Working with Trans Clients:
Advanced Frameworks in Gender Affirming Therapy
April 28th | 5 Weeks | ONLINE
Are you a mental health professional that works with trans, gender diverse and/or non-binary clients, but sometimes feel unsure about how to support them towards wellbeing?
Do you have questions that are hard to find good answers to related to. You might have questions about
- Gender identity development
- Gender dysphoria
- Affirmation decision making,
- Language
- Internalised transphobia
A lot of guidance and training online covers very foundational principles.
This training goes well beyond that, because trans people deserve more than just basic inclusion and respect.
They deserve positive change.
It can be difficult to find mentorship, training and literature that will equip you to do profoundly effective work with your trans clients, and to feel confident in your knowledge and skills as you do it.
Our practitioner program does just that.
You will feel more confident, knowledgeable, and effective in your practice, and will see your clients experiencing meaningful change and tangible movement towards greater personal ease.
This training distills years of clinical experience and lived expertise, hundreds of hours of research and community wisdom.
Profound Conceptual Clarity
"This was wonderful... Lots of lightbulb moments."
Actionable Guiding Frameworks
"Appreciate the practical framework and in-depth explanation."
Deeper Skills and Confidence
"I know will really benefit from having that framework in my work with clients"
What You Get
- An in-depth foundations training (optional and pre-recorded)
- 5 weekly advanced trainings (live and recorded)
- 5 optional Q&A calls at varied times (live and recorded)
- A library of resources, visual frameworks, templates and recordings
- A community forum of other trusted professionals
- Weekday support
Course Outline
Foundations (pre-recorded and available immediately)
De-pathologise Gender Diversity
Support your clients to de-pathologise their beliefs about the body, gender, gender expression and sexuality. De-program the simplifications that we have come to believe are "healthy and desirable", and which our clients have too. This is the unlearning we all must do to embrace our authentic ways of being, and to support our clients to do the same.
Week 1
The Gender Identity Formation Process Model
Get clarity on the trans gender identity formation process, the roles of desire and language, and how to help clients who are asking "what am I?".
Week 2
Working with Dysphoria
Contextualize and understand the cause of gender dysphoria from a Minority Stress model lens. Using this model you can help clients understand their inner process, their triggers, and work with them through a holistic three part dysphoria relief framework.
Week 3
Trans Mental Health First Aid
Develop a map of the research-based risk and resilience factors, providing you with a clear understanding of the contextual factors that significantly impact trans people, enabling you to assess and support your clients safety and well-being. These are the basic essential needs that must be in place for physical and emotional safety.
Explore risks to safety that are different from the general population. Learn what to listen for and the most effective interventions to increase safety from survival to wellbeing.
Week 4
The Real Purpose and Levers of Gender Affirmation
Dive into the concept of transition or gender affirmation, understanding its true functions and levers. Support clients as they make choices for their own greater wellbeing and towards authentic connection with themselves and others.
Week 5
Healing Internalised Transphobia
Bringing the course concepts together, here we will look at how the concepts in this course come together and you will understand what is required to move from safety to 'trans healing'.
Comprehensive, Flexible and On Your Schedule
1. Absorb
Weekly Lectures
Enjoy five interactive lectures packed with insights, frameworks and actionable strategies.
Mondays 7.30-9.00 pm
Live and recorded (video or podcast)
2. Refine
Q&A Calls
Ask questions live, listen to other questions you didn't even know you had. These are optional and ensure all your questions are answered.
Variable Times
Live and recorded (video or podcast)
3. Connect
Community Forum
Ask questions, share resources, submit Q&A questions, and share wins.
24/7, Same day responses
Web and App
Fee
Meet Your Trainer
Hi, I'm Ari Heart (they/them).
I am a psychotherapist, educator, parent, trans non-binary person, and co-founder of Trans Wellbeing.
I have been supporting trans people and their families to navigate the various stages of their journeys for many years.
When I began working with trans clients, I quickly realised that lived experience wasn’t enough to guide me in working with other trans and gender diverse people.
When sitting with a client in tears about their struggle with body dysphoria, I could offer presence and empathy, but I felt ill-equipped to help in other ways.
I am a psychotherapist, educator, parent, trans non-binary person, and co-founder of Trans Wellbeing.
When I began working with trans clients, I quickly realised that lived experience wasn’t enough to guide me in working with other trans and gender diverse people.
When sitting with a client in tears about their struggle with body dysphoria, I could offer presence and empathy, but I felt ill-equipped to help in other ways. I felt sure that there must be more to know, and I just could not find the information I wanted. The existing guidelines and standards of care didn’t offer the granularity, nuance, theoretical underpinning, or the strategies I wanted. Mostly, they re-iterated similar principles about inclusion and respect – something I felt was setting the bar too low for where I wanted to take my practice and how strongly I wanted to help my clients.
It took me many years and hundreds of clients before I started to develop the frameworks I use today to help my clients experience transformative healing in their relationship to their gender and body, and often within just a few sessions.
My personal experience as a non-binary trans person informs the depth of care I bring to this work, but it is the many thousands of hours of conversations with trans people and their families that has built much of the purpose and content of our programs.
I am grateful to all the people I have worked with, who have taught me many things; not least the imperative and courage of authenticity and connection.
