LGBTQ Trauma-

Informed Care

Iden D. Campbell

McCollum

Peerpocalypse

April 25, 2017

How Can You Help?So what can be done? Research suggests that support matters. This type of support has been on display in public reactions to NFL prospect Michael Sam's recent announcement that he is gay. Higher perceived family, workplace and friendship support reduces psychological distress in LGBTQ people.

Evidence suggests that a supportive school environment with clear anti-LGBTQ bullying laws and supportive educators reduces bullying. Further, in states in which there are clear LGBTQ anti-discrimination and anti-hate crime laws, LGBTQ people display lower levels of psychiatric disorders than do LGBTQ people in states without such protection.

Finally, laws that provide equal rights for LGBTQ people would improve mental health. Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to expand recognition of same-sex marriage in federal legal matters such as survivor benefits represents this type of change.

The Four R’s

SAMHSA promotes a trauma-informed approach to behavioral health care. This

approach shifts away from the view of “What’s wrong with this person?” to a more

holistic view of “What happened to this person?” This becomes the foundation on which

to begin a healing and recovery process.

While symptoms may prompt a person to seek the assistance of a doctor or counselor,

employing the trauma-informed approach creates a place of safety and mutual respect

where a person’s whole history can be considered.

This enables trauma survivors and providers to work together to find the best avenues

for healing and wellness.

A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed follows SAMHSA’s four

“Rs”:

•Realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for

recovery

•Recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others

involved with the system

•Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and

practices

•Actively seeks to resist re-traumatization

SAMSHA’s 6-Key Principles

Trauma-specific services refer to prevention, intervention, or treatment services that address

traumatic stress as well as any co-occurring disorders (including mental health concerns and

substance use) that developed during or after trauma. SAMHSA’s TIP 57: Trauma-Informed Care in

Behavioral Health Services – 2014 provides detailed information.

SAMHSA’s six key principles of a trauma-informed approach and trauma-specific interventions are

designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma in the individual and to facilitate

healing.

The key principles include:

•Safety—Throughout the organization, staff and clients should feel physically and psychologically

safe.

•Trustworthiness and transparency—Organizational operations and decisions are conducted with

transparency and the goal of building and maintaining trust among staff, clients, and family

members.

•Peer support and mutual self-help—Both are seen as integral to the organizational and service

delivery approach and are understood as key vehicles for building trust, establishing safety, and

empowerment.

SAMSHA’s 6-Key Principles

• Collaboration and mutuality—There is true partnering between staff and

clients and among organizational staff from direct care staff to administrators.

• Empowerment, voice, and choice—Throughout the organization, and among

the clients served, individuals’ strengths are recognized, built on, and

validated, and new skills developed as necessary.

• Cultural, historical, and gender issues—The organization actively moves past

cultural stereotypes and biases, considers language and cultural

considerations in providing support, offers gender-responsive services,

leverages the healing value of traditional cultural and peer connections, and

recognizes and addresses historical trauma.

Four Major DimensionsSAMHSA has delineated four major dimensions that support a life in recovery:

Health—overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms—for example, abstaining from use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and non-prescribed medications if one has an addiction problem—and, for everyone in recovery, making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being

Home—having a stable and safe place to live

Purpose—conducting meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income, and resources to participate in society

Community—having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope

LGBTQ Youth: Voices of Trauma, Lives

of Promise (2016) (Video)

13-minute versionhttp://nctsn.org/products/lgbtq-youth-voices-trauma-lives-promise

24:33-minute versionhttp://www.nctsn.org/products/nctsn-safe-places-video

How We Treat Others

Angel Colon-Pulse 2016

How Violence Affects Us

The LGBTQ community is already grappling with the mental health issues that stem from discrimination. Being bullied for being different can lead to PTSD symptoms later in life. LGBTQ people are three times more likely to experience a mental health condition, according to many studies, and LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than straight people. LGBTQ people are more likely to be targeted for a hate crime than other minorities.

How Violence Affects Us

The subtle type of violence that LGBTQ people experience throughout their lives, like discrimination and family rejection, “often snowballs into larger problems,” according to Doug Meyer, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and the the author of a book that examines different forms of anti-LGBTQ violence. In his book, Meyer found that LGBTQ people with fewer financial resources were more likely to experience that snowball effect and eventually experience issues like homelessness, lack of work, and a cycle of poverty.

Making Sense of It AllThe high number of victims and the fact that it took place during LGBT Pride month makes it hard to characterize the total impact of this tragedy

The mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida could have a lasting impact on the mental health of the country’s LGBT community.

Eddie (pulse 2016)

#BeThe1To

https://www.samhsa.gov/voice-

awards/nominations/consumer-peer-leaders

Local/Regional Resources

•http://www.pdxqcenter.org/https:/

•www.portlandoregon.gov/71350

•http://www.lgbtcampus.org/regions

•http://www.drluoma.com/resources.h

tml

Government Resources

• http://www.samhsa.gov/behavioral-health-equity/lgbt• http://youth.gov/youth-topics/lgbtq-youth• http://www.nationalcenterdvtraumamh.org/resources/na

tional-domestic-violence-organizations/• https://www.ihs.gov/telebehavioral/includes/themes/ne

wihstheme/display_objects/documents/slides/historicaltrauma/htgender082313.pdf

• https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-health

National Resources•http://www.nctsn.org/products/nctsn-safe-places-

video

•www.lgbthealtheducation.org/lgbt-education/lgbt-

health-resources

•www.thetrevorproject

•www.gladd.org

•www.thetaskforce.org

•www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/programs

•https://traumaawareschools.org/articles/view/9604

Contact Information

Iden Campbell McCollum

Phone: 202-241-6317Email: idenmccollum@gmail.com

Social Media

Twitter: @IdenCampbell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCampbellCenter/

ReferencesAndrea L. Roberts, PhD, S. Bryn Austin, ScD, Heather L. Corliss, PhD, Ashley K. Vandermorris, MD, and Karestan C. Koenen, PhDcorresponding author.(2010). Pervasive Trauma Exposure Among US Sexual Orientation Minority Adults and Risk of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Fenway Health. (2010). Glossary of gender and transgender terms. Boston, MA: Author. Retrieved from http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/DocServer/Handout_7-C_Glossary_of_Gender_and_Transgender_Terms__fi.pdf Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., and Tanis, J. (with Herman, J. L., Harrison, J., and Keisling, M.). (2010). National transgender discrimination survey report on health and health care. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. Retrieved from http://transequality.org/PDFs/NTDSReportonHealth_final.pdf Swarbrick, M. (2006). A wellness approach. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 29(4), 311–314.