Theodore R. Burnes

Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling Competencies for Counseling with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Ally Individuals

This document is intended to provide counseling and related professionals with competencies for working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex, questioning and ally (LGBQIQA) individuals, groups, and communities. Those who train, supervise, and/or educate counselors may also use these competencies as a framework for training, practice, research, and advocacy within the counseling profession to facilitate trainee growth toward LGBQIQA competence. Transgender people are not addressed in this document as the document American Counseling Association’s (ACA) Competencies for Counseling with Transgender Clients (2010) specifically addresses counseling with these individuals. The aim of these competencies is to provide a framework for creating safe, supportive, and caring relationships with LGBQIQA individuals, groups, and communities that foster self-acceptance and personal, social, emotional, and relational development. The current competencies are geared toward working with adult individuals, groups, and communities, and though much

Multicultural Clinical Supervision and Benchmarks Empirical Support Informing Practice and Supervisor Training

The purpose of this Major Contribution is to provide background knowledge and context for competency-based clinical supervision and to showcase a diversity of methodologically sound empirical approaches to study effective supervision, including multiculturally competent supervision, and comparative perspectives on supervision cross-culturally. The intent is to begin to provide the empirical data necessary to assist the supervisor in supporting supervisees’ development of the benchmark competencies and to provide direction for future training of supervisors. Specifically, the articles in this major contribution address competencies in clinical supervision and the Competency Benchmarks on three pivotal topics: empirical support defining effective supervision, innovative empirically based approaches to cross-cultural and international supervision, and an empirical analysis of feminist supervision in a multiculturally diverse group context. Each of the articles addresses particular Competency Benchmarks and provides prototypical models of rigorous research procedures to inform the practice of multicultural supervision and training of supervisors, and implications.

Shifting the Counselor Role from Gatekeeping to Advocacy: Ten Strategies for Using the Competencies for Counseling with Transgender Clients for Individual and Social Change

In this article, the editors of the Special Issue of the Journal of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling on Counseling Competency with Transgender Clients summarize the themes of the articles within the special issue. The authors then discuss the future implications of these themes for counseling supervision and training, practice, research, and advocacy. Included in this discussion is a review of the areas of important focus that were “missing” in the Special Issue and how the counseling field may address these gaps in the literature. The article concludes with a list of 10 critical “next steps” for the counseling profession to take to ensure the American Counseling Associations Competencies for Counseling with Transgender Clients develop a transgender-positive counseling environment.

Lost in Trans-Lation: Interpreting Systems of Trauma for Transgender Clients

Transgender clients frequently experience multiple types of violence (Mizock & Lewis, 2008), including interpersonal (violence that occurs between, at least, two people), self-directed (violence that is self-inflicted), and collective (violence that is inflicted by larger groups of people/institutions; Krug et al., 2002). Transgender clients who experience any of these types of violence are at a higher risk for developing psychiatric symptoms that may require the attention of a mental health care provider (Mizock & Lewis, 2008). Thus, it is crucial that clinicians understand how transgender clients respond to such violence and how these reactions relate to the clinical needs of transgender clients (Lev, 2004). In this article, we will summarize and cluster the types of violence that have been documented in the transgender literature. We will then highlight PTSD and complex PTSD as conceptual frameworks for working with transgender clients. Furthermore, we will examine how the binary notion of gender ignor...

An Investigation of Process Variables in Feminist Group Clinical Supervision

Using a qualitative research design, this study investigated how three supervision groups, each led by a counseling supervisor with a feminist theoretical orientation, understood process variables of feminist group supervision. Participants each completed one semi-structured individual interview and engaged in one of three respective focus groups to talk about their experiences in group supervision. Data from these interviews were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory; standards of trustworthiness were accounted for using multiple tools. A supervision model emerged from the data, representing various clusters of process variables that affected how the participants understood the process and outcome of their supervision experiences. Implications of the model on theory, research, practice, and advocacy are discussed.

Sexual Identity Development of Female-to-Male Transgender Individuals: A Grounded Theory Inquiry

This study is a grounded theory study of the sexual identity development of 11 female-to-male (FTM) transgender people. Data collection included semistructured interviews with participants. A three-member research team conducted axial and selective coding to identify salient interactions between participants’ gender identity and sexual identity development. A model of these interactions is provided, in addition to thick descriptions of participant voices. The model describes the antecedents and consequences of sexual identity development. This includes the interactions between sexual identity and gender identity. Implications for research and theory are discussed.

Feminist Participatory Action Research with Transgender Communities: Fostering the Practice of Ethical and Empowering Research Designs

ABSTRACT Research on topics related to transgender people in psychology has gradually increased over the last 2 decades, with a noted increase in scholarship over the last 5 years (Bockting & Coleman, 2007; DeSutter, Kira, Verschoor, & Hotimsky, 2002; Devor, 2004). However, there has been less attention to the use of participatory action research (PAR) frameworks with transgender people and communities. This article proposes specific strategies for feminist researchers engaging in PAR studies with transgender people and communities that are grounded in feminist theory. These strategies are summarized in a checklist that feminist researchers may use throughout the duration of a studys activities with transgender individuals and communities.

Graduate Counseling Psychology Training in Sex and Sexuality: An Exploratory Analysis:

In this manuscript, we explore the need for inclusion of sex-positivity training in counseling psychology doctoral program curricula. We surveyed 25 counseling psychology doctoral program administrators throughout the United States and asked about the inclusion of human sexuality coursework and training opportunities as well as sex positivity within their curricula. We report our findings, noting the number of programs that include human sexuality coursework, incorporate sex positivity, discuss sex positivity, and discuss sex positivity from a multicultural lens. The implications of these findings for research, practice, training, and advocacy within counseling psychology are discussed.

Sex Positivity and Counseling Psychology: An Introduction to the Major Contribution ψ

In this introduction article to the Major Contribution on sex positivity in counseling psychology, we define sex positivity and its intersections with counseling psychology’s framework of social justice, wellness, and resilience. We describe related foundational aspects of sex positivity that counseling psychologists may integrate into their research and training, theory, and practice. Following this introductory article, the authors of four subsequent manuscripts in this Major Contribution focus on (a) the history of sex positivity in counseling and psychology, (b) training and supervision related to sex positivity in counseling psychology programs, (c) research on sex positivity within counseling psychology, and (d) clinical practice implications of sex positivity in counseling psychology.

Response to Reactions to Major Contribution: Multicultural Clinical Supervision and Benchmarks

The authors responded to the commentaries on the Major Contribution, “Multicultural Clinical Supervision and Benchmarks: Empirical Support Informing Practice and Supervisor Training.” The commentaries provided a structure of consensus, critical questions, and requests for additional elaboration. The commentators advocated for the urgent need to move forward translating clinical supervision, a distinct professional competency, directly into training and practice in the United States. They also agreed on the essential multicultural framework and the imperative for empirical research to provide validation for the Competency Benchmarks as a developmental training schema. The authors also provided responses with regard to future directions for supervision and training parameters.