This is the first concise handbook on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) health in the past few years. It breaks the myths, breaks the silence, and breaks new ground on this subject. This resource offers a multidimensional picture of LGBT health across clinical and social disciplines to give readers a full and nuanced understanding of these diverse populations. It contains real-world matters of definition and self-definition, meticulous analyses of stressor and health outcomes, a extensive coverage of research methodology concerns, and critical insights into the sociopolitical context of LGBT individuals’ health and lives.

As more clinicians train in mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies, the demand for skills specifically for treating diverse clients grows. In this much-needed edited volume, you’ll find evidence-based strategies for treating gender and sexual minorities with acceptance and compassion for better treatment outcomes. Gender and sexual minorities face unique concerns and, according to research, are actually more likely to want and seek therapeutic help due to greater levels of psychological distress. But research also shows that many psychologists and therapists do not feel adequately educated or efficacious discussing topics related to sexuality and gender in clinical practice. This book will address this significant gap with evidence-based and best-practice interventions and applications. Mindfulness and Acceptance for Gender and Sexual Minorities offers a number of practical strategies within a contextual behavioral science framework, including mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions, compassion-focused therapy (CFT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), relational frame theory (RFT), and more. With chapters on stigma, shame, relationships, and parenting, this book will be a valuable resource for all therapists. If you’re a clinician, you understand the ongoing need for cutting-edge, effective approaches for treating a variety of clients. With this guide, you’ll learn about the unique application of contextual behavioral approaches as they relate specifically to the experiences of gender and sexual minorities, and feel better equipped to help all of your clients work toward happiness and health.

Explore the crucial issues facing the GLBT population in their struggle for acceptance in contemporary America! Sexual Minorities: Discrimination, Challenges, and Development in America examines the stumbling blocks that prevent gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trangenders from living wholesome, healthy lives. This book concentrates on the effects of outside influences on the homosexual psyche from adolescence to mid-life and programs and services that need to be developed to improve quality of life. While some outside influences can make positive changes—such as Internet-based outreach to educate men in chat rooms about HIV—sexual minority groups face negativity from society in the forms of homophobia and heterosexism. Sexual Minorities uses statistics, charts, graphs, and surveys to reveal a remarkable trend correlating how contemporary American society treats sexual minorities and how it affects their psychological and psychosocial health. This book also reveals how—when internalized— this hurtful discrimination can cause self-hatred and depression. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the GLBT population, including: the history of homophobia and intolerance toward homosexuals with its basis in cultural, religious, and sociological views an in-depth survey utilizing Erikson’s psychosocial model to determine the lifespan development of seven “out” gay males who discuss their coming-out period, their roles in society, their legacies, and later-life issues the lack of federal legislation protecting GLBT employees in the workplace and recommendations for creating a sense of security for these employees a case study revealing the high incidence rate of heterosexism amongst social workers and the repercussions this could have among homosexual clientele surveys and statistics investigating the rate of abusive behavior in lesbian relationships three chapters involving specific issues of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents, such as coming out, risk and protective factors, and being homosexual in a rural environment as opposed to a city Sexual Minorities is an important tool for everyone in today’s society—from students and practitioners of social work, health care, human sexuality, psychology, and sociology, to legislators, lawyers, activists, and business owners. This book is also vital for every parent, relative, or friend of a man or woman labeled as a sexual minority.

LGBT Health: Meeting the Needs of Gender and Sexual Minorities offers a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive view of mental, medical, and public health conditions within the LGBT community. This book examines the health outcomes and risk factors that gender and sexual minority groups face while simultaneously providing evidence-based clinical recommendations and resources for meeting their health needs. Drawing from leading scholars and practitioners of LGBT health, this holistic, centralized text synthesizes epidemiologic, medical, psychological, sociological, and public health research related to the origins of, current state of, and ways to improve LGBT health. The award-winning editors have assembled LGBT health experts who have conducted extensive research into diverse areas of LGBT health. Sections guide the reader through the entire spectrum of LGBT health, from the historical roots of LGBT health research all the way to modern, emerging lines of inquiry to improve health among diverse gender and sexual minority groups. Specific groundbreaking coverage includes such populations as LGBT veterans; reproductive health and parenting; sexual minority persons living with chronic illness and disability, and more. This encompassing volume serves as a go-to reference, a call to action, and a guide for anyone involved in researching and improving the health of LGBT populations. Key Features Synthesizes research from the psychological, sociological, medical, and public health fields into a comprehensive discussion of LGBT health Covers the continuum of health from antecedents and sociocultural determinants through specific evidence-based approaches for improving outcomes Includes specific focus on a wide range of health outcomes, including topics often neglected in the field such as reproductive health and parenting, intimate partner violence, cancer, and other chronic diseases Specifically investigates a variety of LGBT subgroups and their unique health needs including for LGBT veterans, transgender men and women, and racial and ethnic minorities who are LGBT

Historically, mental health clinical research has taken inadequate account of psychosocial disorders experienced by those who identify as sexual and gender minorities, however, researchers have recently begun developing and adapting evidence-based mental health treatment approaches for use with these groups. Handbook of Evidence-Based Mental Health Practice with Sexual and Gender Minorities offers a comprehensive array of evidence-based approaches for treating sexual and gender minority clients' mental health concerns. The interventions detailed here span a diverse spectrum of populations, including sexual and gender minority youth, transgender populations, same-sex couples, sexual minority parents, and bisexual individuals. Chapters also address numerous mental and behavioral health problems, including anxiety disorders, depression, substance abuse, trauma, body image disturbance, and sexual health. In addition to an overview of the research evidence supporting each clinical presentation and approach, chapters contain practical how-to guidance for therapists to use in their clinical practice. This book reflects a true integration of the best of sexual and gender minority research and the best of evidence-based practice research, presented by the leading experts in the field. As such it is essential reading for mental health professionals who work with these groups, as well as trainees in social work, counseling, and clinical psychology.

Sexual Minorities and Politics is the first textbook to provide students with an up-to-date, thorough, and comprehensive overview of the historical, political, and legal status of sexual and gender minorities. The text provides lists of key terms and discussion questions in ea...

Despite legal and social advances in the past two decades, sexual and gender minorities continue to face widespread discrimination and violence in many countries. This discrimination and violence lead to exclusion, which adversely impacts their lives, as well as the communities and economies in which they live. A major barrier to addressing this stigma and sexual orientation and gender identity(SOGI)-based exclusion is the lack of SOGI-specific data. Robust, quantitative data on di‚fferential development experiences and outcomes of sexual and gender minorities--especially those in developing countries--is extremely thin. This paucity of data jeopardizes the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and countries' commitment to the principle of 'leaving no one behind' in the eff‚ort to end poverty and inequality. 'Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities' assesses the unique challenges that sexual and gender minorities face in six important areas: (i) Criminalization and SOGI (ii) Access to education (iii) Access to the labor market (iv) Access to public services and social protection (v) Civil and political inclusion (vi) Protection from hate crimes. This report cov‚ers numerous policy recommendations to prevent and eliminate discriminatory practices in all of the areas covered. It also seeks to inflŽuence legislative changes and support research on institutions and regulations that can ultimately lead to poverty reduction and shared prosperity. At the same time, it acknowledges that the mere existence of inclusive laws and regulations does not ensure that sexual and gender minorities are free from discrimination--the enforcement of those laws is crucial. This publication, the first in a series of studies, will be expanded from the 16 countries included here to a wider set of countries for more in-depth quantitative analysis and to identify possible correlations with socioeconomic outcomes. It will seek to deepen knowledge, facilitate peer learning of good practices, and encourage reforms to increase the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities.

COUNSELING SEXUAL AND GENDER MINORITIESLynne Carroll This text is a practical, accessible, and comprehensive resource on counseling sexual and gender minorities. It offers readers broad and inclusive coverage of current theory, research, and counseling applications for use with sexual and gender minority clients. With an emphasis on applying theory to practice, the book contains experimental learning activities, practical resources, current strategies, and interdisciplinary insights, making this text a vital resource for students seeking complete training in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered counseling issues. UNIQUE FEATURES Coverage of sexual as well as gender minorities helps students learn to counsel clients who are not only gay, lesbian, or bisexual, but also transgendered or transsexual. Coverage of advocacy and social justice empowers readers with specific strategies to participate in social advocacy for marginalized minorities. Case studies located throughout the book allow students to understand practical applications of theory through real-life examples. An array of creative learning activities, including film assignments with corresponding discussion questions, self-reflection exercises, and role-playing activities, promote self-reflection and critical thinking about issues that are the source of continued debate and controversy in the helping professions. WHAT REVIEWERS HAVE TO SAY" ""This text will transform the education of students who work with GLBT issues by prioritizing the T as well as the GLB. This is a volume rich with the latest research and clearly articulated approaches to working with LGBT clients. In addition, this text is inclusive of all types of helping professions, including counseling, social work, and psychology... It presents current controversies in an unbiased fashion, opening up the way for students to reflect, discuss, and determine for themselves where they fall with debates.""--Sharon Horne, University of Memphis" "The inclusion of both sexual and gender minorities makes this text really stand out, as well as its attention to diverse subpopulations including youth, couples, and families.""--Julie Ancis, Georgia State University" "The activities are excellent-the self-reflection activities, case studies, and the library, media, and Internet resources. These are used in an excellent manner to allow the reader to apply the material. Individuals using this text would be able to incorporate these activities into their classroom lessons, workshop presentations, and group/individual counseling situations.""--Tony Cawton, Clemson University"

How the rise of HIV in India resulted in government protections for gay groups, transgender people, and sex workers This original ethnographic research explores the relationship between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the rights-based struggles of sexual minorities in contemporary India. Sex workers, gay men, and transgender people became visible in the Indian public sphere in the mid-1980s when the rise of HIV/AIDS became a frightening issue. The Indian state started to fold these groups into national HIV/AIDS policies as “high-risk” groups in an attempt to create an effective response to the epidemic. Lakkimsetti argues that over time the crisis of HIV/AIDS effectively transformed the relationship between sexual minorities and the state from one that was focused on juridical exclusion to one of inclusion. The new relationship then enabled affected groups to demand rights and citizenship from the Indian state that had been previously unimaginable. By illuminating such tactics as mobilizing against a colonial era anti-sodomy law, petitioning the courts for the recognition of gender identity, and stalling attempts to criminalize sexual labor, this book uniquely brings together the struggles of sex workers, transgender people, and gay groups previously studied separately. A closely observed look at the machinations behind recent victories for sexual minorities, this book is essential reading across several fields.

This book presents current research focusing on sexual minorities. Topics discussed include gay and lesbian parenthood; asexuality; media representations of marginalised minorities; the effect of image contact on heterosexual womens attitudes toward lesbian women; the high-school experiences of sexual and gender minority youth and best practices in the development of interventions designed to attenuate homonegativity. The final entry is a virtual discussion in which contributors responded to a set of questions that focused on key issues in the field of sexual minority studies.