Working with Trans Clients: Trans Resilience and Gender Euphoria An interview with Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II, about how therapists can be better clinicians for trans people. Curt and Katie talk to Beck about gender identity (and why every therapist should do their own work around gender), historical perspectives on masculinity and femininity, the concepts of trans resilience and gender euphoria, the real problems with the DSM diagnosis of gender dysphoria and considerations for providing therapy to trans clients.  Interview with Beck Gee-Cohen MA CADC-II Director of LGBTQ+ Programming Beck is a master’s level clinician with an undergraduate degree in Sociology with an emphasis on Gender & Sexuality and a master’s degree in Addiction Counseling. Beck has worked in the mental health & substance use field for over 10 years in various capacities. The main focus of his work has been invested in the LGBTQ+ community, adolescents, and families. Over this decade, Beck has trained numerous facilities on LGBTQ+ best practices, has been a keynote and presenter at many conferences, and has facilitated workshops about LGBTQ+, trauma, adolescents, gender and sexuality. Beck is the Director of LGBTQ+ Programming at Visions Adolescent Treatment Center. This program is for young people at Visions who identify in the community, those who are questioning, and their families. It includes process groups, psychoeducation, and family programming with professionals specifically trained and experienced in the LGBTQ+ population and best practices. Alongside the already dynamic team at Visions Adolescent Treatment Center in Los Angeles, young LGBTQ+ people and their families will find a space that serves their specific needs in regards to healing and thriving. In this podcast episode we talk about trans mental health We invited Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II to come talk with us about providing therapy for trans individuals. Modern therapists need to keep learning when working with trans clients Getting pronouns correct is a basic expectation at this point Finding the balance between focusing on a client’s trans identity and other elements of their identity and experience Understanding trans identity 101 is a basic level of knowledge that all therapists should have What you do need to learn from your trans clients Therapists need to do their own work around gender   The work that therapists must do around gender “Sexuality and gender should be discussed across the board for everyone” – Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II The role that society plays in defining gender and the binary The privilege cis folks have in not being asked to assess/address their gender “Women’s” and “men’s” issues Societal expectations related to gender The history of gender expression and how what is acceptable has shifted Cultural and generational differences related to gender   The Concept of Trans Resilience “I came out as an act of survival” – Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II The tendency to focus on the pain of being trans The bias and hate that trans folks face, and how they continue to show up The importance of celebrating who you are as a trans person “You’re so brave” doesn’t see the full picture How hard it is to show up – and what it means that trans folks continue to do so Moving away from just focusing on gender dysphoria versus looking at gender euphoria   Gender Dysphoria versus Gender Euphoria and the problems with the DSM “You don’t have to hate yourself to be trans. That’s actually a false narrative given to us by the DSM... I’m not dysphoric about my gender. Everyone else is dysphoric about my gender... so the gender dysphoria is actually internalized.” – Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II How the DSM is used for the medical needs of trans folks The problem with assigning the diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria to an individual Internalized gender dysphoria (it is not my dysphoria, it is the dysphoria of the people around me about my gender) Playing around with gender shouldn’t