LGBTQ Clients in Therapy: Clinical Issues and Treatment Strategies

by Joe Kort

All the answers clinicians need to work effectively with LGBTQ clients. A therapist who treats LGBTQ clients often must be more than “gay friendly.” Clinical experience, scientific research, and cultural understanding are advancing rapidly, and the task of being LGBTQ informed is ever-changing in today's world. This book covers topics such as how to avoid making the common mistake of believing that "a couple is a couple," thus treating LGBTQ couples the same as their heterosexual counterparts; how to treat clients struggling in "mixed" orientation marriages and relationships (straight and LGBTQ spouses in the same couple); and how to work with all clients who have non-heteronormative sexual behaviors and practices. Perhaps most importantly, the book discusses covert cultural sexual abuse (the trauma suffered from having to suppress one's own sexual and gender identity) as well as the difficult process of coming out to family and friends.  A therapist's job is to help clients and their identities through their own lens and not anyone else's―especially the therapist's. The gay affirmative principles put forward in this book will help you build a stronger relationship with your LGBTQ clients and become the go-to therapist in your area.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, LGBT, Queer, Counselling, Sexuality

480 pages, Paperback

Published March 20, 2018

Reviews

[Dovilė Stonė · Rating 4 out of 5]

Įdomus skaitinys - iš serijos "pusvalandį paskaitau - dvi valandas diskutuoju" (su įsivaizduojamu autoriumi, savimi arba artimaisiais :D). Knygoje daug klinikinių pavyzdžių ir praktinių patarimų - manau, praverstų su LGBT klientais dirbantiems ar norintiems dirbti kolegoms.

Norint atliepti LGBT klientų poreikius, būtinos specifinės žinios apie, pvz., homoseksualaus vaiko raidą, atsiskleidimo iššūkius, vienalytės poros santykių dinamiką. Kartais gay-friendly kolegos sako, jog "visi mes - žmonės su bendražmogiškais išgyvenimais", bet bijau, kad kartais terapijoje toks požiūris gali būti kontraproduktyvus. Negalime nepaisyti unikalių LGBT žmonių patirčių ir iššūkių, o dirbant su seksualumo temomis kontraperkėlimas gali būti labai galingas ir vos pastebimas. Tuo pat metu. Tokios knygos - gera priemonė praplėsti žinias ir patyrinėti savo vidines nuostatas.

Autorius aptaria daug temų: kultūrinį spaudimą, su kuriuo nuo gimimo susiduria LGBT vaikai, atsiskleidimo etapus, sunkumus, kuriuos patiria LGBT asmenų artimieji, santuoką su hetero partneriais, darbą su paaugliais ir poromis, seksualumo fluidiškumą (ir kuo jis skiriasi nuo biseksualumo), dar užgriebia pornografiją, fetišus, nemonogamiją... seksualinę prievartą... Platokai užsimota.

Visgi stipriausi knygoje - skyriai apie vyrus ir jų seksualumą. Biseksualumo, moterų seksualumo ir ypač translytiškumo skyreliai silpnoki - atrodo, kad jie atskiri, neintegruoti į knygos visumą. Ir šiaiiiiip... greičiausiai siekdamas kuo didesnio aiškumo, autorius gan grubiai pasaulį skirsto į Marsą ir Venerą: "Vyrai tą, moterys aną." Pastebėjimai įdomūs, bet toks skirstymas kartais jau primena šaržą. Atrodo, kad norint sulaužyti vienus stereotipus, kuriami kiti.

Gal yra ir geresnių skaitinių šia tema, bet ir šis - visai vertingas, prieš tai pabarsčius sauja druskos.

Daug ištraukų pasižymėjau vėlesniam referavimui, bet jau ir taip daug pritapšnojau, tai tik viena pasidalinsiu:

Therapists working with LGBTQ clients and their families often apply their knowledge of minority families as a guideline. But that approach is flawed in a number of ways. First, most minority families are a united minority. Members learn how to think and behave as they see themselves mirrored in other family members. Most children of minority families are offered a prejudice-free zone at home, and their parents suggest ways of dealing with discrimination outside the home. Those who are LGBTQ, however, are minorities within their own families. Learning to role-play and pretend—even to themselves—that they are like the rest of their heterosexual and cisgender family contributes to problems for them and their families alike.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very good material for working with gay male clients, but its discussion on all others are pretty limited to (sometimes quite) bad! Little-to-no use of intersectionality, which diminishes the book’s utility. However, it makes some extremely important points which will be hard to find elsewhere (e.g., re. coming out, covert cultural sexual abuse).

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an insightful book about the experiences and psyche of lesbian, gay and, to a certain extent, bisexual individuals. It contains lots of thought-provoking questions that could be useful in therapy and relationships.

However, I felt that it lacked information on the experiences of trans individuals and their partners, especially after transitioning. Given that the 'T' is mentioned in the title, this was disappointing.

[rayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

used this for my honors thesis project 💪🤓‼️

[Gabrielle]

Read for Lifespan Development class. Really really informative and not too jargon heavy. Amazing information for clinicians and still accessible for non-professionals.
My only qualm is that I wish there were more examples with transgender clients throughout the book. There is one chapter specifically about trans clients, but I think overall, the book does not fully address the intersections of being trans and being queer or gay.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

It doesn't happen often that I'm considering buying a book I borrowed from my work library - specifically, up until now it has never happened - but this book talks about a demographic that I, as a bisexual child psychologist who works a lot with queer people, deal with often. This book is rife with tips on how to deal with them, even if you yourself are among the queer people.
This book is very clearly not meant for laymen, as it heavily focuses on the therapist role and I would even be cautious to recommend it to doctors or other people who are in healthcare without being in psychology. But even though this book hits a narrow demographic, it hits it perfectly, and in some ways it even got me thinking about my own relationship.
So, chances are high I'll order this or put it on my wish list just to have it on my bookshelves. The Dutch translation I read (which isn't on Goodreads yet and I'll leave it to someone else to put it on here) was very good too and got some necessary localizations. Do recommend!

[Nata Lie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was easy to read and is helpful for non-therapists as well. The author explains in detail how damaging it can be to stay in the closet for a long time and what effects it might have.
He also explains the differences between sexual fantasies, compulsions and trauma reenactments which I found particularly interesting.

Worth the read!

[Gwenn Mangine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book and I feel like it does a pretty good job of addressing issues in an accessible way. (In other words, it doesn't read like a text book). Because LGBTQ+ language and terminology is rapidly evolving, this is in no way a comprehensive guide, but it is helpful for clinicians to get some overviews of how to work with queer clients.

[Ronald Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very complete and informative

The style is easy to read though the information is of textbook quality. Psychologists can learn much from Kort’s obvious experience and empathy.

[Joye · Rating 5 out of 5]

good!
give me something new