Indiana Psychological Association News

PsychByte: Microaggressions in Clinical Practice with Transgender Clients

Microaggressions in Clinical Practice with Transgender Clients

Research on the concept of microaggressions is a growing trend in the psychology literature.  One recent example comes from a study published in June 2016 in the journal Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity , which explored microaggressions experienced by transgender individuals in the context of mental health treatment.  The study's authors address the negative experiences of transgender and gender nonconforming clients who are participating in psychotherapy, focusing on the unintentional missteps made by therapists in their work with this population.  This qualitative study involved interviews with 45 transgender/gender nonconforming participants, uncovering eight different themes of microaggressive communications made by therapists that had a detrimental impact on the course of treatment.  Examples of these include "education burdening," in which the therapist expects the client to educate them about transgender issues rather than pursuing their own learning on the subject, "gender generalizing," where the clinician assumes there is a universal transgender experience that does not recognize individual variability, and "gender repairing," when the therapist conducts treatment as if a client's transgender identity is a problem to be fixed.
 
Reference:
Mizock, L. & Lundquist, C. (2016). Missteps in psychotherapy with transgender clients: Promoting gender sensitivity in counseling and psychological practice. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3, 148-155.
 
Contributor:
Stephanie J. Cunningham, Ph.D., HSPP
Senior Staff Psychologist, Outreach & Training Coordinator
University of Southern Indiana - Counseling Cent
  "PsychBytes” is a weekly educational resource from the Indiana Psychological Association (IPA) provided for psychologists, their colleagues and their patients.