Summary
Among the vulnerable populations in our society, transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals often have among the poorest outcomes, with alarming rates of suicide, mental health concerns, relational issues, substance abuse and victimization. A key moderator of these outcomes is family acceptance and support. Unfortunately, many TGD folx, particularly those in conservative Christian religions, do not receive the acceptance and support that could make such a difference. Using interviews with parents who identify as belonging to a conservative Christian religion and have TGD children, this grounded-theory qualitative study was conducted to understand parents’ experiences in coming to accept a TGD child. The Transgender Relationship Adjustment Model, which emerged from this research, provides parents, educators, clinicians and researchers a framework for understanding the factors that appear to affect parents’ acceptance and support of their TGD children and the process that parents work through in coming to a place of acceptance.

Objectives

• Identify barriers LDS parents experience to accepting a children when they come out as transgender.
• Understand the process of how LDS parents move from being unaccepting towards accepting and supporting a transgender child.
• Highlight the voices and lived experiences of religiously conservative parents in coming to accept a gender diverse child.

Subject Codes: gender identity, family processes, spirituality
Population Codes: transgender, trans*, Latter-Day Saints (Mormon),
Method and Approach Codes: qualitative methodology, grounded theory, narrative

Summary
The concept of religion is a complex topic for therapists to address with their clients, as the relationship between individuals and their faith is contextualized by both personal and societal beliefs and values. Those who identify with a marginalized gender identity and/or sexual orientation experience further complexities resulting from family systems and social expectations that shape the meaning and purpose of religion, faith, and spirituality. Although previous research has addressed the complexity of religion within this demographic, few have explored how religiosity shifts over a lifetime. We analyzed life-story narratives from 18 LGBTQ older adults, which lead to the development of a conceptual map depicting potential pathways of religious involvement, spanning childhood to older adulthood. We conclude with clinical considerations for therapists that underscore the importance of including sociohistorical contexts that influence personal meaning regarding religion, faith, and spirituality within the therapy process with LGBTQ older adults.

Objectives

• To evaluate the assumptions, we hold that shape our understanding of LGBTQ individuals’ relationships to religion and spirituality.
• To utilize self-of-the-therapist strategies to explore religious biases and heteronormative and cisnormative assumptions.
• To demonstrate an understanding of how CFTs can engage LGBTQ clients in discussions about religious harm, as well as explore how religiosity and spirituality can be a source of resilience and support.

Subject Codes: spirituality, cisnormativity, heteronormativity
Population Codes: LGB+, transgender, trans*, religious/religiosity
Method and Approach Codes: family therapy, lifespan development, qualitative methodology

Summary
Scholars continue to find mental health providers report a lack of knowledge to work effectively with the transgender and non-binary (TGNB) population. To address this gap, a cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used to examine students' and faculty'sperceived clinical competency and perceived TGNB affirmative training in their clinical graduate program. Non-parametric tests were conducted to examine mean score differences in clinical competency and affirmative training across national accredited mental health clinical graduate programs. Path analyses were conducted to examine associations between competency and training. Across accredited programs, students and faculty reported both limited clinical competency and TGNB affirmative training. Affirmative training and clinical competency were positively associated for students and faculty. As accredited programs seek to embrace multiculturalism more education is needed to address the lack of clinical competency and training to better support the TGNB community. These findings substantiate scholar's recommendations for inclusion of TGNB in clinical training curricula.

Objectives

• To assess students' perceived level of clinical competency and TGNB affirmative training across accredited clinical graduate programs.
• To analyze faculty's perceived level of clinical competency and TGNB affirmative training across accredited clinical graduate programs.
• To demonstrate the need for TGNB related curricula in clinical graduate programs.

Subject Codes: cultural competence, education, gender identity
Population Codes: marriage and family therapists/clinicians, graduate students, educators
Method and Approach Codes: quantitative methodology, advocacy, social justice

Summary
When family therapists report an unwillingness to work with LGB clients or negative attitudes towards LGB communities they frequently cite their own religious beliefs. Given that pastors are seen as authorities on religious traditions and ideology, this qualitative study sought to explore how Christian pastors work with LGB individuals and their families in hopes of providing new insight to family therapists about how to approach their own clinical work. Additionally, this study explored how pastors’ approaches to working with LGB individuals and their families varied based on the degree to which a family was accepting or rejecting of their LGB family member. Twenty-one pastors who were leading Mainline Protestant Christian congregations (e.g., Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal) were interviewed. Thematic analysis identified a number of themes and subthemes about how to work with families with an LGB member and the impact of acceptance and rejection. Clinical implications will be discussed.

Objectives

• To utilize experiences from LGB affirmative pastors to improve their competency to work with LGB clients.
• To utilize self-of-the-therapist strategies to explore their own potential religious biases and heteronormative assumptions.
• To better utilize pastors and religious communities as a resource for LGB clients.

Subject Codes: spirituality, heteronormativity,
Population Codes: LGB+, Protestant,
Method and Approach Codes: qualitative methodology, thematic analysis, social justice