The Essential Guide to Gender Diversity in Children and Adolescents: What Every Therapist Needs to Know

Sarah Burgamy, Psy.D. is the founder of a private practice in Denver, Colorado, PhoenixRISE, with specialty offerings in identity development, sexual minority competency as well as transgender and gender diverse identities in adults, adolescents and children. Dr. Burgamy received her doctorate degree from the University of Denver, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis on child and adolescent development.

Dr. Burgamy has provided presentations and trainings in diverse professional settings, both on a local and national level in educational settings from preschools to colleges and universities, in healthcare settings such as the Colorado Children’s Hospital, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver Health, and the Department of Veterans Affairs in New Haven, CT, as well as in the public and private community and professional sectors for organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), and Google.  Dr. Burgamy has been interviewed or featured in media coverage in The Denver Post series, “Transgender in Colorado,” and on the Denver based daytime program, “The Everyday Show” addressing the phenomenon of gender identity and expression in children.

Dr. Burgamy currently serves as a representative of the Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (Division 44) to the American Psychological Association (APA) Council of Representatives (2022-2024) and previously served as a member, and 2019 chair, of the APA Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (2017-2019).  She is a Past-President of Colorado Psychological Association (CPA) and has previously served as the diversity division chair of CPA – Society for the Advancement of Multiculturalism and Diversity (SAMD).  Dr. Burgamy has been a member of the Board of Directors for Urban Peak, a non-profit organization in Colorado serving youth experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, since 2008, and joined the Board of Trustees at Stanley British Primary School in Denver, Colorado in 2019.  Dr. Burgamy currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology at APA.

The Essential Guide to Gender Diversity in Children and Adolescents: What Every Therapist Needs to Know
Agenda

Module 1: The Gender Regime – Navigating “gender-land” – Recorded Live Session – 90 mins – 1.5 CEs

Perhaps one of the strongest cultural categorizations, gender (gender, gender identity and gender expression) are at once socially defined and, research suggests, intrinsically experienced. This module focuses on how to understand, conceptualize and navigate a shifting societal gender landscape. Taking into account the socio-cultural roots of the category of gender, as anthropologically identified, and further defining how it relates to sex assigned at birth, human development (cognitive and physical), and generational influences, most of today’s clinicians are ill prepared to assist gender diverse children and adolescents.

In this module, we will discuss:

– How to differentiate gender, gender identity and gender expression
– The limitations of the binary conceptualization of gender as a human identity category
– How gender and sex assigned at birth relate and differ
– A contemporary model of gender identification in youth

Module 2: Alphabet Soup & the Gender Collision Course – Recorded Live Session – 90 mins – 1.5 CEs

Terminology – giving something a name is meant to help the human brain understand, synthesize, relate and contextualize information. Acronyms, specifically, are uniquely deigned to help us simplify complex names and terms to better navigate our social sphere. What are we to do when an acronym of identity becomes unwieldy and a veritable “alphabet soup”?! This module will begin to identify common terms in gender identity, sexual orientation and considerations of sex assigned at birth.

In this module, we will discuss:

– How to identify conceptually different aspects of human identity – gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, sex assigned at birth, relational orientation and sexuality – which are commonly conflated in the acronym LGBTQI+
– Contemporary terminology for all of these aspects of identity
– A functional way to think of varied identities – gender, sexual orientation, etc. – such that we can continue to navigate when new terms proliferate faster than we can learn them

Module 3: Who Will I be When I Grow up?: Understanding Developmental Implications and Phenomenology in Gender Diversity in Children and Adolescents – Recorded Live Session – 90 mins – 1.5 CEs

“Isn’t that child too young to know who they are?” “When I was a teenager, I tried on different identities like I was trying on new hairstyles…” “When I think about myself at 20, all I can think is how much better I know myself now”. Identity development is necessarily a process over time. However, often, in gender identity related work with children and adolescents, the advantage of knowing something over time can be truncated by presenting gender related distress, clinically known as gender dysphoria.

In this module, we will discuss:

– How to conceptualize gender identity development from early childhood through adolescence and into adulthood
– Clinical conundrums of navigating gender affirming healthcare in the midst of cognitive and physical development
– An introduction as to the mental health provider’s role in multi-disciplinary care

Module 4: Playing by the “Rules” – Guidelines, Standards of Care and Beyond (Otherwise Known as “Help, isn’t there an Instruction Manual for this?!”) – Recorded Live Session – 90 Mins – 1.5 CEs

Evidenced based practices (EBPs) have come to be more than benchmarks of quality care, in many instances, EBPs are required in healthcare workplace settings or by managed care. This module focuses on current guidelines for practice with gender diverse people, as well as internationally established standards of care. Additionally, we will focus on where we lack breadth of research and possible clinical conundrums in working with minors.

In this module, we will discuss:

– Prevailing guidelines for practice – American Psychological Association Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people, 2015
– International Standards of Care – World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Standards of Care, version 7
– Evolving research in the arena of implications for gender affirming health care
– Current controversies pertaining to gender competent care for developing children and adolescents

Module 5: Kids Come with Adults 😱 – Ensuring Culturally Competent Gender Related Care with Family, and Caregiver Systems – Recorded Live Session – 90 mins – 1.5 CEs

Social creatures by nature, and dependent on adults as minors, children and adolescents in contemporary societies very necessarily come to treatment with pivotal caregiving adults. Whether parents, or caregivers designated by the state, gender diverse children and adolescents will benefit from a provider who can successfully, and skillfully, navigate complex relational considerations and interactions without ostracizing caregiving adult figures. This module will examine common considerations of family systems of gender diverse youth, as well as possible conflicts, barriers or blockades in understanding.

In this module, we will discuss:

– The crucial provider role to balance both advocacy and empathy for all parties of a family system
– How psycho-education of adults is a critical component of gender related care for youth
– Navigation of differing and, at times, conflictual core values in families, systems and the cultural context

• Differentiate gender, gender identity and gender expression
• Indicate the limitations of the binary conceptualization of gender as a human identity category
• Summarize contemporary model of gender identification in youth
• Identify conceptually different aspects of human identity – gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, sex assigned at birth, relational orientation and sexuality – which are commonly conflated in the acronym LGBTQI+
• Describe clinical conundrums of navigating gender affirming healthcare in the midst of cognitive and physical development
• Explain the International Standards of Care – World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Standards of Care, version 7
• Cite evolving research in the arena of implications for gender affirming health care
• Discuss current controversies pertaining to gender competent care for developing children and adolescents

 

This course is $347.

If for some reason you are not satisfied with the course, you have 7 days from your purchase date to cancel and request a refund.  Please refer to the policy section for details on how to cancel.

Cost of CEs are $40 and can be purchased at the end of the program. You will be notified by email at the end of the program with instructions on how to obtain CEs.

PLEASE READ THE PROFESSION AND STATE CE INFORMATION BELOW CAREFULLY.

Satisfactory Completion
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to purchase the 7.5 CEs offered for this training for a cost of $40USD.  Once the CEs are purchased, you will be asked to fill out an evaluation and then taken to a post-test, which will need to be completed with a passing grade of 80% or higher in order to receive the CE certificate.

Psychologists: This program is approved for 7.5 CEs with the Colorado Chapter of the APA*.

The Colorado Psychological Association (CPA) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CPA maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Please Note: Most states will accept the approval of other state licensing boards of the same license type. Some states, either do not require pre-approval of courses, or will allow licensees to retroactively file for course approval themselves. Check with your board to obtain a final ruling.