LGBTQ+ affirming care training is necessary for staff working in behavioral health settings, hospitals, and social service organizations. LGBTQ+ individuals experience higher rates of mental health challenges and often experience troubling encounters with mental health providers who do not fully understand or appreciate the concerns that stem from being a part of a marginalized community (or more than one marginalized identity). To address these needs, Envision:You developed a multi-phase, in-person, and online training program that delivers its content through an intersectional and trauma-informed lens.
Envision:You, along with its research and training development partner OMNI Institute, have identified and reviewed relevant literature and curricula to determine best practices as it relates to training programs\ that assess and treat LGBTQ+ individuals who have a behavioral health concern. That research has provided the foundation for the development of the Envision:You Behavioral Health Provider Training Program. The program has also been supported by behavioral health providers, public health experts, and a community advisory board of people with lived experience.
The Envision:You Behavioral Health Provider Training Program is a comprehensive initiative designed to empower registered and licensed mental health clinicians, addiction counselors, certified peer specialists, and social workers with cutting-edge skills and crucial knowledge. This program is your gateway to elevating the delivery of high-quality, culturally relevant, and affirming behavioral health interventions specifically tailored for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Topics include: Spectrums of sexuality and gender; using inclusive and affirming language; intersectionality; the history of LGBTQ+ behavioral health care; barriers to treatment; health and mental health disparities; population-specific competencies; cultural relevancy; trauma-informed care; effective treatment models; healthy coping skills; systemic biases; internalized oppression; coming out; gender dysphoria; administrative inclusiveness; and population-specific barriers to care.
Level One: Constitutes a 75-minute on demand, online training featuring dynamic content which includes randomized testing that an individual must pass before signing up for the Level Two course.
Level Two: This is a 9-hour, comprehensive training offered either as a webinar split into two half days or an in-person full day training. The interactive format ensures participants are engaged in the content, have the opportunity to interact with presenters and other participants, and leave feeling inspired and ready to provide affirming behavioral health services to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Population Specific Modules : These 1 hour on-demand, online modules focus on unique disparities when working with individuals holding multiple marginalized identities. These modules are intended to come after Level One and Level Two as further learning.
The available modules are:
➔Working with Transgender and Gender-Diverse Communities ➔ Working with LGBTQ+ Youth ➔Working with LGBTQ+ Older Adults ➔Working with LGBTQ+ Communities of Color
Level 1 of the Envision:You LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Provider Training Program is designed to help participants:
1. Increase understanding of history, stigma, and disparities of the LGBTQ+ population;
2. Expand knowledge of LGBTQ+ specific identities and terms, including the spectrums of sexuality and gender;
3. Increase knowledge and understanding of LGBTQ+ affirming and inclusive language; and
4. Introduce best practices and considerations for providing LGBTQ+ affirmative behavioral health care.
Level 2 of the Envision:You LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Provider Training Program is designed to help participants: 1. Increase understanding of the unique experiences and traumas of LGBTQ+ people; 2. Develop a foundation that allows for deeper exploration of best practices and considerations for behavioral health providers working with LGBTQ+ clients; 3. Increase understanding of the importance of using an intersectional lens in understanding LGBTQ+ clients’ experiences and identities; 4. Enhance awareness of personal and systemic biases, how they influence institutional settings, and how to mitigate them within institutions to treat a diverse client base; 5. Expand knowledge on the cultural role of substance use among LGBTQ+ folks; 6. Identify and build understanding of the structural and administrative barriers that prevent LGBTQ+ individuals from receiving culturally responsive care in order to create more inclusive behavioral healthcare settings; and 7. Apply knowledge gained in course to explore best practices and considerations for people working directly with LGBTQ+ clients.
Working with Transgender and Gender Diverse Communities is designed to help participants: 1. Learn about the experiences of transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse communities in medical and behavioral health care; 2. Learn about resources and techniques to make your behavioral health practice more inclusive to trans and gender-diverse communities; and 3. Improve ways to become an ally in healthcare for trans and gender-diverse communities.
Working with LGBTQ+ Youth is designed to help participants: 1. Learn to support youth under 25 in navigating their identities, including intersecting identities; 2. Identify tools to help support LGBTQ+ youth in stressful situations; and 3. Explore how providers can help young people navigate the cultural systems that hinder their ability to thrive.
Working with LGBTQ+ Older Adults is designed to help participants: 1. Learn about the historical context that LGBTQ+ older adults experienced, including recognizing the powerful advocacy of the leaders, the community resiliency, and challenges faced; 2. Recognize the importance of social supports within the LGBTQ+ older adult community; 3. Identify how COVID impacted older adults; 4. Understand mental health considerations for LGBTQ+ older adults; and 5. Identify your role in creating and connecting LGBTQ+ older adults to accessible and affirming services;
Working with LGBTQ+ Communities of Color is designed to help participants:
1. Learn about the role of BIPOC in the LGBTQ+ rights movement;
2. Understand systemic issues that affect the mental health of LGBTQ+ BIPOC;
3. Considerations for working with immigrants, refugee, and asylee LGBTQ+ populations;
4. Focusing on resilience and support systems of the community; and
5. Creating inclusive practices to support BIPOC clients/patients.
Level 1: Introductory on-demand 75-minute training, including continuing education credits:
Exciting news! We are offering our Level 1 training at no cost to anyone working to support behavioral health in the state of Colorado until funds run out. If you are interested in receiving our training at no-cost, you can fill out the interest form here. If you are interested in receiving our training at no-cost, you can fill out the interest form here.
Level 2: Comprehensive 9-hour facilitated webinar (two half days) or 8.5-hour live training, including continuing education credits:
Population-Specific Modules: One hour, on-demand modules for further learning that come after Level One and Level Two. Anyone who completes Level One and Two gets access to one population specific module at NO COST. Any additional modules after the first are $95 individually, or $215 for all three.
Discounts for corporate and nonprofit organizations available for Levels 1 & 2. For more information please contact the Program Manager, Marie Hafner, at marie.hafner@envision-you.org.
