Addiction in LGBTGEQIAP+ Populations

Course overview

Full Title: Addiction in LGBTGEQIAP (Plus Sign Here, But Portal Did NOT Allow It) Populations:Ethical, Identity-Affirming, & Trauma-Competent Care for Substance, Behavioral / Process, & Relational Patterns Intersecting With Addictions Course Description: LGBTGEQIAP (Plus Sign Here But Portal Did NOT Allow It) individuals experience disproportionately high rates of substance use concerns, behavioral/process compulsions, and relational patterns that intersect with addiction, often shaped by minority stress, trauma exposure, identity-based threat, and systemic barriers to care. Yet, these presentations are frequently misunderstood, over-pathologized, or ethically misframed in clinical practice. This asynchronous, on-demand course equips counselors and helping professionals with a trauma-competent, identity-affirming, and ethically precise framework for understanding and responding to addiction-related concerns in LGBTGEQIAP (Plus Sign Here, But Portal Did NOT Allow It) populations. Rather than relying on one-size-fits-all addiction models, the training emphasizes context, nervous system function, agency, and structural constraint as central to accurate assessment and intervention. Participants will explore substance use, behavioral/process compulsions, and relational patterns through a lens that differentiates addiction, compulsion, trauma-shaped regulation, and survival responses, including clear guidance on when addiction frameworks are appropriate and when they are not. The course integrates minority stress theory, trauma-informed and polyvagal-informed principles, and current counseling ethics to reduce documentation harm, prevent victim-blaming, and support ethical clinical decision-making. Designed for counselors across mental health, medical, educational, and community settings, this course offers practical clinical language, case-based application, and ethical guardrails to support effective, affirming care with diverse LGBTGEQIAP (Plus Sign Here But Portal Did NOT Allow It) clients. Presenter: Julia M. Wedemeyer, MA, LPC (OH), NCC, CTP, ISTT Owner/Provider, InnerVision Resources, LLC