Improving Mental Health Care for Transgender Consumers: Providers’ Attitudes, Knowledge, and Resources

Transgender individuals may present for treatment with a variety of mental health needs, both related and peripheral to their gender identity and expression. Compounding stigma and other life stressors elevate mental health risks in transgender communities, and the barriers to mental health services are manifold. As such, the current research study was designed to determine the competency of mental health care providers to address the unique needs of transgender consumers. Online surveys gauged mental health providers’ knowledge of transgender issues, implicit and explicit transphobic attitudes, as well as treatment decisions with transgender and cisgender consumers; moreover, workplace resources and infrastructure were assessed. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) that types of providers (i.e., different degrees and training) would vary on their implicit transphobic attitudes, explicit transphobic attitudes, and transgender-related knowledge; (2) that explicit and implicit attitudes would predict treatment of transgender consumers; and (3) that knowledge would be predictive of implicit and explicit attitudes. While implicit attitudes were not found to be significant in any of these hypotheses, explicit attitudes varied across provider types, F(4,69) = 7.025, p \u3c .01, and were significantly correlated with knowledge b = -.481, t(79) = -4.875, p \u3c .001. Knowledge also varied significantly across provider type F(4,66) = 2.65, p = .041. Finally, explicit attitudes were significantly correlated with differences in treatment decisions in working with transgender and cisgender consumers b = .333, t(60) = 2.735, p = .008. These results suggest that improving transgender-related competencies among mental health providers might facilitate reductions in explicit biases, thereby alleviating certain instances of discriminatory treatment toward transgender individuals in mental health care settings. Implications for advocacy and organizational change are discussed

Are You Blue? Personality, Communication, and Leadership

This workshop will identify participants\u27 dominant personality styles utilizing the True Colors questionnaire developed by Don Lowry in 1978. To that end, there will be a discussion on each color\u27s communication and leadership strengths, weaknesses, and stressors. This is a fun activity that requires movement and most people enjoy. Finally, participants will be paired up with rotating partners and given a departmental chair scenario wherein they need to communicate and lead by utilizing what they have learned about dealing with the personality types of the colors. This exercise will help participants develop a strategic approach to their communication in order to ensure that their goals (to motivate, to collaborate, to direct, etc.) are achieved

Sexual Minority Stress and Suicide Risk: Identifying Resilience through Personality Profile Analysis

Sexual minority-based victimization, which includes threats or enacted interpersonal violence, predicts elevated suicide risk among sexual minority individuals. However, research on personality factors that contribute to resilience among sexual minority populations is lacking. Using the Five-Factor Model, we hypothesized that individuals classified as adaptive (vs. at-risk) would be at decreased risk for a suicide attempt in the context of reported lifetime victimization. Sexual minority-identified young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 years (N = 412) were recruited nationally and asked to complete an online survey containing measures of personality, sexual minority stress, and lifetime suicide attempts. A 2-stage cluster analytic method was used to empirically derive latent personality profiles and to classify respondents as adaptive (lower neuroticism and higher extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) or at-risk (higher neuroticism, lower extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness) on the basis of their Five-Factor Personality trait scores. Adaptive individuals were slightly older and less likely to conceal their sexual orientation, but they reported similar rates of victimization, discrimination, and internalized heterosexism as their at-risk counterparts. Logistic regression results indicate that despite reporting similar rates of victimization, which was a significant predictor of lifetime suicide attempt, adaptive individuals evidenced decreased risk for attempted suicide in the context of victimization relative to at-risk individuals. These findings suggest that an adaptive personality profile may confer resilience in the face of sexual minority-based victimization. This study adds to our knowledge of sexual minority mental health and highlights new directions for future research

The CIA to 1950

Following World War II, President Truman disbanded the Office of Strategic Services. Nevertheless, international instability caused him to reconsider his stance on postwar intelligence. As a result, the Central Intelligence Group (precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency) was created by a presidential directive. The president‘s decision to keep the idea of a centralized agency alive—but his failure to specify what powers and prerogatives the new agency would have—set off a major bureaucratic war. Attempts by the State Department and the military intelligence departments to control the Central Intelligence Agency and the interpretation of intelligence began even before the CIA was born and continued long afterward. The Central Intelligence Agency‘s creation was a symptom of the Cold War. Despite the need American policymakers felt for strong coordinated intelligence, the early years of the Agency were marked by interdepartmental rivalries and bureaucratic politics. As a result, the American intelligence apparatus was unstable and less-effective in the years prior to 1950

Perceived Barriers to and Facilitators of Engagement in Reverse Integrated Care

Introduction: Individuals with chronic mental illness and addiction have poorer health outcomes than the general population, largely because of preventable medical conditions. Early onset and heightened incidence of chronic disease—such as type two diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension—might limit behavioral health consumers’ quality life years and ultimately lead to early mortality. These health risks are exacerbated by coinciding poor health correlates such as low socioeconomic status, disrupted cycles of care, and substance use. Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) initiatives address these compounding health disparities by improving access to quality primary care and wellness services inside of behavioral health centers. As opposed to traditional integrated care models in which behavioral health services are co-located in medical settings, reverse integration targets consumers with serious and persistent mental illness who are more likely to frequent behavioral health care settings. Recently, this model of reverse integrated care delivery has been on the rise because of its unique capacity to meet the complex needs of behavioral health consumers... The current study employs semi-structured individual interviews to assess behavioral health consumers’ perceived barriers to and engagement in PBHCI services at an urban community mental health center