Working with Trans Clients:
Advanced Frameworks in Gender Affirming Therapy
Course Dates: October 14th - November 11th
ONLINE | Mondays at 7pm (Australian Eastern)
Are you a mental health professional that works with trans clients, but sometimes feel unsure about how to support your transgender, non-binary and gender questioning clients?
Do you want to feel more confident, knowledgeable, and effective in your practice, and to see your clients experiencing meaningful change and tangible movement towards greater personal ease and wellbeing?
Do you sometimes have questions related to gender, dysphoria, affirmation, language, or choices about medical transition... that are hard to find good answers to?
A lot of guidance and training online is aimed at foundational principles like inclusion and basic respect. 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.
This training distills years of clinical experience and lived expertise, hundreds of hours of research and community wisdom.
You will have profound insights and receive clarifying and practical frameworks so that you can transform your approach to gender affirming therapy.
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)
- 10 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
Module 0 (optional)
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 (trans AND cis) to embrace our authentic ways of being, and to support our clients to do the same.
Module 1
Supporting Gender Questioning Clients
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?", or who have gotten stuck on their journey through identity discovery, acceptance and integration.
Here we will also look at the parallel family process, and why disconnection is unfortunately hard wired into so many family dynamics through this critical time, and how to help when everyone needs it most.
Module 2-3
Working with and Alleviating 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.
Module 4
Framing the 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.
Module 5
Mapping the Path From Safety to Healing
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, and form level 1 of a treatment plan. Here we will also dive into 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 in as many as ten Q&A calls. 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.
