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A Content Analysis of Counselors’ Clinical Interests in Queer and Transgender Students of Color
Brittanie Mahanna, B.S., Amber Lewis, Cindy Hernandez, Della V. Mosley, Ph.D., Kirsten A. Gonzales, Ph.D., Roberto L. Abreu, Ph.D., Nahal C. Kaivan, Ph.D
Date & Time Sat 8/10/2019 04:00 PM – 04:50 PM
Location: McCormick Place Hall F
Queer and Transgender People of Color and Indigenous People (QTPOCI) experience racial- and sexuality-based oppression. Invisibility and color-blind racial ideologies (CBRI), are common ways that the QTPOCI community is oppressed (Elia, 2014; Neville, Awad, Brooks, Flores, & Bluemel, 2013). Invisibility, coupled with a lack of adequate counseling resources, have been associated with increased stress and psychological distress for both POCI communities and queer and transgender communities. This poster uncovered the ways in which university counseling center (UCC) clinicians stated areas of interests affirm or render invisible QTPOCI.
Qualitative content analysis methods were undertaken to answer the following research questions:
- What racial, sexual, and gender identities are stated as being of interest and/or expertise to UCC staff on center websites?
- To what extent are QTPOCI affirmed via messages in UCC staff member biographies?
The sample for this study included the 139 universities with APA-accredited counseling centers. UCCs with APA accreditation were selected as a criterion because UCCs are often deemed responsible for the mental health liability of universities and APA internship accreditation sets forth uniform standards of accreditation. Data was initially coded using Neuendorf’s (2011) six-step approach to content analysis. For this study, human coders immersed themselves in the data. Three rounds of analysis were conducted followed by an audit.
The analysis uncovered that university resources are largely inadequate for QTPOCI college students.
Our findings indicate that only .4% (10 of 2,717) of all APA accredited UCC clinicians state that they have an interest in QTPOCI issues. This was compared to 3.8% stating they had an interest in queer identity issues, 3.8% stating they had an interest in transgender issues, and 6.4% stating they had an interest in POCI Identities.
In addition, we compared the prevalence of intersectionality focused therapy groups with intersectionality focused clinician bios. It was found that only .1% (2 of 1,693) of therapy groups across all campus’ focused on QTPOCI populations.
Instead of being welcomed in campus wellness centers, QTPOCI individuals experience intersectional invisibility and pressures to identify with one of their identity groups, potentially experiencing marginalization of the others (Balsam, Molina, Beadnell, Simoni, & Walters, 2011; Chan, Erby, & Ford, 2017). By highlighting the erasure of QTPOCI through UCC staff biographies, these findings create space for reflection and highlight change.
For a PDF of our poster, please click here
To find a list of our references please click here.
To learn more about this topic, please reference the (Mosley, Gonzalez, Abreu, & Nahal, 2019) article. To access it, please click here.
Sharing Interests, Sharing Identities: QTPOC Community-Based Healing Through Popular Media
Honey Tumbaga, Haley Pegram, Jessica Ivany Trochez, Diana Balderas, Brittanie Mahanna, B.S.
Date & Time: Sat 8/10/2019 5:00PM-5:50PM
Location: Marriott Marquis Chicago Great Lakes Ballroom B
Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC) experience intersecting forms of marginalization related to transnegativity, queernegativity, racism, and ethnocentricism that perpetuates the violence against and the rejection of the QTPOC community (Kuper, Coleman, & Mustanski, 2013). Seeking wellness is therefore necessary to build and preserve social connectedness, support, and higher quality of life among QTPOC (Ceatha, 2016). Findings suggest that QTPOC seek wellness in online communities and gravitate towards media where their identities are represented and receive affirmation (Gomillion & Giuliano, 2011; Tabaac, Perrin, & Trujillo, 2015; Gray & Moore, 2018). This poster explored the potential healing capacity associated with both media and community by summarizing and analyzing current QTPOC-related research on community-building and wellness through television and film.
A literature review was conducted via EBSCO Information Services Database using search terms “LGBTQ”, “POC”, “television”, “film,” and “online community” to find empirical journal articles. Articles were excluded based on relevance to the search terms and accessibility (i.e. not in English). The remaining articles were then analyzed to determine if the terms “wellness,” “well-being,” “community building,” or “representation” were present.
Of the total 2,527 articles found through EBSCO Information Services Database, 103 fit the inclusion criteria, focusing on either LGBTQ+ or POCI reactions to/roles within film and television and its impact on community-building and/or wellness. Our key findings were as follows:
- There were more results found under LGBTQ+ than for POC when searched as separate key terms (2,143 versus 361) and very few results when searched together (23).
- Articles addressed LGBTQ+ representation by combating inaccurate/negative forms of representation. Few included the positives of representation such as raising visibility and self-esteem of LGBTQ+ viewers.
- Articles emphasized the benefits of online communities to LGBTQ+ for offering social support.
- None cited the intersectional impact for LGBTQ+POC.
Our results highlight the current lack of research done on QTPOC individuals, especially with attention to the intersectional nature of POC. Despite the healing potential that community-building through film and television, further research should be done from an intersectional perspective to identify positive and accurate representation not just for LGBTQ+ but for QTPOC.
Links:
For a PDF of our poster, please click here.
For a chart with all articles included in our lit search, please click here.
To find a list of our references please click here.
Deconstructing Ideologies, Reconstructing Healing: An Examination of Gender Constructs in Narratives of Racial Trauma
Julianna Sostre, Alissa Adam, Conjay Dahn, Kurt Loiseau, Victoria McNeil, M.S.
Date & Time: Saturday, August 10 from 5:00-5:50 p.m.
Location: Marriott Marquis Chicago Great Lakes Ballroom B
As reflected in the visible divide between movements for gender and racial justice, racism and heterosexism are often understood as separate structures in mainstream dialogue (Collins, 2004) Yet, oppression is multifaceted and Black individuals experience both subtle and blatant forms of oppression based on the intersection of their identities (Lewis, Mendenhall, Harwood & Huntt, 2016; Crenshaw, 1989). Hill Collins (2004) suggests that the racial oppression of Black people who were enslaved, and their descendants, has historically relied on gender oppression, linking colonial hegemonic ideologies to racialized experiences in the present-day United States. Further, Black individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ experience multiplicative marginalization at the intersection of a multitude of oppressive ideologies (e.g., racism, heterosexism, sexism, and transnegativity: Nadal, Whitman, Davis, Erazo, & Davidoff, 2016). However, the process of healing from racial trauma has historically been conceptualized as addressing the impacts of racial violence alone, without an emphasis on the role of intersectionality. This poster highlights how deconstructing hegemonic gender ideologies and understanding the intersectionality between systems of racism and heterosexism is critical to Black racial justice activists’ healing processes.
Constructivist grounded theory (CGT; Charmaz, 2014) combined with an intersectional lens and framework (Crenshaw, 1989) was used to examine interviews of seven Black racial justice activists. Participants engaged in intensive interviews as part of a larger study on the processes that lead individuals to engage in racial justice activism (Mosley, 2018).
Four major themes related to how gender impacts racial trauma and healing emerged: (1) Expression of Identities, (2) Critical Reflection on Privilege/Oppression, (3) Black Gender Ideologies, and (4) Aspects of Activism.
Findings reveal the interconnectedness of heterosexism and racism and the importance of deconstructing gender ideologies to promote liberation. Intersectional activism is necessary and beneficial; activist efforts should include a consistent acknowledgment of how multiple marginalized identities lead to additive and multiplicative oppression. Interventions seeking to promote healing among Black individuals in general, and Black LGBTQ+ individuals in particular, must consider the role of gender in both oppression and healing
More research is needed on the benefits of deconstructing gender ideologies among Black LGBTQ+ individuals.
Links:
For more information about our participants, click here
For a PDF of our poster, please click here
To find a list of our references please click here.
For more info on this topic, please reference “Critical consciousness of anti-Black racism: A practical model to prevent and resist racial trauma.”
Impact and Inclusion: Unmasking Radical Healing Among Communities of Color Through Campaigning
Nesreen Ghnaim, Maggie Moskal, Brittanie Mahanna, B.S., Della V. Mosley, Ph.D.
Date & Time Fri 8/9/2019 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM
Location: McCormick Place Hall F
The United States is steeped in a history of colonization and oppression of racial minorities (French et al., 2019). This has led to racial trauma in communities of Color. Extant research indicates that racism and discrimination diminishes wellbeing for People of Color and Indigenous People (POCl). There are few theories for healing racial trauma among POCI. One resolution to this ongoing issue is introducing a framework called Radical Healing. Radical Healing includes five components: (1) collectivism, (2) critical consciousness, (3) radical hope, (4) strength and resistance, and (5) cultural self-knowledge. Radical Healing includes both acknowledgment and active resistance from oppression, as well as a vision of possibilities for freedom and wellness. Dr. Helen Neville, the Past President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race (APA Division 45) and her presidential task force sought to introduce this framework throughout Dr. Neville’s presidential term. Our team was interested in exploring the extent to which the Radical Healing framework components were demonstrated during the campaign through the initiatives offered.
A content analysis was used to identify the components of Radical Healing in #radicalhealing2018 Twitter posts, webinars, translational documents of the three webinars, and the Radical Healing Syllabus. A codebook was created by the authorship team, based on the Radical Healing model, and this guided the coding and analysis of data. Three rounds of analysis were done between the first 3 authors and the 4th author served as an auditor.
After thoroughly analyzing our data our results indicated the following:
- Collectivism was the aspect seen most within the Twitter posts, seen 4x more than any other category.
- Political efficacy was seen the least within the Twitter posts.
- Cultural Authenticity/Self-Knowledge was only seen in ⅓ of the webinars, whereas all the other components were presented at least twice.
- What was seen the most in the actual webinars was not seen the most in the translation of webinars (Collectivism and Critical Action vs. Resistance).
- Least frequent component evidenced throughout the campaign was Political Efficacy, a subcomponent of Critical Consciousness.
Based off of these results various recommendations were created to help advise how Radical Healing can be advanced in the future.
Links:
For a PDF of our poster, please click
To find a list of our references please click here.
To gain more info on this topic, please reference “Toward a Psychological Framework of Radical Healing in Communities of Color.” To access it, please click here.
Religious Coping, Religious Forgiveness, and Health-Related Stress Among Black Churchgoing Women
Victoria McNeil, M.S., Carolyn Tucker, Ph.D., & Ada Nmezi, M.A., M.S.
Date & Time: Sat 08/10 12:00PM – 12:50PM
Location: McCormick Place/Hall F Level 3–West Building
Introduction
Exposure to stress, including stress experienced due to racism, sexism, and discrimination, contributes to a more rapid decline in the health of Black women when compared to women from European backgrounds. However, the association between stress and health may be altered through the use of various coping mechanisms. Black women frequently utilize coping resources related to religion and spirituality when faced with stressful situations; yet, findings regarding the associations of religious coping and religious forgiveness with stress among Black women are inconsistent. Additionally, despite the widespread use of religiosity and spirituality among Black women, there remains uncertainty as to whether any association between religiosity and health-related stress among these women differs in relation to their age. The goals of the present study were to: (1) identify whether levels of positive religious coping, negative religious coping, and religious forgiveness were significantly associated with the three types of health-related stress (i.e., cognitive stress, physical stress, behavioral stress) among a sample of Black women, and (2) determine whether these associations differed by age group.
Method
Participants were 181 age-diverse Black women who attended one of 16 local churches in urban areas within a Southern U.S. county. The age ranges for Black women participants were 40-59 years old (56%); 18-39 years old (30%); and 60 or older (14%). Participants were recruited as a part of a larger study that was designed to test the impact of a culturally sensitive intervention program on the health-promoting behaviors of Black women churchgoers. The current study analyzed participants’ responses on several questionnaires completed during the baseline data collection of the larger study including a Demographic Questionnaire, the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religion and Spirituality, and the Strain Questionnaire.
Results showed that among Black women participants, negative religious coping and religious forgiveness were both associated with types of health-related stress. Negative religious coping was positively associated with cognitive stress (p<.01) and physical stress (p<.01) and religious forgiveness was negatively associated with cognitive stress (p<.01). However, positive religious coping was not significantly associated with any of the three types of health-related stress. Furthermore, moderation analyses revealed that these associations did not differ in relation to participants’ age groups.
Conclusion
The results of this study have important implications for developing stress intervention strategies that target Black women. Specifically, such interventions could benefit from a focus on teaching Black women about the impacts of religious coping practices on stress and stress management. Additionally, health care professionals should consider discussing health-related stress and religious coping styles with their Black women clients/patients who are churchgoers. Such strategies may help to diminish the negative health outcomes associated with health-related stress among this population.
Links:
For a PDF of our poster, please click here.
To find a list of our references please click here.
Combating Political Invisibility: Activism Among Asian American College Students
Ollie Trac, Kevin Chi, Alex Colson, Garrett Ross, B.S., Della V. Mosley, Ph.D.
Date & Time: Sat 08/10/19 5:00PM-5:50PM
Location: Marriott Marquis Chicago Great Lakes Ballroom B
Asian Americans are severely understudied within academic research. Museus (2009) found that over the span of a decade, only one percent of articles published in some of the most widely read peer-reviewed academic journals have given specific attention to Asian American college students. Alongside the invisibility of Asian Americans in academic research, they are also politically invisible. Chow (1992) argues two things that contribute to the political invisibility of Asian Americans: (1) the lack of representation within politics due to past strict immigration policies and (2) due to the vast diaspora that is grouped into the Asian American identity, the interethnic differences make it difficult to collectivize a singular agenda towards widespread justice and advocacy for the Asian American community as a whole.
The invisibility of Asian Americans in research, as well as the invisibility of Asian Americans in political spaces, speaks to the urgency for more culturally mindful research, and led the authorship team to explore the research question, what role does racial identity salience, acceptance, and congruence with other intersecting identities play in Asian American college students’ willingness to engage in activism? This project examined narratives of identity and activism from five Asian American college students who belong to varying ethnic groups in hopes of understanding the dynamics of privilege and oppression from an intersectional lens. Utilizing a qualitative research design of thematic analysis, the five participants’ interviews were transcribed, and themes around racial identity and activism were analyzed, the themes were mapped onto a model of racial identity development (Sue & Sue, 2008) as well as a model of sociopolitical development (Watts, Williams, & Jagers, 2003).
A tentative model was made connecting Asian American college students’ racial identity development to their sociopolitical development. Findings suggest a relationship between racial salience and sociopolitical development. Among the five participants, it appears that those who are at a higher stage of racial identity development were more likely to engage in and recognize multiple forms of activism. Future research should delve deeper into the relationship between racial identity development and sociopolitical development.
Links:
For a PDF of our poster, please click here.
To find a list of our references, please click here.
For further justification, please click here.