Celebrating Gender Diversity in Clinical Practice: The Gender & Family Project [Online]

Through self-reflective practice, participants will be able to gain vocabulary and fluency with affirming language to support gender diversity in clinical and nonclinical settings. Clinicians will also be introduced to the multi-dimensional family therapy model as a framework for considering the developmental tasks families navigate in the acceptance and affirmation of their transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary young people. Finally, by viewing clips of family therapy sessions, participants will be able to see it all in practice!

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to gain vocabulary and fluency with affirming language to support gender diversity in clinical and nonclinical settings
• Participants will be able to identify barriers to accessing care and support
• Participants will be able to use the multi-dimensional family therapy model as a framework for considering the developmental tasks families navigate in affirming of their TGNCNB family members
• Participants will be able to reflect on their social location as it pertains to cases presented and consider how they may respond in these and their own cases

Presenters:

Alexis Diaz, LMSW, has been a social worker since 2011 and has experience working in youth development and school-based programs from early childhood through college. Alexis’s prior experience with adults includes work in street homelessness, incarceration, and mental health in primary care settings. They’re particularly passionate about working within communities of color and queer communities to elevate our voices, make visible our strengths, and celebrate our beauty and complexity. Alexis is also a trainee at the Ackerman Institute in the Clinical Externship Program in Family Therapy.

Derrick T. Jordan, M.Div, LMSW, is a classically trained musician who earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, cum laude, from Virginia Commonwealth University as well as a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University. For years, Derrick has led spiritually-based educational initiatives while serving in various ministerial capacities at nationally recognized faith organizations. Derrick’s pastoral care and counseling experience helps guide his clinical work; navigating the complexities of faith and spirituality at the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity/expression, and sexuality. Derrick trained with Ackerman Institute’s Social Work and Diversity Program, Gender & Family Project: Unity Project in Family Engagement and Acceptance, The Minuchin Center for the Family, and has experience as a therapist working with those impacted by the child welfare system. The lens through which Derrick’s work is informed is one that celebrates the richness of diversity and culture to create a greater sense of wholeness and wellbeing. Derrick is currently a family therapist and group facilitator at Ackerman Institute for the Family, Gender & Family Project. In his leisure time, Derrick is a long-distance runner, avid reader, foodie and music enthusiast.

Delilah Seligman is a Training & Capacity Building Associate for the Gender & Family Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. Originally from Boston, Delilah attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in 2016 with a BA in Psychology. The following fall, she began her master’s education at Columbia University School of Social Work, having recently completed the program, earning her MSSW degree. Delilah has worked with various LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations, including PFLAG, the NYC LGBT Community Center, and Sylvia Rivera Law Project, focusing on psychoeducation; community organizing and activism; program and materials development; communications; and capacity building. In her spare time, Delilah enjoys performing music with various DIY punk bands in NYC, as well as expressing herself creatively through art and writing. Her experiences as a multiracial transgender woman have inspired her to fight injustice for all marginalized communities, and through her advocacy, clinical, and educational work, she hopes to create sustainable social change for those most impacted by oppression.