When we are presented with issues of gender diversity in counseling or when clients and their families come to us wanting to understand and explore gender identity in therapy with their teens and children, we may feel torn about the best way forward.
For a long time, gender identity therapy has been viewed as an area of specialty. Many psychotherapists feel underequipped to support families with mental health and gender, so when clients come to us questioning their gender, or struggling with gender expression, we tend to refer them out to gender therapy “specialists”.
But isn’t gender diversity part of the life of every one of our clients?
There is a growing movement of therapists shifting this paradigm of viewing gender identity in therapy as a specialty area we refer out to. Sarah Burgamy, Psy.D., our resident gender diversity specialist and popular course leader asserts (along with many of her peers) that gender identity is too much a part of the core human identity for therapists to not know how to work with it. Sarah leads our popular online training in gender diversity for therapists Everything You Wanted To Know about Gender-Competence But Were Afraid to Ask!.
Training in gender diversity for therapists is our ethical responsibility.
In today’s expanding and inclusive cultural climate, it is unethical to exclude gender diversity from our clinical practice scope. If we wish to serve all clients to the best of our ability, we need to first to stop viewing gender as a specialty like addiction and disordered eating.
We then need to train up in this area and deepen our understanding, including of our own gender identity, gender expression, and gender roles (if you don’t know how these three differ, it’s time to allot some of your 2023 therapist continuing education units towards this important issue, and fast).
Gender diversity in counseling is part of the foundational therapeutic scope.
We must be prepared to work with human beings in their full and holistic identities, inclusive of gender. All therapists must possess an understanding of human gender diversity, be prepared to help their clients explore their gender, or simply offer a knowledgeable and respectful recognition of this important part of being human. It is especially important when working with teens and children exploring gender identity.
Every one of our clients has a gender, so let’s relate to this gender diversity in therapy as the professionals we are, and come into the modern age equipped and more ready to serve them.
Join FREE video of Sarah Burgamy, Psy.D.
When Your Client is Non-binary: Gender Diversity for Therapists
In this webinar, you will learn about:
What pronoun do you use for a non-binary person? Understand the significance behind each choice and the validation it offers.
Non-binary therapy strategies that cater specifically to non-binary clients, ensuring their experiences are validated and their needs addressed.
Nonbinary client psychotherapy with real-world examples, offering therapists tangible solutions and techniques.
