Trust journey (Exercise)

• You will need: pen and paper
• Estimated time: 30 minutes

The goal of this activity is to spark your reflection on the rapport creation process and the first points of contact with the client. During the first phone call or first few sessions, LGBTQI+ persons need to gather more information about the viewpoint and openness of the therapist than other clients. For example, they might search for various signals that tell them about the psychologist’s stance on gender and sexuality, or they might search for different signals of trust. Thus the first conversations are crucial, and mental health professionals should be prepared to provide information about their practises in a way that helps to form trust and rapport with LGBTQI+ persons.

Reflect on the following questions:

• What signals might LGBTQI+ clients be sensitive to? What signals might they look out for?
• What questions would an LGBTQI+ person ask in order to map the therapist’s attitudes?

To help the thinking process, imagine that you are the client self-identifying as LGBTQI+: “On the first session I would ask my new therapist the question…”

• How would you react if the client asked an inappropriate question or a question that steps over your professional boundaries in a way that still reflects your affirmation and acceptance for them?

Further questions to reflect on:

• Do I conduct a thorough sexual history of my clients when this is relevant to the clinical conversation?
• How comfortable am I asking clients about their sexual history, orientation, or behaviours?
• Considering my own life, how did I come to define my own sexual identity or orientation? Is this an area that needs additional exploration?
• How do I conceptualise gender? What messages do I send to clients that reify the gender binary?
• What is my concept of “healthy” sexuality, and how might this bias my work with clients (e.g., bisexual, asexual, non-monogamous, kink)?
• Have I encountered clients with fluid or shifting sexualities, and, if so, what feelings did it bring up for me?

What judgments or biases might I have about sexualities that are considered “alternative” to the dominant culture, including LGBQ identities or practises in consensual non-monogamy, polyamory, or kink/BDSM?