Transgender Assessments

I work with many clients who suffer from gender dysphoria. During any given week, I host several conversations regarding clients’ gender expression as related to their sense of self and well-being. There are several means, depending on the situation, to bolster client efforts in synchronizing their gender expression (cues visible to others) with their gender identity (their self-experienced gender).

Some people seek an official assessment for potential hormone referral therapy. These assessments include an intake of the client’s life history including child & adolescent development; transition goals; coping resources; and any co-occurring problems (such as depression or trauma histories). During later stages in the process, I may invite clients to bring family members into the meetings for increased social support (this part is required earlier for adolescents).

Other clients, such as gender non-conforming people, benefit from deconstructing any unhelpful gender associations & roles they internalized from developmental and social contexts. Then, therapeutic techniques such as assertiveness training help privilege their own unique identity and facilitate choices & empowerment.

November and December Updates

Wow, time flies when you’re having fun! Here are my major business updates for November and December 2016, I:

October 2016 News

I traveled to Washington DC to complete the Sexual Attitude Reassessment training. The SAR is a 10 hour intensive small group course for psychotherapists. We processed our reactions to various sexual materials–in order to discover and manage any personal biases that may otherwise interfere with successful therapy.

Six Principles of Sexual Health

At a time when people are gaining awareness about the dynamics & negative effects of sexual abuse AND deconstructing puritanical sexual beliefs & misinformation, Doug Braun-Harvey offers us six principles of sexual health. These principles are important guideposts in a frequently neglected and obscured corner of mental health treatment–as well as human lifespan development more generally.

  • pleasure: healthy sexuality leads to joy and/or empowerment (rather than detachment, and/or shame)
  • consent: participants should be in full, active agreement to the particular sexual acts, time, place, people, etc.
  • non-exploitation: secrecy and betrayal prevent partners from engaging in a psychologically-safe intimacy
  • protection: healthy partners collaborate in preventing transmission of STI’s and unwanted pregnancies
  • honesty: healthy partners voice their desires, limits, and ambivalence
  • shared values: connections are built on common meanings

If you would like to examine how your life interfaces with these principles, please contact me. BTW, imagine how much psychological pain would be eliminated and how much pleasure would increase if adolescent sexual education raised conscientiousness about these intra-personal and interpersonal factors.

Lies and Infidelity Training

I took a webinar training last week on everyone’s favorite topic: “Lies, Deception, Infidelity, and Jealousy.” Ellyn Bader of The Couples Institute facilitated the discussion. One of the most interesting parts of the training was her model for determining whether a relationship is likely to recover from deception:

  1. How high are the partners’ desires for honesty?
  2. What are the partners’ beliefs in the likelihood of success?
  3. What amount of unwanted effort is it going to take?
  4. How willing are the partners to take emotional risks (self-exposure rather than avoidance, denial, minimizing)?

The answers to these questions can help evaluate the relationship’s potential and pinpoint particular areas for development.

Sexuality Education

I attended two great conferences related to the intersection of sexuality and mental health:

  • the LGBT-Affirmative Therapist Guild annual conference
  • 5th Annual Sexuality conference at KU Med

Both conferences included great panel presentations: Race Relations Under the Rainbow; Identity Development and the Therapeutic Alliance; Eating Disorders and Sexuality; and Being HIV+ in Today’s World.

Book Synopsis: Heart of Desire

Stella Resnick wonderfully dissects sexual relationship problems in Heart of Desire: Keys to the Pleasures of Love. Although the book’s title is cheesy, Resnick offers insight based on research and clinical experience with couples. Resnick identifies variations of the love-lust dilemma–difficulty in maintaining a playful, pleasurable sexuality with a partner once they become family. She identifies family and sociocultural projections that contribute to the love-lust dilemma and guides readers through exercises to reconnect body and mind.

Sex Therapy Conference

I attended the Kansas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy conference last week. It was two days full of sex therapy information, presented by Stephanie Buehler of the Buehler Institute. We discussed the diverse, healthy range of sexual expression/sexual orientation/and gender orientations. I gained knowledge about sexual problems and ecosystemic contexts–including individual, medical, and intimate relationship interventions.