From an intersectional lens, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual and gender diverse (LGBTQ+) individuals who are also people of color (POC) are multi-marginalized, experiencing the potential for heterosexism and racism. As a result, LGBTQ+/POC experience multiple minority stressors, which correspond with higher risk for emotion regulation difficulties, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders (English et al., 2018). Historically, clinical psychology has marginalized, pathologized, and excluded both POC and LGBTQ+ individuals. Currently, LGBTQ+/POC continue to experience discrimination in healthcare, leading to decreased access to care, poorer quality of care received, and poorer health outcomes. As such, there is limited access to effective, affirmative mental healthcare and the mental health needs of LGBTQ+/POC are largely unmet. 

In response to APPIC’s call to action, the Stony Brook University Consortium Internship Program (SBU-CIP) has created training resources to aid in the development of clinical competencies for mental health providers and ultimately, to support affirmative mental healthcare for LGBTQ+/POC. To guide the creation of these resources, several initiatives were employed, including (1) a scoping literature review on factors affecting access to and utilization of mental healthcare in LGBTQ+/POC; (2) focus groups with LGBTQ+/POC (N=19) and a thematic analysis of qualitative data; and, (3) video interviews with LGBTQ+/POC (N=5). Data gathered have been combined to create 3 interactive training workshops. These workshops are designed to highlight the lived experiences of LGBTQ+/POC to increase the saliency of learning via experiential, didactics, and group processes. Please see the table below for a description of each workshop. The overall goal of these resources is to provide the relevant knowledge base to increase providers’ understanding of the unique lived experiences of LGBTQ+/POC clients in regard to stressors and access to and utilization of mental healthcare, as well as increase their preparedness for providing affirming care. These training resources are subject to change as they are piloted with training cohorts.

To provide feedback about these training resources, please contact dina.vivian@stonybrook.edu and adam.gonzalez@stonybrookmedicine.edu

Interactive Workshops for Providing Affirming Mental Healthcare to LGBTQ+/POC