Contextual Behavioral Approaches to Reducing Minority Stress

Contextual Behavioral Approaches to Reducing Minority Stress Among Sexual and Gender Minority Clients

This recorded webinar was featured at the 2021 ADAA Virtual Conference Resilience and Recovery: From Research to Practice. This webinar is part of a series of select recorded conference sessions which will be available on-demand.

This webinar focuses on issues of interest to the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.

Despite incredible advances in the science of psychological distress among gender minority (i.e., transgender and gender non-conforming; TGNC) and sexual minority (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual) clients (Pachankis, 2018), changes in treatment have lagged. Historically, randomized clinical trials have rarely reported the sexual orientation or gender identities of participants (Heck, 2017), and some studies suggest that limitations may exist in non-adapted treatment protocols that may reduce treatment efficacy with some sexual and gender minority clients experiencing minority stress (e.g., Beard et al., 2017). Findings identifying and highlighting transdiagnostic targets that are broadly beneficial to sexual and gender minority (SGM) clients can be better incorporated into current treatment practices (e.g., Hatzenbuehler, 2009; Pachankis et al., 2015; Cohen et al., 2016).

This workshop emphasizes contextual behavioral techniques that take advantage of research on minority stress, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationships. The workshop incorporates both theoretical and experiential work. Moving through life as a gender or sexual minority often entails some period of secrecy, guardedness, shame, and familial ruptures. This workshop explores the therapeutic techniques that tackle these concerns, and the role of the clinical relationship within this therapies to enhance outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants learn how minority stress affects psychological distress among SGM clients.
2. Participants understand how to incorporate minority stress into case conceptualizations.
3. Participants improve understanding of how their own comfort around sexuality affects the treatment process.

Registration for the 2022 ADAA Conference in Denver March 17-20, 2022 is now open.

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