Working therapeutically with LGBTI clients: a practice wisdom resource
T
his is one of my favourites. I’ve found it to be a really helpful tool in my workshops about how to create safe spaces for LGBTI-etc people, especially in the context of support work and engaging with someone holistically. In fact I think it’s useful for practitioners in mental health who want to create safe spaces for everyone, not just people from rainbow communities.
It encourages people to look at their own biases and backgrounds, and gives information about minority stress, discrimination, and the extreme diversity of experiences that we have as rainbow community members and service users.
I like that it emphasizes things like “any client could be an LGBTI client” and “the typical LGBTI client does not exist” (page 9).
There are some fantastic quotes from counsellors and practitioners such as New Zealand’s own intersex activist Mani Mitchell.
Mani: “This kind of work requires an exquisite attention to detail, a willingness to learn and make mistakes, to be real, to ask lots of questions and check understandings.”
The pdf of this resource is available here. Or check out http://lgbtihealth.org.au/mindout/ for more information and resources.
