N13

PLAY THERAPY WITH LGBTQ YOUTH: ENHANCING EXPRESSION, IDENTITY, AND TRAUMA RECOVERY

Presenters:  David W. Bond

Abstract Category: Diversity

Instruction Level: Intermediate

Presentation: Not Provided

Description:

This course will provide an overview of contemporary and changing clinical needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and gender/sexuality questioning youth.  Play and art Interventions for fostering self-expression, supportive identity exploration, and recovery from trauma will be presented.

Abstract:

The nature of clinical work with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth has been undergoing a great deal of change over the last ten years.  As the introduction of Lesbian and Gay characters has appeared with increasing frequency in mainstream media, growing up as a sexual minority has taken on very different challenges.  Most mental health professionals have had at least some basic training in working with the LGBTQ population, but with so much change, it is quite a challenge to keep up.  Therapists who utilize play and art techniques in treatment with this population have a unique opportunity to foster self-expression and identity exploration in a safe and healthy way that can capture the often creative side of these youth.  This workshop will seek to enhance those skills by providing modifications to contemporary techniques for trauma treatment that will make them more applicable and effective for work with young LGBTQ individuals and groups.

The instructor will identify current trends and clinical needs of today’s LGBTQ youth, including how being a part of this population alters the trauma experience and recovery process.  A bulk of this presentation will provide play therapy interventions appropriate and effective for LGBTQ youth, as well as address how to modify the students’ more familiar intervention repertoire.

PLAY THERAPY WITH LGBTQ YOUTH

1. What distinctions are to be made? (:45)

   1. Current trends and recent data on sexual minorities

   2. Gender and sexual identity development in the 21^st century

   3. Overview of changing clinical needs and nuances

   4. How trauma recovery is distinct for LQBTQ youth

   5. “Cultural Sensitivity”

   6. Ethics and other issues in communicating needs to parents

2. Altering treatment to make it more applicable and effective for LGBTQ Youth (2:15)

   1. Building a trusting and open therapeutic relationship

   2. Play and art interventions for assessment

   3. Case:  “I wish I was a girl, like my mom”

   4. Play and art interventions for fostering self-expression

   5. Case:  Transgendered teenagers and intimacy

   6. Modifying Play and art interventions for trauma treatment to become more LGBTQ-friendly

                   Learning Outcomes

1)       Demonstrate improved understanding of the changing clinical needs of the LGBTQ population

2)       Implement play therapy techniques appropriate and effective for helping LGBTQ youth explore and accept identity

3)       Modify play and art therapy techniques used in trauma treatment to be more ‘culturally competent’ for LQBTQ youth.

Post-Test/Exam questions (Maximum of 4 questions to test attendees’ understanding of the material)

1)       Why does play have the potential to be such an effective mode of therapeutic work with the LGBTQ population?

2)       What is one way that working with LQBTQ youth who have experienced trauma can differ from working with the non-LGBTQ population?

3)       What can a therapist do to build trust in the therapeutic relationship with LGBTQ teenagers?

4)       Describe a play-based intervention for use in trauma work with LGBTQ Youth