Completed the WPATH GEI 2018 training in Portland

Sasha and Kaden just finished a busy weekend at the WPATH Global Education Initiative in Portland. We spent September 7-9 at the Collaborative Life Sciences Building on the OHSU Campus, hearing the latest from experts on gender affirmative medical procedures and supportive mental health and counseling. In addition to learning more about HRT, gender affirming surgery, and comprehensive clinical assessment, …

Beyond Gender podcast

Sasha was recently featured on a podcast at Beyond Gender, where they talked about their own gender location and how they help folks figure out theirs. Beyond Gender: Episode 75— A Gender Perspective with Sasha Strong The show is looking for new interviewees regularly, so if you’d like to share your story, reach out the producers at beyondgenderpod@gmail.com.

Return from Gender Odyssey 2018

We got back from Gender Odyssey in Seattle earlier this month, where we had a good time presenting our research on cultural competency with non-binary and genderqueer folks. Kaden and I also had the opportunity to attend lots of other cool workshops, and we networked with folks in the Professional and Youth tracks, from all over the region. On Friday …

Grieving Gendered Selves: The Cycle of Death and Rebirth in the Gender Journey

Finding out who I am as a person is an unfolding journey that has taken me through the uncharted waters of gender, identity, sex, power, and privilege (Bornstein, 2013). During this process, I have felt trapped, stuck, confused, angry, overwhelmed, powerless, ashamed, despairing, and joyful. Similarly, my trans* clients have experienced waves of confusion, disorientation, anger, grief, sadness, loss, and …

Mindfulness Practices for Working with Fear and Trauma

Mindfulness practices can help us work with fear and trauma to cultivate safety, stability, and a sense of inner relationship. Because fear and trauma both involve turning away from present-moment experience, they present specific obstacles to life and mindfulness. Based on my own experience as a therapist, a meditator, and a survivor of trauma, I’ve put together some thoughts and …

Nonbinary / Genderqueer Competent Counseling video

This presentation on Nonbinary and Genderqueer Competency in Counseling covers a brief trans* 101, an introduction to nonbinary/genderqueer/gender-expansive identities, and gives guidelines for cultural competency in counseling with NBGQ folks. Recorded March 2018 at the M.E.T.A. Counseling Clinic, Portland, Oregon.

Contemplative Psychotherapy video

In July 2017, I presented at the World Conference of Psychotherapy in Paris. This presentation, “Contemplative Psychotherapy: Integrating Mindfulness, Buddhism, and Humanistic Counseling,” discusses the roots of contemplative psychotherapy and 3 of its core principles: brilliant sanity, maitri, and mindfulness-awareness. The video includes a suggested reading list and information on where to train in Contemplative Psychotherapy.