Pink Therapy

Pink Therapy News
Keeping YOU in the Frame
January 2010
In This Issue
Introduction to Psychosexual Therapy
Supervision of Sexual Minority Therapy
Managing Change
PACE Survey
Health Champions Programme
Placement at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic
Queer Triangles
Florin Murarui
Jack Holroyde
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Greetings!

Dominic DaviesDear Colleagues

Happy New Year!

My apologies for the slightly late arrival of this edition of the Newsletter.  We generally try to get them out at the beginning of each month, but I guess many of us were preoccupied with celebrating the commencement of new decade!

This is certainly going to be another year of growth and development for Pink Therapy, although we not be in a favourable economic climate to be expanding especially into the Third Sector, we are confident that we have a very unique contribution to make.

We shall be continuing to innovate and lead the way, in improving the therapeutic support for gender and sexual minority clients.  This year we are also aiming to increase our involvement in International Relations with a week long intensive Summer School aimed at therapists working abroad often in very isolating circumstances and with no formal training.  We're adapting our 3 weekend Essentials in Sexual Minority Therapy whose next intake will be in April to be run over a week in July and is open only to therapists working abroad.  Please feel free to pass the word out to your colleagues overseas.

We also have some spare capacity in our Soho based office if you were looking for a Central London consulting room.  Our smaller therapy room is comfortable and simply furnished with no gay identifying features and so  is suitable for a mixed practice.  We have availability Mon-Thur 1-5pm and Thursday evening 5.30-9.30pm. Contact me for more information.

Dominic Davies

Director
Introduction to Psychosexual Therapy
Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th February 2010

circle of chairs Now in it's fifth year, this two day workshop provides an introduction to some of the key issues in working therapeutically with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients with psychosexual concerns, as well as clients involved in Kink/BDSM practices.

The workshop will cover current models of sexual response, the classification of sexual difficulties and a brief review of the literature and then explore some of the implicit assumptions in these hetero-normative models.

By widening our understanding of sex, sexuality and sexual difficulties we will give workshop participants an opportunity to explore some of the multiple contexts (sexuality, gender, age, ethnicity, culture, religion etc) that shape both clinicians and clients views of sexual difficulties and diverse sexual practices.
We will then move on to interactive exercises with the aim of helping participants develop practical skills in assessment and therapeutic interventions with individual clients and couples.

We hope that by the end of the two days, participants will feel a greater sense of confidence in incorporating discussions of sex and sexual functioning into their general clinical work and/or developing their psychosexual therapy.

Click here to find out more and see how previous participants rated the course.

Supervision of Sexual Minority Therapy
Saturday 6th March 2010

aThinking Woman (supervision)We are offering a rare opportunity for clinical supervisors to further their knowledge and understanding of supervising therapists working with gender and sexual minority clients.

The workshop will be an interactive environment where participants can nominate issues for discussion but it will also include:
  • Learn what is different about sexual minority therapy and discuss some common clinical issues
  • Exploring the complex interrelationship of sex and gender in the supervisory triad
  • Increase awareness of the impact of heterosexism on the supervisory process
This seminar will be facilitated by Damian Mc Cann one of our experienced clinical associates who has extensive experience of supervision, and will be a mixture of some didactic input and discussion and informed by some guided pre-course reading

This will be a space to reflect on your practice as a supervisor with an intimate group of other supervisors.


Managing Change:
Role of coaching psychology in gender transition
Dasha Grajfoner's paper reports the results from the first group coaching course 'Managing Change' for male to female transsexuals. Gender transition is one of the most radical changes in one's life. Psychosocial adaptation and social integration in the new gender role is crucial for sustaining well-being. The focus of this course was to explore whether group coaching can increase the well-being of clients while going through gender transitions by setting a goal and planning step-by-step actions. Six participants attended the course, which took place on nine consecutive weeks with 120-minute sessions each week.

PACE Survey

pace newlogoPACE are conducting a survey  to explore what young LGBTQQI people's experiences are (and consequently what their needs are) with regards to education, coming out and early sexual experiences.




Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Women's Health Champions Programme

PACE is launching a Health Champion Programme for Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans and Queer women in 2010.  In this programme trained volunteers will support LBTQ women improve their health by:
  • supporting women change lifestyle factors
  • referring women to appropriate services
  • addressing heterosexism, homophobia or transphobia in services
  • building greater rapport with health care providers 
How To Get Involved:

Attend the PACE information night on Wed 13 Jan 2010, 6:30pm

Where:       PACE, 34 Hartham Road N7 9JL

RSVP:         Hilary Knack on 02077150378 or [email protected]

(Or contact Hilary to find out more details about the project if you are unable to attend the info night!)

Volunteers will be required to complete:
  • RSPH Level 2 Understanding Health Improvement Certificate  
  • creating greater rapport with health care providers
  • Basic advocacy Training
  • provide a minimum commitment of 6 months to the programme
All volunteers will be required to go through an interview process and submit a current resume to PACE.

Placement at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic

trans symbolDr Penny Lenihan will be recruiting two counselling psychologists in training early in the New Year for a placement at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic.

This is a unique opportunity to gain counselling experience working in the UKs national Gender Identity Clinic.

What will be offered?:

1 day per week placement at CHX GIC over 1 or 2 years counselling clients around common psychological problems as well as around gender issues specific to the service.

Regular clinical supervision of a minimum of 1:5 hours can be offered for systemic, CBT, person-centred, personal construct, narrative and existential approaches; A placement will not be offered for counselling in any other therapeutic framework including psychodynamic and eclectic. There will also be opportunities for group meetings to present cases and discuss.

In house training in the field

Research opportunities either supporting existing research or trainees' own proposals.

Opportunities for collaborative publication of journal papers

Experience providing counselling to clients for up to 10 sessions per client.

Experience working in a multidisciplinary team including  Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Surgeons, Endocrinologist, Speech therapists, Nurses etc.

Interested trainees will be expected to have experience of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer communities in a personal or professional capacity. They also need to be  committed to working in the psychosexual field and/or sexuality and gender and and/or specifically with LGBT clients in order that the placement trainees are those most likely to benefit from this opportunity.  Applicants need to be registered for Masters/Doctorate postgraduate training in counselling psychology requiring placement experience. Due to the nature of the placement mature trainees or those with previous experience working in a professional capacity are preferred.

Application is by C.V. and covering letter (preferably emailed)

[email protected]

Dr Penny Lenihan CPsychol AFBPsS
Consultant  Psychologist
Gender Identity Clinic
West London Mental Health Trust
179-183 Fulham Palace Rd
London
W6 8QZ
Queer triangles: Lesbian Being and Being Lesbian in Psychotherapeutic Practice
A Research Invitation     
triangleWhat are the implications, if any, for psychotherapists who identify as lesbian, in integrating a relational developmental approach to their practice?

Aasra Garrib is a lesbian Integrative practitioner in the fourth year of study towards an MA in Integrative Psychotherapy. She invites you to participate in her dissertation research that seeks to gather experiences of lesbian identity.          

The aims of this phenomenological study are to:
  • Explore the interface between individual lesbian identities and dominant psychotherapy discourse
  • Explore the construction of lesbian identities
  • Consider the ways in which our experiences as lesbians may impact on integrating a relational-developmental approach to psychotherapeutic practice.
Participation in the study will involve a recorded interview that will take about an hour of your time.

The recordings will be confidential and your anonymity will be protected at every stage.

For further details please contact Aasra Garrib: [email protected]
Florin Murarui- PR Intern
Florin MuraruiWe're delighted to able to introduce to you, our newest staff member Florin Murarui who has joined us as a PR intern for a few months to help with the relaunch of the Directory.  Florin will be writing press releases and articles with the aim of getting much better media coverage for the new Directory of Pink Therapists.  We're aiming for articles in the counselling/psychotherapy (and complementary therapy) media as well as the men's and women's health press with articles about why gender and sexual minority people find it helpful to access non-judgemental, non-pathologising therapists.

Florin is undertaking an MA in Communication at the University of Westminster and has a BA in Journalism and Communication Studies from Romania.  He has the dubious honour of being Pink Therapy's first heterosexual staff member and is actively engaged in learning about the wide range of gender and sexual minorities our organisation serves. If you have media contacts who might be interested in hearing from him, please feel free to email him ([email protected])
Jack Holroyde
Jack Holroyde Jack Holroyde is managing the relaunch of the Directory of Pink Therapists, aiming to increase its usability with a wide geographical base of therapists around the UK, as well managing Florin and our database programmer David Henry.  Jack has a background in Sales and Risk Management and is also helping us set up the non-for-profit arm of Pink Therapy.  He is a Director of the Consortium - the LGBT Third Sector Umbrella Organisation and Campaigns Director of Queer Youth the largest youth run organisation in the EU.
That's all for this month, thanks for your attention, and please do send us things that have a specific relevance to people working with gender and sexual minority clients.
Dominic Davies
Pink Therapy