice, research, and training (pp. 228–248). New York: Teachers College Press. This excellent book takes an intersectional approach in the understanding of psychotherapy through a queer lens and is essential reading, therefore for those who are from the LGBTQ+ community or are working within said communities such as myself. That this book has been brave enough to include such a wide range of voices and perspectives, angles, cultures, and races is a testament to just how psychotherapy can come together when it steps outside of the heteronormative, able-bodied, white, middle class constraints within which it has been entangled almost since its inception. This book is essential reading and needs to be studied on courses around the country.'The Drag and Queer Years as a Means of Developing a Therapeutic Self: Bringing Street Work into the Office We need our membership bodies to clearly communicate to members that, as long as their psychological formulation for health is not based solely on the cis-normative and heteronormative, and that biases are explored and processed in personal therapy, there is no need to fear a conversion ban. As Dominic Davies, founder of Pink Therapy, has said: ‘The MoU does not ban exploring someone’s uncertainty or ambivalence at accepting their gender or sexuality. Our role as psychotherapists and counsellors is always to explore the client’s thoughts and feelings. However, the MoU means we need to work in an affirmative-exploratory way.’ It is my belief that we should be wary of a small but vocal minority of anti-trans individuals attempting to confect a panic in the profession, under the guise of a ‘they are banning exploration’ argument. So it was important to me to create something that democratised therapeutic knowledge and expertise for practitioners and show how different knowledges and life experiences have value and this is what informed my choice of the contributors to this book. There were others I approached who for various reasons weren’t able to contribute. I already have others who have offered to be involved in a second volume so watch this space! This queered and decolonised approach exemplifies the spirit of the book in that it doesn’t reify medical model diagnostic categories. Rather it treats LGBTIQA+ clients and practitioners as whole persons with all manner of intersections and lived experiences. Holding Uncertainty so that it can be Thought About: Relational Gestalt Therapy with Gender Creative Children LGBTIQ+ people are more likely than cisgender and heterosexual individuals to suffer with mental health issues, yet often have poorer therapeutic outcomes. Mainstream Eurocentric psychotherapeutic theories, developed largely by heterosexual, cisgender and white theorists, tend to see LGBTIQ+ as a singular group through this "othered" lens. Despite the undeniable value offered by many of these theories, they and those who use them - queer therapists included - can often pathologize, marginalize, misunderstand and diminish the flourishing and diversity of queer experience.

We have committed to evidencing tangible actions – such as a toolkit to help improve training and a pilot grants scheme.Goldberg AE et al. Health care experiences of transgender binary and nonbinary university students. The Counseling Psychologist 2019; 47(1): 59-97. The contributors to Queering Psychotherapy present key insights and practical advice in a dynamic conversational format, providing intimate access to therapists’ personal and professional knowledge and reflections. This book is an invaluable training in itself.

Some of the psychoanalytic community expressed confidence in working from an affirmative and exploratory stance, with the data suggesting that those who are anti trans and at risk of enacting conversion therapy are outliers. But many were simply confused – frightened, even – about how they can work with this population safely and effectively within their modality. My guess is a number will simply avoid working with trans people.Patients pursuing mental health services tend to see value in having clinicians ask about their sexual orientation and gender identity as part of the intake process, but intake forms commonly give prospective patients insufficient or no opportunity to fully describe their gender and sexual identity. This can have a lasting negative impact on the therapeutic alliance, as it signals to gender and sexual minorities that the clinic or clinicians may not recognize nuanced queer identities beyond the historical hegemonic standards of Western healthcare. Providing a greater number of options for sexual orientation and gender identities on intake forms, as well as “not listed above” options with areas for specification are an effective tool for building trust between clinician and client. Stewart S et al. Boris Johnson ditches plans for ban on LGBT conversion practices. Guardian 2022; 31 March. bit.ly/3LQ2QmB