An evening to celebrate the launch of Queering Psychotherapy - a groundbreaking book edited by J.C. Czyzselska, with readings, discussion and conversation from some of the contributors.
LGBTIQ+ people are more likely than cisgender and heterosexual individuals to suffer with mental health issues, yet often have poorer therapeutic outcomes. Mainstream Eurocentric psychotherapeutic theories, developed largely by heterosexual, cisgender and white theorists, tend to see LGBTIQ+ as a singular group through this othered lens. Despite the undeniable value offered by many of these theories, they and those who use them queer therapists included can often pathologize, marginalize, misunderstand and diminish the flourishing and diversity of queer experience. In this volume, editor and psychotherapist Jane Chance. Czyzselska speaks with practitioners and clients from diverse modalities and lived experiences, exploring and rethinking some of the unique challenges encountered in a world that continues to marginalize queer lives.
The discipline of psychotherapy is unavoidably implicated in the structure of
the society in which it operates. The only way to ensure it doesnt replicate
embedded social inequities and harms is for it regularly subject itself to
intense critical examination from a wide diversity of perspectives. Queering
Psychotherapy is a shining example of this kind of inquiry and should be a
compulsory read for anyone in the field, however they choose to identify. -
Dr. Aaron Balick, Psychotherapist and author.
The space of therapy can feel claustrophobic. If youre queer or trans and
working with a heteronormative therapist, the room itself can feel airless
especially when you are trying to establish a workable relationship and
understanding about your identity. An airless room fraught with
misunderstandings. This book is a reservoir of information, knowledge and
professional understandings which seek to widen out that space into a
comfortable queer landscape. Invaluable. - Juno Roche Writer.
Queering Psychotherapy is a dynamic collection featuring important,
intersectional perspectives. It tackles big topics, such as trans desire,
lesbian erasure and navigating shame, with nuance and care. Brimming with
powerful insights, this book is a vital resource for professionals and
fascinating reading material for us all. - Roxy Bourdillon, editor-in-chief
of DIVA magazine.
A stirring and necessary contribution to the field! In this liminal time,
when a new generation of clients and students are calling psychotherapists
and training institutions to accountability, Queering Psychotherapy can offer
a compelling compass for reorienting and reimagining our field. The
collaborative format of the book embodies the message vividly, by calling us
all in, to critically and heartfully join the creative project of querying
and queering the underpinning of our theories and practices. - Shoshi Asheri,
Psychotherapist, educator and creative collaborator at Aashna UK.
This excellent book takes an intersectional approach in the understanding of
psychotherapy through a queer lens and is essential reading, therefore for
those who are from the LGBTQ+ community or are working within said
communities such as myself. That this book has been brave enough to include
such a wide range of voices and perspectives, angles, cultures, and races is
a testament to just how psychotherapy can come together when it steps outside
of the heteronormative, able-bodied, white, middle class constraints within
which it has been entangled almost since its inception. This book is
essential reading and needs to be studied on courses around the country. - Dr
Dwight Turner Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Workshop Facilitator.
