Resources
Trans / nonbinary / gender-expansive Educational Resources for Sharing with Individuals and Families
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CRISIS HOTLINES
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Trans Lifeline: U.S. 877-565-8860, Canada: 877-330-6366 https://www.translifeline.org/
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Trans Lifeline is a national trans-led 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the quality of trans lives by responding to the critical needs of the community with direct service, material support, advocacy, and education. Their vision is to fight the epidemic of trans suicide and improve overall life-outcomes of trans people by facilitating justice-oriented, collective community aid.
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LGBT National Hotline at (888) 843-4564, or connect with a peer via chat. - The LGBT National Help Center will NOT call other suicide hotlines, law enforcement, 911, or rescue services.
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BlackLine is a BIPOC LGBTQ+ support line, run by BIPOC folks, for BIPOC folks. This resource does not involve law enforcement or state agencies. You can call 1 (800) 604-5841 to chat with a peer.
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For folks under 25, you can call the LGBT National Youth Talkline at (800) 246-7743. - The LGBT National Help Center will NOT call other suicide hotlines, law enforcement, 911, or rescue services.
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Adults (folks 18+) can text the THRIVE Lifeline which is trans-led and operated. Text "THRIVE" to (313) 662-8209 to begin your conversation. - THRIVE Lifeline does NOT call emergency services for people that are at risk of harming themselves without their consent.
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https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/contact#crisis has a great list of additional warm lines that do not call the police.
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Care Package - Part of the Trans Agenda for Liberation by the Transgender Law Center: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/carepackage/
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Zine by Tiny Lantern: Helping your friends who sometimes wanna die maybe not die. https://www.tinylantern.net/suicide-intervention-resources A great educational zine about supporting folks who may be thinking about suicide.
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Mypronouns.org: https://www.mypronouns.org/
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This website is an accessible educational website about why pronouns matter (for cisgender people to learn), how to share your pronouns with others, what to do if you make a mistake and mis-pronoun someone, etc. It’s a great link to include in your email signature along with your own pronouns, so anyone who doesn’t know what you mean or why you’re including pronouns in your signature can educate themselves by clicking the link.
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8 Affirmations for Trans Folks Struggling with Pronouns: Another great little blog post about pronouns is on the GLSEN site: https://www.glsen.org/blog/8-affirmations-trans-folks-students-struggling-pronouns
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Nonbinary Educational Resources -- this is a wonderful huge list of resources! https://www.craftordiy.art/nonbinary101
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Educational resources and fact sheets from the Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (Div 44) of the American Psychological Association: https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44/resources
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Trans Student Educational Resources: https://www.transstudent.org/ Trans Student Educational Resources is a youth-led organization dedicated to transforming the educational environment for trans and gender nonconforming students through advocacy and empowerment. In addition to our focus on creating a more trans-friendly education system, our mission is to educate the public and teach trans activists how to be effective organizers. We believe that justice for trans and gender nonconforming youth is contingent on an intersectional framework of activism. Ending oppression is a long-term process that can only be achieved through collaborative action.
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Transwhat? A guide to allyship: https://transwhat.org/confused/
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This is a great accessible website breaking intersex and trans identities down for cis people.
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Genderbread worksheet: https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2018/10/the-genderbread-person-v4/
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This is a worksheet to help people think about how they identify in terms of their body/sex, in terms of their gender identity, their gender expression, and in terms of their sexual orientation (who/what they’re attracted to). You can click on pdf (upper right corner) to get a printable version. If you scroll down the page, there are links for three different versions the author created – “the standard version, the poster version, and the worksheet version.
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The worksheet can be helpful to discuss in therapy, and also clients may find it helpful to use when they explain their identities to family members / friends.
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Trans Youth Family Allies: http://www.imatyfa.org/
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This is a great website with “a wide range of resources for parents, young people, for educators, and for healthcare professionals…Many of our materials are available as PDFs that you may print, distribute or link back to our website."
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For example, under the Parents link, there’s a great FAQ for parents about how to support their trans child.
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ACLU toolkit for trans allies: https://www.aclu-mo.org/en/toolkit-allies
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An excellent educational resource for allies
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PFLAG: PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to the PFLAG network of local chapters. The national website has fantastic resources for parents and families. For example, https://pflag.org/owningyourroletoolkit
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Initiating Hormone Therapy: This is a helpful educational website with in-depth information on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for those seeking to masculinize or feminize physiology (see the menu on the left to click on either category for information): https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines/initiating-hormone-therapy
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Information on health care coverage of surgeries: This is an informative page from the National Center for Trans Equality for trans individuals seeking gender-affirming surgeries and navigating getting it covered by health insurance: https://transequality.org/health-coverage-guide/health-care-provider-letters
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Resilience for trans people: This is a guide written up by trans therapists for trans people, with lots of ideas on how to build and maintain resilience and thriving as a trans person.
Cultural resources for trans individuals
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Qwear Fashion: https://www.qwearfashion.com/
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This is a fun style blog with lots of fantastic queer fashion ideas for all kinds of bodies. A great recommendation for genderqueer/non-binary folks and LGBTQIA people in general.
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TV Shows
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Pose – a poignant and incredibly insightful show about the ballroom community in New York City in the late 1980’s; features many trans characters (played by trans actresses). Season 1 available on Netflix (summer 2020), or can be purchased on other streaming platforms.
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Legendary – this is a new (summer 2020) reality competition show about the current ballroom scene in New York City, featuring several trans women and numerous genderqueer and queer performers. Beautiful artistry and stories.
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Books: there are obviously a plethora of non-fiction and fiction books that are fantastic resources for trans people and their loved ones. This is just a start of a few recommendations; it is important to note that trans experiences are as diverse as trans people. Here is a great website with ALL kinds of book recommendations: https://transreads.org/. Here is an excellent list of books for adults: https://pflag.org/resource/transgender-reading-list-adults.
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Nonfiction
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i. Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman by Leslie Feinberg. As googlebooks says, “In this fascinating, personal journey through history, Leslie Feinberg uncovers persuasive evidence that there have always been people who crossed the cultural boundaries of gender.”
ii. BGD Press -- http://www.bgdblog.org/ -- BGD Press seeks to "amplify the voices of queer and trans people of color!" Their website has lots of links to excellent writing, and of course books (non-fiction and fiction). They have a free summer camp for youth of color in Oakland, CA.
ii. You and Your Gender Identity: A Guide to Discovery by Dara Hoffman-Fox, LPC (2017). This is a great guidebook to exploring gender identity and better understanding & articulating your relationship with your body. Helpful for anyone exploring their own gender identity or for providers supporting trans folks.
v. Transgressive: A Trans Woman on Gender, Feminism, and Politics by Rachel Anne Williams (2019). “How do I know I am trans? Is trans feminism real feminism? What is there to say about trans women's male privilege?” This collection of insightful, pithy and passionately argued think pieces from a trans-feminist perspective explores issues surrounding gender, feminism and philosophy and challenges misconceptions about trans identities.
iv. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity is a 2007 book by gender theorist, biologist, and writer Julia Serano. The book is a transfeminist manifesto which makes the case that transphobia is rooted in sexism and that transgender activism is a feminist movement.
vi. Memoirs
1.Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and The Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein. Part coming-of-age story, part mind-altering manifesto on gender and sexuality, drawn directly from the life experiences of a transsexual woman.
2. Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation edited by Kate Bornstein is a vibrant anthology of transgender and nonbinary-identified people. Features a poetry excerpt by Dr. Kris Gebhard.
3. Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock. In 2011, Marie Claire magazine published a profile of Janet Mock in which she stepped forward for the first time as a trans woman. Those twenty-three hundred words were life-altering for the People.com editor, turning her into an influential and outspoken public figure and a desperately needed voice for an often voiceless community.
4. Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity. Edited by M. Rajunov and A. S. Duane, 2019. An engaging anthology of memoirs by nonbinary-identified individuals.
vi. Poetry
1. Never Coming Home by Tyler Vile
a. Tyler Vile is a queer Jewish trans woman from Baltimore, MD who is physically disabled (she has cerebral palsy) and writes and performs eloquent and profound poetry about her experiences. https://tylervile.wordpress.com/
2. Trans poets of color:
a.Dane Figuroa Edidi (For Black Trans Girls, and many other excellent books). Dane is an incredibly fierce and prophetic artist whose provocative work centers the voices of Black trans ancestors and contemporary resistance. https://ladydanefe.com/
b. J Mase III (And Then I Got Fired)
c. Venus Selenite (She has three works published)
d. Kay Ulanday Barrett (More Than Organs)
e. Xemiyulu Manibusan (Has 3 books published)
f. Kokumo (Reacquainted With Life)
g. Cyree Jarelle Johnson (Sling shot)
h. The spiritual writings of 21 writers in The Black Trans Prayer Book
3. Andrea Gibson is a genderqueer non-binary poet whose work interrogates gender norms and celebrates the resilience of LGBTQ people https://andreagibson.org/
b. Fiction
i. 7 Books by Queer Black Writers to Read in Honor of James Baldwin’s Birthday: https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/books-by-queer-black-authors
iii. Take me there: Trans and genderqueer erotica (2011), edited by Tristan Taormino. This is an anthology of erotic stories written trans and genderqueer people, an excellent way for trans and cis individuals alike to explore creative consensual sexual interactions.
Resources for Providers – on Best Practices for Care for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People
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American Psychological Association Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People
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APA’s Guidelines are strongly recommended reading for any therapists working with transgender and gender-expansive clients: https://www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/transgender.pdf
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WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health)
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WPATH standards of care are internationally viewed as the authority on standards of care for transgender people: https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc
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National Center for Transgender Equality
- The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
- NCTE has many educational resources available: https://transequality.org/
4. Fenway Institute
- Fenway Institute is an FQHC that has a research institute dedicated to providing research-informed training for health centers on gender-affirming care and LGBTQIA+ affirmative care. They have a plethora of training webinars available for free for the public here: https://www.lgbtqiahealtheducation.org/
- For example, here is one on assessing gender dysphoria in preparation of writing a letter for gender affirming surgery and/or hormone replacement therapy: https://fenwayhealth.org/best-practices-for-mental-health-providers-in-providing-gender-affirming-assessments-for-surgery-referral-letters/
5.. Trans Family Allies
- Lots of resources for providers: http://www.imatyfa.org/healthcare.html
6.. Center of Excellence for Transgender Health
- Excellent educational webinars and resources: https://prevention.ucsf.edu/transhealth/education
7. Coursera course on transgender medicine for medical providers
- https://www.coursera.org/learn/transgender-medicine
- This is a free training course online for medical providers on hormone replacement therapy and surgeries for transgender patients.
8. Articles:
Austin, A., & Craig, S. L. (2015). Transgender affirmative cognitive behavioral therapy: Clinical considerations and applications. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 46(1), 21.
9. Books:
Affirmative Counseling and Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender
Nonconforming Clients, edited by A. Singh and l. m. dickey, 2017.
- This a one-stop-shop for mental health providers. Drs. Singh and dickey are leading resilience and strengths-focused researchers and experts on gender-affirmative care.
Trans bodies, trans selves: A resource for the transgender community. Edited by L. Erickson-Schroth, 2014.
- This is a fantastic BIG book that’s great to have in your office as a resource for yourself as well as clients. Has lots of answers to basic 101 questions about bodies and gender transition, and thoughtful research-informed reflections on issues impacting trans communities.
Resources Related to Research
1. US Trans Survey
- The US Trans Survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is the largest cross-sectional study done on trans and gender expansive individuals in the United States.
o The full survey results 2015 survey are here: https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/USTS-Full-Report-FINAL.PDF
- The US Trans Discrimination Survey, also conducted by NTCE, results are here: https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf
2. Butler, G., De Graaf, N., Wren, B., & Carmichael, P. (2018). Assessment and support of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria. Archives of disease in childhood, 103(7), 631-636. https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/103/7/631.full.pdf
3. Israel, T., Gorcheva, R., Walther, W. A., Sulzner, J. M., & Cohen, J. (2008). Therapists' helpful and unhelpful situations with LGBT clients: An exploratory study. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(3), 361–368. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.39.3.361
4. Lambrou, N. H., Cochran, K. M., Everhart, S., Flatt, J. D., Zuelsdorff, M., O'Hara, J. B., ... & Gleason, C. E. (2020). Learning from Transmasculine Experiences with Health Care: Tangible Inlets for Reducing Health Disparities Through Patient–Provider Relationships. Transgender Health, 5(1), 18-32. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7173690/
5. Todd, K., Peitzmeier, S. M., Kattari, S. K., Miller-Perusse, M., Sharma, A., & Stephenson, R. (2019). Demographic and Behavioral Profiles of Nonbinary and Binary Transgender Youth. Transgender health, 4(1), 254-261. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6802728/
6. Pryor, R. E., & Vickroy, W. (2019). “In a Perfect World, You Wouldn't Have to Work the System to Get the Things You Need to Survive”: A Pilot Study About Trans Health Care Possibilities. Transgender health, 4(1), 18-23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6391607/
National Resources for providing care for LGBTQIA+ people
Resources for Clients – Educational Resources for Sharing with Individuals and Families
1. The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a national non-profit that has a 24/7 mental health crisis hotline and numerous resources for LGBTQIA identified youth and their families. Website: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/, 1-866-488-7386
2. The Family Acceptance Project “is a research, intervention, education and policy initiative that works to prevent health and mental health risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) children and youth, including suicide, homelessness, drug use and HIV – in the context of their families, cultures and faith communities. We use a research-based, culturally grounded approach to help ethnically, racially and religiously diverse families learn to support their LGBTQ children.” Their website has LOTS of excellent educational resources geared toward families of LGBTQIA people. Website: https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/publications
3. Fenway Health. “The mission of Fenway Health is to enhance the well-being of the LGBTQIA+ community and all people in our neighborhoods and beyond through access to the highest quality health care, education, research and advocacy.” Fenway Institute’s National LGBT Health Education Center has hosts of accessible research-based educational resources. Website: https://www.lgbthealtheducation.org/
4. LGBT National Help Center: A non-profit, tax – exempt organization that provides vital peer-support, community connections, and resource information to people with questions regarding sexual orientation and / or gender identity. Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people by providing free peer – support and local resources. Includes topics on coming out, relationships, bullying, safer sex, and more.
Includes Online peer – support chat and moderated online talk groups:
LGBT National Youth Talkline (Youth to age 25): 1-800-246-7743
LGBT National Hotline (youth and adults): 1-888-843-4564
LGBT National Senior Hotline (Serving senior callers): 1-888-234-7243
Website: https://www.lgbthotline.org/
5. Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network: The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected, regardless of sexual orientation. We welcome as members any and all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or occupation, who are committed to seeing this philosophy realized in K-12 schools.
Website: www.glsen.org
6. AVEN: Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) hosts the world's largest online asexual community as well as a large archive of resources on asexuality. AVEN strives to create open, honest discussion about asexuality among sexual and asexual people alike. (Unlike celibacy, which is a choice to abstain from sexual activity, asexuality is an intrinsic part of one’s identity, just like other sexual orientations. Asexual people have the same emotional needs as everybody else and are just as capable of forming intimate relationships.)
Website: www.asexuality.org
7. Intersex resources. This is an excellent list of a whole bunch of resources, books, and websites related to experiences of intersex people: http://www.ala.org/rt/sites/ala.org.rt/files/content/professionaltools/IntersexResources.pdf
8. Human Rights Campaign: HRC is a bipartisan organization that works to advance equality based on sexual orientation and gender expression and identity, to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans can be open, honest, and safe at home, at work, and in the community. The Human Rights Campaign provides a national voice on gay and lesbian issues. The Human Rights Campaign effectively lobbies Congress; mobilizes grassroots action in diverse communities; invests strategically to elect a fair-minded Congress; and increases public understanding through innovative education and communication strategies.
Website: www.hrc.org
9. Lambda Legal: Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the transgendered, and people with HIV or AIDS through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Website: http://www.lambdalegal.org
10. National LGBTQ Task Force: National progressive organization working for the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Website: www.thetaskforce.org
11. LGBTQ+ Community and Tobacco: With the added pressure and stress in accordance with fighting for human rights, Big Tobacco has concentrated their efforts on targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
Website: https://vapingdaily.com/support/lgbt-community/
12. LGBTQ Resources for Students: This site has a fantastic list of resources for high school and college students.
Website: https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/lgbtq-student-support/
13. Teaching Tolerance Guide: This is an excellent guide for teachers and school administrators (or parents seeking to pass a resource along).
Website: https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/TT-LGBTQ-Best-Practices-Guide.pdf
14. Lee Beckstead’s guidebooks for LGBTQ people lists a few forthcoming (“mid-2020”) guidebooks that look like they’ll be pretty great. https://findingcongruence.com/
15. Qwear Fashion: https://www.qwearfashion.com/
a. This is a fun style blog with lots of fantastic queer fashion ideas for all kinds of bodies. A great recommendation for genderqueer/non-binary folks and LGBTQIA people in general.
16. Books: as mentioned in the transgender section, there are hundreds (if not thousands) more fantastic books than could even succinctly be mentioned in a resource list. This is just a few recommendations for your own education or that clients might enjoy.
a. Nonfiction
i. Poetry
1. Danez Smith is a delightful and incisive Black queer HIV positive writer and performer from St. Paul, MN http://www.danezsmithpoet.com/bio-encore
2. Jericho Brown is an incredible Black queer poet. His The Tradition won the Pulitzer Prize https://www.jerichobrown.com/
ii. Memoirs
1. This website is a great list of memoirs by rural LGBTQ people: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/17/top-10-queer-rural-books
2. Here’s another list of recently published memoirs: https://www.advocate.com/art/2019/12/30/best-lgbtq-memoirs-2019
b. Fiction
iii. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers – this is a delightful sci-fi novel that includes a diversity of sexual orientations and relationship orientations, interspecies intimacy and romance, very normalized polyamorous relationships (and cultures), and a wide diversity of gender identities and presentations.
iv. Any novels by Octavia Butler – Octavia Butler was a Black woman who wrote incredibly imaginative and poignant speculative fiction pieces with queer undertones throughout, receiving numerous awards for her writing (e.g. Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Locus Award, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant).
Resources for Providers – on Best Practices for Care
1. Tilsen, J. (2013). Therapeutic conversations with queer youth: Transcending homonormativity and constructing preferred identities. Jason Aronson, Incorporated.
- A thoughtful book on how to therapeutically support queer-identified individuals.
2. LGBTQ Theraapists.com has lots of resources here: http://www.lgbtqtherapists.com/
3. Toliver, Z (2016). LGBTQ Healthcare: Building Inclusive Rural Practices. Research-informed article on best care: https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/rural-monitor/lgbtq-healthcare/