Lynne Carroll

A preliminary survey of counseling psychologists' personal experiences with depression and treatment

The fact that psychologists may not realize how much their own diagnosable emotional problems can impact their practices led to the undertaking of an exploratory survey of practicing psychologists in order to assess that notion. The results of a random sample of 1,000 psychologists indicate that women were more frequent respondents than men by a ratio of 3 to 2 and that depression (dysthymia) was the most frequently acknowledged diagnosis. Respondents felt that their emotional issues gave them more empathy for their clients; however, they also experienced an increased sense of isolation from their colleagues and lessened energy and ability to concentrate in their relationships with their clients. Recommendations are offered for self-care practices for psychologists.

Role of Appearance and Nonverbal Behaviors in the Perception of Sexual Orientation among Lesbians and Gay Men

According to the zero-acquaintance paradigm gay men and lesbians possess the ability to identify other homosexuals accurately after only very brief interpersonal contact. Given the vulnerability gay men and lesbians face in terms of antigay violence and prejudice, perceptual accuracy provides self-protection. In an exploratory study, 123 respondents were classified as low, moderate, and high perceivers on the basis of their responses to a recognition index designed by the authors. Next, respondents rated on a series of 5-point Likert scales the helpfulness of several characteristics for identifying gay men and lesbians. Analysis supported the importance of eye contact for lesbians and gay men in identifying one another. For both lesbian and gay male participants, several other variables emerged as significantly helpful in identifying gay men: clothing style and fit, jewelry, facial expressions, posture, body type, walk or gait, and both the types and frequencies of gestures.

Therapeutic Issues with Transgender Elders

Research demonstrates that transgender and nonconforming (TGNC) elders face social isolation and discrimination in policies and practices in mental and health care settings. The purpose of this article is to provide clinicians with practical input about therapeutic issues and interventions for use with TGNC elders. A case vignette describes the challenges and rewards of therapy with an elder trans woman. Her story illustrates the complex interplay between age, life phase, and sociocultural and historical contexts. Recommendations regarding research, practice, and advocacy are offered.

Trans-affirmative Care: Moving from Trans Allies To Trans Activists

“Clinical Issues and Affirmative Treatment with Transgender Clients” offers an up-to-date toolkit for clinical use with transgender and gender-diverse clients (TGD). The contributing authors represent diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. We also include a broad range of professional identities and affiliations—social workers, mental health counselors, psychologists, and physicians. Collectively, we embrace a trans-affirmative treatment paradigm that celebrates the broad spectrum of gender identities and the range of treatment options and outcomes. We, the editors of this special issue, are cisgender. Our gender privilege and unearned advantages impact the research and clinical work that we do, and we must stay vigilant to our blindspots and biases. Our TGD colleagues have trained us and many other cisgender people in trans-affirmative care and research so that we do not rely on the trans community to conduct this work alone. Mental health providers must become trans-affirmative in their practice in order to better serve the trans community instead of expecting them to instruct us in their care. As cisgender people, we can move beyond the position of “trans ally” to “trans activist” in the mission to challenge transphobia and recognize that we have gendered identities implicated in and affected by gender-based oppression. While our collective consciousness about gender diversity shifts, and professional clinical guidelines and practices are revised, much work remains. Many clinicians report a lack of confidence, knowledge, and competence in trans-affirmative practice. Empirically supported treatments, longitudinal research, appropriate assessments, and models of clinical decision-making are needed. The U.S. elected administration of 2017 threatens the rights of transgender people, including the support of conversion therapy, limitations to bathroom use, and allowing

“Perpetually Self-Reflective” Lesbian Daughters of Mothers With Severe Mental Illness

Twelve lesbians from various locales throughout the United States were interviewed regarding their experiences as sexual minorities and daughters of mothers with severe mental illness (SMI). Using resiliency and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks, and consensual qualitative research as methodology, we identified six domains: (a) childhood responses to mother’s SMI, (b) childhood/adolescent coping with mother’s SMI, (c) responses of others, (d) managing in adulthood, (e) coming out to self and others, and (f) relating sexual orientation to mother’s SMI. Results show that all participants navigated adulthood by being “perpetually self-reflective.” For many, dealing with their mothers’ SMI gave them coping skills that made coming out much less challenging. For some, their mothers’ SMI made it more difficult to come out to others. Participants discussed the complexly interwoven relation between these sources of marginalization, consistent with intersectionality theory.

Being out: The behavioral language of self-disclosure

Abstract Prior research on self-disclosure of sexual orientation has focused almost exclusively on the assessment of direct verbal self-declaration by gay men, lesbians and bisexual persons. The Behavioral Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (BDQ) was developed to assess behavioral language in the “being out” process. One hundred seventy-seven participants completed the BDQ, the Sexual Orientation Disclosure Scale (SODS; Shachar and Gilbert, 1983), and a modification of the SODS, entitled the Acceptance of Sexual Orientation Disclosure Scale (ASODS). Results indicated that the BDQ was comprised of six factors and the overall scale had excellent internal consistency. Pearson Product-Moment Correlations showed a significant and positive correlation between the BDQ and verbal disclosure as assessed by the SODS.