MN LGBT Therapists Network News
September 2014

25+ years of LGBT-friendly mental health networking
vol. VII, Issue 2

The Latest

LGBT Therapists Outing to see Psych 101 show
LGBT Therapists outing:  
Friday October 10 - Meet for 5:30pm dinner and/or 7pm show
Members responsible for their own reservations, ticket purchases and dinner
show run:  September 26 - October 11
Bryant Lake Bowl - Minneapolis
tickets $15; $12 in advance or with a Fringe button
advanced priced tickets on sale now
Remember how we cackled at Cabaret 88 - our 25th anniversary celebration - when Jim Robinson & Table Salt took to the stage?   Well now  together we can see their new show Psych 101:
Better than seeing a therapist, and cheaper too!  The writing on the wall is telling us that the future of education is online. But one professor refuses to accept it! Come join Jim Robinson as he makes one last-ditch attempt to stem the rising tide - in Psych 101!  You, the audience, are also the students, along with perennial Table Salt favorites Joshua Will, Michelle Cassioppi, Rachael Flanery and Dennis Curley. Sing along with the songs, laugh along with the sketches, and take an entire semester of Psych 101 in just 90 minutes (complete with midterm and final)!
LGBT Therapists  hopes to see you there October 10, but if you can't make it, we hope you'll see the show another night.

Maybe Baby
Oct 20 for four weeks - 6-8pm - free!
Central Twin Cities location
registration
Maybe Baby, a four-week workshop for GLBT folks considering parenthood, is half speakers and half exercises to determine parental interest and readiness. In its third year, Maybe Baby is always informative and fun! The series is free, but participants must register at the Family Equality Council website. Feel free to call LGBT Therapists member Trisha Falvey with questions. ( 612 ) 419-8764  website

NAMIWalks ~ 8th Annual
April 12 - 11 am - 9 pm
Saturday September 27th
Use our hashtag when talking about this year's NAMIWalks! #MotivateChange2014
Register  at www.namiwalks.org/minnesota
Why We Need NAMIWalks...
Did you know that 75% of NAMIWalks funds are raised by our walkers? Here's how the proceeds of NAMIWalks will be used to:

• Provide free education classes to families across the state of Minnesota
  
• Facilitate support groups for people with mental illnesses and their families
  
• Conduct an anti-stigma campaign
  
• Advocate for improved education, employment, housing and community services
  
• Promote resiliency and recovery for children and adults with mental illnesses
  

Transgender Cultural Competency Training for Psychotherapists
Full Day Training
Friday, October 24th, 2014
8:30-4:30pm
Monthly Training/Consultation Meetings
2nd Friday of Every Month 1-3pm
Nov. 14th, 2014 through June 15th, 2015
The Family Partnership - Minneapolis, MN
flyer  -   application  -  website

From LGBT Therapists member Xavier Schmitz:
Greeting Fellow Psychotherapists!  I am excited to announce the launch of the Transgender Cultural Competency Training Program sponsored by The Family Partnership and a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The training is open to all psychotherapists practicing in Minnesota who desire to increase their skills to work effectively with transgender clients. (Unfortunately, the program is unable to accommodate graduate students.) The program provides up to 22 CEUs for a total program fee of $50. See attached flyer and application for details.
The training is aimed at working with adult transgender clients and their loved ones, though a developmental lense will be used. The program consists of one full-day training, followed by eight 2-hour monthly training and consultation sessions. For the two hours sessions, out-state therapists have the option of participating via videoconferencing technology (similar to Skype).
Even if you are not aware of having previously worked with a transgender client, you are increasingly likely to in the course of your career. Minnesota has a large transgender population with a limited number of therapists trained to provide culturally informed services. Your participation in this training will help to meet the needs of this community and fill this service gap.
While having a transgender identity is both valid and healthy; the combination of gender dysphoria and minority stress experienced by many in the community, puts transgender people at significant risk for mental health issues. In fact, the stressors are so significant that the 2013 National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that 41% of the respondents had attempted suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population. For trans people who are members of multiple minority groups, e.g. trans and Latina, trans and differently abled, the stressors are compounded. As the transgender community is becoming more organized, visible, and empowered, increasing numbers of trans clients are seeking culturally informed and competent providers.
Whether you have experience working with transgender clients or are just beginning to learn what transgender means, I invite you to consider participating in the training, which will be geared toward the beginning to intermediate level.
This training will provide you with the foundational skills to work through conscious and unconscious anxieties about working with trans people and emerge with increased understanding and confidence to provide competent therapy to transgender clients. The follow are the specific skills you will learn.

Learning Objectives - participants will:

• Increase knowledge of standard and evolving terminology related to transgender identities.
  
• Increase awareness of how therapists’ identities impact the therapeutic relationship with transgender clients.
  
• Increase awareness of how other social identities such as race and class intersect with gender identity and impact transgender clients’ lived experiences.
  
• Increase knowledge of the mental health community’s historical pattern of pathologizing and gatekeeping transgender clients.
  
• Learn strategies to honor clients’ self-determination to express their authentic gender identities through the use of Informed Consent and World Professional Association of Transgender Health Care Standards of Care approaches.
  
• Learn skills to complete a psychosocial assessment inclusive of gender identity and gender goals.
  
• Learn common stages of Transgender Identity Development and the associated therapeutic tasks.
  
• Learn skills to facilitate access to social, medical, and legal resources for transgender people through letter writing, referrals, and advocacy.
  

Community

Free Makeup and Skincare Classes for the Transgender Population

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