Gender-Affirming Clinical Skills: Part 1

by Worner Leland, MS, BCBA, of Upswing Advocates Whether someone thinks a lot about their gender or has never given their gender identity much thought, everyone has a gender identity. Cisgender means: having a gender identity that matches the gender assigned to one at birth (from the Latin prefix “cis” meaning “on this side of”).

Danielle Carlson photo

Trans & Gender Non-Conforming Members of the Polyam Community Represent

by Danielle Carlson, AMFT Back in May, I was fortunate to be part of a panel of trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) members of the polyam community at the 1st Annual Chicago Non-Monogamy conference. We got to talk about our own experiences of dating and being non-monogamous as non-binary people, and also had the chance

Trans Equality — National LGBTQ Health Conference 2017

by Elizabeth Duke, PsyD April 28-30th I had a wonderful opportunity — to attend the National LGBTQ Health Conference 2017!  The event was sponsored by Northwestern Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing as well as Center on Halsted Sexual Orientation and Gender Institute. The conference was specifically geared toward research that could help

Cultural Competence & Bias

by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. As therapists, we recognize our ethical obligations to know and acknowledge the limits of our training and skills. We know that our expertise grows over time with experience and supervision, reading, dialogue and further training. These activities contribute to our mastery of specialized areas, methods or skills. But what about cultural

Everyone Has Bias

by Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D. No one is immune from bias, not even us therapists! Everyone has bias. Therapist bias takes many forms, especially with regards to clients’ sexuality, gender, erotic orientation, etc… Bias ranges from misinformed opinions about BDSM to confusing polyamory with infidelity to other subtle perceptions, beliefs and attitudes.  Bias is a part