Affirmative Stances in Training Programs Toward Sexual and Gender Minority Clients: Views From Clinical and Counseling Psychology Graduate Students

Despite training recommendations to address mental health disparities among sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, the current state of SGM affirmative training in clinical and counseling doctoral psychology programs remains unclear. The present study surveyed 147 clinical and counseling psyc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of homosexuality 2023-02, Vol.70 (3), p.542-564
Main Authors: Soulliard, Zachary A., Zane, Katherine L., Hughes, Honore M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
affirmative stances
Cisgender
Clients
clinical psychology training
Clinical training
Counseling
Counseling psychology
counseling psychology training
cultural competence
Educational programs
Gender
Gender Identity
Gender inequality
Graduate students
Graduate studies
Health disparities
Heterosexuality
Humans
LGBTQ
LGBTQ-affirmative training
Mental health
Peers
Psychology
Sexual and Gender Minorities
Sexual behavior
Sexual Behavior - psychology
Sexuality
Students
Training
United States
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Despite training recommendations to address mental health disparities among sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, the current state of SGM affirmative training in clinical and counseling doctoral psychology programs remains unclear. The present study surveyed 147 clinical and counseling psychology graduate students in the United States. Participants completed surveys on affirmative training stances in their graduate program for sexual minority clients, gender minority clients, and self-reported perceptions of their attitudes, knowledge, and skills related to SGM clients. Results revealed that current graduate students reported more affirmative stances for sexual minority clients compared to gender minority clients. SGM graduate students reported fewer affirmative stances in their programs for both sexual and gender minority clients compared to their heterosexual cisgender peers. Lastly, SGM identity was a significant predictor of perceived SGM clinical competency beyond years of training, program model, or type of graduate program. Implications for training and future research are discussed.
ISSN:0091-8369
1540-3602
DOI:10.1080/00918369.2021.1993663