APA’s Guil for Psychotherapy Wh Lbian, Gay and Bisexual Clients: The Fundamentals for Practice

Contents:

• APA’S GUIL FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY WH LBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL CLIENTS: THE FUNDAMENTALS FOR PRACTICE
• WORKG WH GAY MALE CLIENTS
• ISSU PSYCHOTHERAPY WH LBIAN AND GAY MEN: A SURVEY OF PSYCHOLOGISTS
• MEETG THE NEEDS OF LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL CLIENTS SUBSTANCE ABE TREATMENT

APA’S GUIL FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY WH LBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL CLIENTS: THE FUNDAMENTALS FOR PRACTICE

January 20, 2006 — Most psychologists are likely to enunter a lbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) client at some pot their practic (Gars, Hanck, Cochran, Goodchilds, & Pepl, 1991). This article foc on the APA’s “Guil for psychotherapy wh lbian, gay and bisexual clients, ” begng wh a brief discsn of signifint effects of stigma and “mory strs" on LGB dividuals.

The LGB Guil at a Glance The “Guil for psychotherapy wh lbian, gay and bisexual clients” (APA, 2000) were created to help psychologists intify the fundamental issu unique to the asssment and treatment of LGB dividuals, upl, and fai. Homosexualy and bisexualy are not ditive of mental illns although (as scribed above) stigma and prejudice may ntribute to an creased need for psychologil servic this muny. A health profsnal’s prejudice and accurate or outdated rmatn about homosexualy and bisexualy on the provir’s part may affect a client’s prentatn and the procs of psychotherapy.

WORKG WH GAY MALE CLIENTS

The “Guil for Psychotherapy wh Lbian, Gay and Bisexual Clients” provi practners wh a ncise overview of the most fundamental issu relevant to clil practice wh LGB clients. Developg cultural petency is key to bt reprentg lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons, says Angie Martell, founr and managg partner of Iglia Martell Law Firm, PLLC. Therapists workg wh gay men are enuraged to nsir the psychologil effects of livg a world where the client is tght that he is ls "mascule" than non-gay men, that his primary relatnships are of lser value than those of heterosexual men, and where he may have suffered abe, harassment, or discrimatn as the effect of a prejudiced fay, church, or social world.

ISSU PSYCHOTHERAPY WH LBIAN AND GAY MEN: A SURVEY OF PSYCHOLOGISTS

How he feels about himself as a gay man is a rult of the teractn between signifint social fluenc (history of trma, overt or sid; fay receptivy; strength of peer group; nnectn—or lack thereof—to the gay muny) and his own unique personaly.

Halman's personal orientatn is eclectic and person-centered nature, startg wh a reful asssment of the man's psychosocial velopment and workg wh heterosexual men, is eful to unrstand somethg of the gay man's g-out journey. It may sound much like standard therapy wh all men, but is important not to overgeneralize: The therapist workg wh gay men, whether he himself is gay or not, is enuraged to remember that he is workg wh someone who has been ma to feel badly about who he is by virtue of livg a homonegative is also sential to remember that all gay men are unique dividuals and the variance of a variety of potentially stigmatizg factors will fluence their prentatn therapy.

MEETG THE NEEDS OF LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL CLIENTS SUBSTANCE ABE TREATMENT

Olr gay men, who me out the Stonewall era, will have a far different view of cultural prejudice than a young gay man of the prent era, pecially if he om a progrsive geographic men of lor may face the effects of dual-mory stat, which they feel a sense of alienatn om their muni of lor (due to beg gay) and the gay muny self (due to beg a person of lor) socenomic stat gay men face challeng what is typilly thought of as a gay muny prised of relatively fancially secure men livg wh disabili may experience the greatt challeng of all fdg a home among other gay tersectn of the and other variabl creat endls sourc of dividualy for all gay men. Although he primarily works wh this muny his therapy practice, he also specializ relatnship unselg wh both heterosexual and gay/lbian upl and is a natnally known expert on men's Halman serv on the Board of the APA Insurance Tst, the Board for the Advancement of Psychology the Public Intert, and is the Diversy Officer of the Washgton State Psychologil Halman is a past member of APA's Board of Directors, and is the recipient of the Outstandg Achievement Award om the Commtee on Lbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns (2002), an APA Printial Catn (2005), and the John D. Black Award for excellence Practice om the Society of Counselg Psychology (2007) ments equently the media on a variety of issu related to profsnal psychology and social policy, and has published numero articl and book chapters on the ethil and petent treatment of lbian, gay, and bisexual clients Halman liv and practic Seattle, Washgton.

Yet I don’t thk this hurt as much as when I heard another clician that I know e this same logic to expla how she, as a vout Evangelil Christian, is able to treat gay clients. If you are a clician who believ, due to your relig nvictns, that beg gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, qutng, queer, or any of the other inti that we now wele to the rabow fay is herently sful, or that exprsg our sir to be who we are and love who we love the world, I ve you to do some ser work. For stance, I often send Christian folks to Pastor Mark Sandl’s piece Clobberg Biblil Gay Bashg for a plete unpackg of what you thk scripture says about homosexualy and what scripture actually means.

Several voutly relig EMDR therapists will e this to jtify how they are able to treat LGBT+ clients even though, ep down, they believe that beg gay or trans or otherwise sexually diverse is wrong. He once shared wh me that a unselor at a secular treatment center pulled him asi and asked him if he nsired whether or not his stggl were bee he was gay, and perhaps he ought to rem to his fah more. The APAGS Commtee on Sexual Orientatn and Genr Diversy (APAGS-CSOGD) works on behalf of the muny of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr graduate stunts psychology and their alli natnwi.