This webinar is being hosted on Zoom. The link to the Zoom meeting will be included in your order confirmation email from Eventbrite.

This live course offers 1.5 APA CE credits for Psychologists, 1.5 BBS California CEUs for Licensed Counselors, Social Workers or Marriage and Family Therapists, or 1.5 NBCC Clock Hours.

About This Event

The purpose of this presentation is to understand the multiple cultural identities and needs of parents who identify as sexual and gender minorities to ensure affirming client care. Participants will understand how past relationship and familial traumatic experiences, feelings of oppression, and privilege have shaped parent’s development as a person and as a parent. Sexual and gender minority parents find it tough to rely on social support. Feeling connected to others is important for one’s overall well-being, self-esteem, and health. Family relationships, friendships with other parents, and ties to a community group that encourage good parenting contribute to quality of parenting. It is crucial for sexual and gender minority parents to develop a support network.

The challenges that they face when deciding to become parents include less than enthusiastic family members who dredge up concerns about what it would look like and the challenges the child will encounter, as well as care professionals who entrench this choice with heterosexism, hostility, and a lack of support. To meet the dynamic needs of this group, the clinical community must prepare and equip ourselves through training and skills development. This presentation meets this goal by providing opportunities for growth and development by providing information, strategies/interventions, sharing new research, and practicing with clinical case studies.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of this program participants will be able to:

1. Identify the challenges and needs of LGBTQ+ identifying families.

2. Develop an understanding of allyship, how to become an ally, and how to advocate in support of LGBTQ+ families.

3. Apply their working knowledge of interventions, strategies, and resources for the promotion of wellness within LGBTQ+ families.

Speaker:

Dr. Veronica M. Wanzer, aka, Dr. V, a native New Yorker, has served as a counselor and clinical supervisor in Maryland for ten+ years. In 2018, Dr. V graduated with a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from Walden University. Her dissertation focused on counselor competence with gender diverse clients. Immediately following graduation, she continued her journey as a counselor educator teaching in both Online and traditional Master’s-level counseling programs across the country, engaging with counseling students worldwide! Dr. V’s research interests include issues of social justice, counselor competence, and counselor professional identity. To disseminate this work, Dr. V presents at various counseling and interdisciplinary conferences on a yearly basis, including the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities national conferences. She is currently engaged in various innovative research, social change projects, and publication efforts focused on social change and counseling at an international level. She published her first peer-reviewed article in the Journal of LGBTQ Issues in Counseling. In 2020-2021, Dr. V’s served as President of the Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities, engaging in social change and service efforts to support the LGBTQ+ clinical community. In this role, Dr. V works with the SAIGE-MD board and members to move forward legislation and regulations that affirm and validate the existence and needs of the LGBTQ+ community in the realm of counseling.

Program Standards and Goals

This program meets APA’s continuing education Standard 1.1: Program content focuses on application of psychological assessment and/or intervention methods that have overall consistent and credible empirical support in the contemporary peer reviewed scientific literature beyond those publications and other types of communications devoted primarily to the promotion of the approach.

This program meets APA’s continuing education Goal 1: Program is relevant to psychological practice, education, and/or science.

References

American Counseling Association [ACA]. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Apperson, J. M., Blincoe, S., & Sudlow, J. L. (2015). An exploratory study of young adults’ attitudes toward parental disclosure of LGBT identity. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2(4), 492-496.

Boggis, T. (2012). The real modern family … can be real complicated. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 16(4), 353-360. doi: 10.1080/19359705.2012.703526

Borden, K. A. (2014). When family members identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual: Parent-child relationships. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(4), 219-220. doi: 10.1037/a0037612

Chung, Y. B., Szymanski, D. M., & Markle, E. (2012). Sexual orientation and sexual identity: Theory, research, and practice. In N. A. Fouad, J. A. Carter, & L. M. Subich. APA handbook of counseling psychology, vol I. Theories, research, and methods (pp. 423-451). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Eggebeen, D. J. (2012). What can we learn from studies of children raised by gay or lesbian parents? Social Science Research, 41(4), 775-778. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.04.008

Few-Demo, A. L., Humble, A. M., Curran, M. A., & Lloyd, S. A. (2016). Queer theory, intersectionality, and LGBT-parent families: Transformative critical pedagogy in family theory. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8, 74-94. doi: 10.1111/jftr.12127

Gates, G. J. (2015). Marriage and family: LGBT individuals and same-sex couples. Future of Children, 25(2), 67-87.

Goldberg, A. E., Kinkler, L. A., Moyer, A. M., & Weber, E. (2014). Intimate relationship challenges in early parenthood among lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples adopting via the child welfare system. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(4), 221-230. doi: 10.1037/a0037443

Goldberg, A. E., Sweeney, K., Black, K., & Moyer, A. (2016). Lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents’ socialization approaches to children’s minority statuses. The Counseling Psychologist, 44(2), 267-299. doi:10.1177/0011000015628055

Goodman, R. D. (2013). The transgenerational trauma and resilience genogram. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 26(3-4), 386- 405. doi:10.1080/09515070.2013.820172

Oakley, M., Farr, R. H., & Scherer, D. G. (2017). Same-sex parent socialization: Understanding gay and lesbian parenting practices as cultural socialization. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 13(1), 56-75. doi: 10.1080/1550428X.2016.1158685

Oswald, R. A. (2016). Theorizing LGBT-parent families: An introduction to the special collection. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8, 7-9. doi: 10.1111/jftr.12128

Power, J., Schofield, M. J., Farchione, D., Perlesz, A., McNair, R., Brown, R., . . . & Bickerdike, A. (2015). Psychological wellbeing among same-sex attracted and heterosexual parents: Role of connectedness to family and friendship networks. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 36, 380-394. doi: 10.1002/anzf.1109

Zazzarino, A., Kirkland, V., & Thompson, J. (2020). Addressing blended family and trauma issues with sexual and gender minority parents. In J. Whitman, & C. Boyd. The therapist’s notebook for sexual and gender identity diverse clients: Homework, handouts, and activities for use in counseling, training, and psychotherapy. New York, NY: Harrington Park Press.

Registration and Fees

Chicago School Faculty, Students, and Alumni: Free (Chicago School email required for free registration)

Community Members: $15.00

Potential Students Only (*No CEUs Provided*)

All funds raised through this workshop will benefit The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Washington DC Campus Counseling Department Scholarship Program.

Refund Policy: 100% of tuition is refundable up to 48 hours before the program. Within 48 hours of the program, tuition is nonrefundable.

Continuing Education

Target Audience: Professionals from all mental health disciplines and graduate students from all mental health disciplines.

Psychologists. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in its continuing education activities. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is also committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between the CE Sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants, or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest.

MFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs. Course meets the qualifications for continuing education credit for MFTs, LPCCs, and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. If you are licensed outside of California please check with your local licensing agency to determine if they will accept these CEUs. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to offer continuing education programming for MFTs, LPCCs, LEPs, and/or LCSWs. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is an accredited or approved postsecondary institution that meets the requirements set forth in Sections 4980.54(f)(1), 4989.34, 4996.22(d)(1), or 4999.76(d) of the Code.

Participation Certificate. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is able to provide students and other participants who simply wish to have documentation of their attendance at the program a participation certificate.

Non Psychologists. Most licensing boards accept Continuing Education Credits sponsored by the American Psychological Association but non-psychologists are recommended to consult with their specific state-licensing board to ensure that APA-sponsored CE is acceptable.

Participants must attend 100% of the program, and pass a brief comprehension quiz, in order to obtain a Certificate of Attendance.

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Washington DC Campus has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 3061. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content.