When a client goes to the doctor, do all their needs get met? When a client from an oppressed community goes to the doctor, do all their needs get met? Clinicians taking this course will understand how the medical system can work against clients who are oppressed and living with chronic pain and illnesses. Clinicians need to be prepared to listen to their clients, believe in their clients’ pain and illness and sit with them in their exhaustion with true empathy. Katie Leikam, LCSW who has lived experience with chronic pain and illness will walk clinicians through scenarios chronic pain and illness clients who are oppressed face every day in the nation. At the end of this course, clinicians will understand medical trauma on oppressed communities and how it affects their mental health as well as when to support the client advocating for themselves and support their client resting. After this presentation, clinicians will have a true understanding of client’s day to day lives who live with chronic pain and illness and how that affects how they show up in the therapy room. This is a 3 hour live CEU course submitted for approval to the UGA School of Social Work ASWB continuing education department for 3 core hours for LCSW’s, LPC’s, LMFT’s and their associate licenses.

The World Professional Association of Transgender Health released the SOC8 in September of 2022, yet many clinicians are not yet aware of the changes needed to allow their practice to be more affirming and working in line with the new standards. This is a 3-hour in depth chapter by chapter CEU deep dive into these new standards. SOC8 made changes to multiple chapters as well as created new chapters that were not in SOC7. This CEU will make clinicians aware of the relevant changes to SOC8 and how to implement gender affirming care into their clinical practices and client work. Clinicians will be up to date on the WPATH standards of care after taking this CEU and be able to help their clients advocate for themselves using best practices. Clinicians will also understand if these changes have been implemented by insurance companies, doctors and surgeons yet and what to do if insurance companies and medical practitioners are still working with the stricter SOC 7 standards. Katie will also review gender support letter writing based on the new SOC8 standards.

Across the nation, anti-trans laws have been passed this year which in many cases prohibit gender affirming care and medical and/or surgical treatment to the transgender community, particularly youth under age 18. In GA SB140 was effective on July 1st, which stopped life saving care for our transgender clients that were not already receiving treatment of hormones or had already had surgery. Clinicians are now tasked with walking with our clients through this new climate of anti-trans laws towards the transgender community. What is your role as a clinician for your client and their family? How will these laws affect you and your license or ability to treat? How can you continue to affirm your transgender youth clients? All of these questions will be answered by Katie Leikam, LCSW, LISW-CP, WPATH GEI certified clinician, and taught during this informative CEU that every transgender affirming clinician needs to take.

This 5-hour core CEU covers a brief overview of terms and definitions for the transgender community and explains the differences between sex, gender identity, and gender expression. Clinicians will understand the structure of WPATH gender support letters for surgery and what informed consent means. Katie Leikam will teach participants how gender dysphoria interacts with co-occurring concerns and conditions including generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, self-harm and more, including time for Q & A with Katie including conceptual case discussions. Katie will spend time teaching how to recognize the difference between body dysmorphia and gender dysphoria. Clinicians will learn three clinical modalities to work with clients exploring their gender identity and those with gender dysphoria, including solution focused therapy, mindful self-compassion, and existential therapy.

LGBTQ and transgender clients have often experienced religious trauma in their youth and throughout their life. Clinicians should be able to recognize religious trauma syndrome in clients and how to ethically respond to that trauma. At the end of this presentation, clinicians will understand what religious trauma syndrome is and how it affects LGBTQ and transgender clients. They will examine various scriptures and how they respond to LGBTQ and transgender people as well. This CEU will also address clinician’s own spirituality bias when working with LGBTQ clients who have experienced religious trauma. After taking this class clinicians will have ethically examined their own bias and learn how to ethically provide secular therapy if indicated as a desire by the client so as to not further harm LGBTQ clients. This CEU allows a clinician to look inward and understand how to ethically treat religious trauma from a non-judgmental, without bias, perspective.

In this 3 hour CEU course you will come to understand the continuum of gender identity in children. You will understand gender identity and the stages of child development, You will learn to  to talk to and include parents, youth groups, friends and schools in supporting transgender children including practicing. We will cover a multitude of  clinical interventions for supporting transgender children.

As a therapist, most of the clients I see are neurodivergent and I want to bring my clinical skills and knowledge to you and your practice. A clinician should certainly be trans affirming and affirming of neurodivergent clients, but there’s much more than just being affirming when working with autistic clients. How do you allow a client to feel safe and able to be open to you? How do you navigate a family session that is going downhill with an autistic client and their parents? What if a parent tells you they don’t believe their autistic child is trans because of their autism? Clinicians will also learn how to work with autistic transgender adults who are also experiencing the exhaustion of masking and navigating social situations, and they could have more disconnection with their body. Because there is a correlation of autism and transgender and gender expansive clients, this CEU is a must take for clinicians that work with transgender clients. This presentation will also cover the exhaustion that autistic adults encounter with masking through life as well as how they show up as autistic transgender employees and the stress of those roles.