The landscape around gender identity is rapidly shifting among today's youth. Young people are becoming more diverse in their expression of gender and more open to exploring various aspects of their identities. Meanwhile, the health care field is quickly evolving to best meet the needs of this population. It can be difficult for parents and health care providers who work with gender diverse youth to keep up with how to best support them.

In this half-day, interactive, on-line program, PCFINE welcomes Laura Edwards-Leeper, PhD, an international expert in the field of mental health care for gender diverse children, teens, and young adults. She will cover a brief history of the field of pediatric gender care, common mental health challenges that exist for gender diverse youth, an overview of the current health care recommendations, ethical dilemmas faced by providers, and controversies in the field.  Her focus will be on clinical approaches, challenges and opportunities to working with gender distressed youth and their parents, illuminated through case examples. Consistent with the rapidly changing field, the information will be up-to-date to ensure that it is as relevant as possible to providers' current work with this population. 

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

1.Describe some current challenges for transgender and gender diverse youth, including common mental health struggles.

2.Outline important elements involved in providing psychotherapy to teens and young adults struggling with gender dysphoria, including when and how to involve parents in that work.

3.Describe some of the current controversies and challenges in the field of pediatric transgender care.

Laura Edwards-Leeper, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in working with gender distressed individuals across the lifespan, with more specific focus on children, adolescents, and young adults. She was the founding psychologist for the Gender Management Service (GeMS) at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) where she developed the psychological assessment protocol for gender dysphoric adolescents seeking medical interventions. She currently engages in full-time clinical work in her private practice, leads trainings, and provides consultation to health care providers. She has engaged in research and authored numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles. She worked at Seattle Children’s Hospital, the pediatric gender program at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, and was a faculty member in the School of Graduate Psychology at Pacific University in Oregon where she holds the status of Professor Emerita. Dr. Edwards-Leeper has been a member of several national and international committees focused on policy and advocacy work for transgender youth, including the American Psychological Association. She was selected to be on both the child and adolescent World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) committees that revised the Standards of Care (Version 8) that was released in 2022. She has been interviewed by countless media outlets and is considered an international expert in the field, and an advocate for the rights and health care needs of gender diverse and transgender youth.

REFERENCES:

Edwards-Leeper, L., Leibowitz, S. and Sangganjanavanich, V.F.  (2016). Affirmative Practice with Transgender and Nonconforming Youth: Expanding the Model. Psychology of Social Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3(2), 165-172.

MacKinnon, K.R., et al (2024). Discontinuation of Gender-Affirming Medical Treatments: Prevalence and Associated Features in a Nonprobabilistic Sample of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adolescents and Young Adults in Canada and the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health, 75(4), 569-577.

PARTICIPANTS:

This program is open to all PCFINE members, other interested mental health professionals and students.  It is intended for those with a beginner to advanced level of knowledge.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

Full refund if notice of cancellation is received by March 15, 2025.

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

Psychologists – The Psychodynamic Couple and Family Institute of New England (PCFINE) is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  PCFINE maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This program fulfills the requirements of 3 hours of CE credit.  Please note: No partial credit can be given.  You must arrive within 10 minutes before the start time and stay until 10 minutes of the end time to receive CE credit.  Participants from states other than Massachusetts will need to file with their respective licensing boards.  PCFINE will issue a certificate of attendance to those who complete the workshop, but this issuance does not guarantee CEU acceptance by boards other than APA and NASWMA.

Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Licensed Family and Systemic Therapists may call 781-449-8365 or email [email protected] for CE information. 

PCFINE is committed to non-discrimination and will conduct all activities in strict conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists.  If you believe that a violation of ethics has occurred during the program, or have any other complaints or questions, please contact Justin Newmark, Ph.D. at [email protected].

There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between the CE  sponsor, presenters, workshop content, research, grants, or other funding that could reasonably be construed as a conflict of interest.

REGISTRATION:

The deadline for registration is March 20, 2025.

This program grants 3.0 CE's.

FEE:

PCFINE Member
Early Bird Rate (by 2/20)   $90
Regular Rate (2/21 to 3/20)  $110

Non-Member
Early Bird Rate (by 2/20)   $120
Regular Rate (2/21 to 3/20)   $140

Equity* and Student
$50

*The "equity rate" is intended for prospective registrants who identify as belonging to racial or ethnic groups with historical barriers to resources, and/or clinicians who work primarily with low income individuals or groups who have also endured historical barriers to resources by virtue of their race or ethnicity.