Affirming Mental Health & Medical Care: Reflections from LGBTQ+ Community Members

3:00-4:30, Online synchronous via Zoom

Roundtable Summary: 

The purpose of this moderated roundtable discussion, is to highlight the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in accessing ethical, safe, affirming mental and medical healthcare. Participants will share positive and negative experiences within healthcare spaces, discuss what affirming care looks like, and advise providers about best practices.

Learning Objectives:

Audience members will:

• identify contributing factors to positive experiences of therapeutic alliance with LGBTQ+ populations.
• identify contributing factors to negative experiences with LGBTQ+ populations.
• learn about the needs and priorities of LGBTQ+ community members when seeking care.  

Roundtable Icebreaker Questions

(follow up questions from participants welcome)

1. Tell us about an experience of receiving mental or physical healthcare that you remember fondly or impacted you in a positive way. 

2. Tell us about a negative experience of receiving mental or physical healthcare.  

3. What do you look for in medical and/or mental healthcare providers? 

4. In your opinion, what makes a professional affirming of LGBTQ+ and other marginalized identities? 

5. What advice would you give to mental and/or medical health professionals to provide care that affirms LGBTQ+ and other marginalized identities? 

Moderator

Taylor Michl ( https://www.taylormichl.com/researchandclinicalwork ) Taylor Michl (they/them) is a Master's in Counseling student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Taylor's current research projects explore the study abroad experiences of transgender and gender expansive students, and the effects of therapeutic writing exercises on transgender wellbeing. Taylor practices LGBTQ+ advocacy in their roles as crisis worker, LGBTQ+ workshop facilitator, and career counseling graduate assistant. They look forward to serving gender diverse and other marginalized communities as a future counseling psychologist.

Participants

Adam Kellogg, Christina Santiago, Alexis Figueroa, Benji Crow, Kai Kiefer-Eaves, Lori Sexton