About this deal
Many therapists admitted to feeling out of their depth and, due to the political climate, were nervous of missteps or getting things wrong: ‘I know my heart would be to support them in any way I could, but I can be clunky with words. I just don’t want to accidentally do harm.’ Shame at being ill-equipped was a big factor in many responses, along with a desire to rectify this: ‘A bit nervous, shows up my ignorance, I feel I can’t keep up with all the new thinking on this. It made me feel like an incompetent professional.’ We have committed to evidencing tangible actions – such as a toolkit to help improve training and a pilot grants scheme. Cavnar, C. (2018, November 15). Can psychedelics “cure” gay people? Chacruna. https://chacruna.net/can-psychedelics-cure-gay-people/#fn-9073-5 Idiosyncratic meaning-making processes involving cultural symbolism and metaphor are also common features of psychedelic healing processes in MDMA-assisted therapy ( Ching, 2020; Williams et al., 2020). Therefore, clinicians may encourage participants to bring personally significant objects that symbolize self-acceptance to the dosing sessions. Clinicians may similarly consider working collaboratively with participants regarding the music used during dosing sessions to further affirm queer identities. For example, given the invalidating and potentially traumatic experiences many queer individuals have with religious institutions, the overtly religious music sometimes used in psychedelic dosing sessions can be triggering and undo the safe container. Having queer participants hear and vet samples of intended music playlists may be a queer-affirming means of therapeutic collaboration. Much of this work was carried out amid the challenges of COVID-19, remote working and what felt like constantly changing restrictions.
In this volume, editor and psychotherapist Jane C. Czyzselska speaks with practitioners and clients from diverse modalities and lived experiences, exploring and rethinking some of the unique challenges encountered in a world that continues to marginalize queer lives.
Table of Contents
The sheer level of activity carried out in the past 12 months by our staff and members has been phenomenal. We can see the positive impact of this work in many areas and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the achievements listed. You are the former editor of DIVA magazine, which serves LGBTQIA women and non-binary readers. Would you mind sharing theprocess of how you made the transition from journalism to becoming a therapist? And how you queered the practice for yourself, or others?
Another queering practice of this book is that there isn’t the usual control of the editor’s agenda other than reflecting on non-normative thinking and practice in a variety of therapeutic situations and considerations. So, in some cases I suggested topics participants may want to talk about, while others brought their own preferred talking points. Our Association continues to lead and influence the profession, as well as supporting our members, and we are delivering or have delivered against the goals and objectives in this, the final year of our strategy. As a Psychotherapist part of my role is to support people to anchor themselves in what they feel is important, and maintain a sense of their truth when difficulties in mental health mean who we are takes up less space, and aspects of our selves are less enjoyable. This means making more space for our gender, and sexuality (and how these are expressed in ways that are meaningful to each person) in the process of re-integration of our selves, and our place in the world. Ratts, M. J. (2009). Social justice counseling: Toward the development of a fifth force among counseling paradigms. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 48(2), 160–172. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1939.2009.tb00076.x.We’ve planned our return to face-to-face events after a two-year absence, and there’s been a recognition of some positives of virtual events. Some of these aspects have been incorporated into how we plan and deliver conferences and workshops from now on. So, some of the contributors have years of professional experience and some are trainees. Not all the contributors are therapists, so it’s a real breadth of insight and experience. In terms of the themes explored in the book, I stayed clear of medical model diagnostic categories such as anxiety and depression and instead asked contributors what they wanted to speak about. As editor I tried to make the whole process as queer and collaborative as possible. Holding Uncertainty so that it can be Thought About: Relational Gestalt Therapy with Gender Creative Children