WORKING WITH BISEXUAL CLIENTS: FOUNDATIONS AND BASIC COMPETENCIES

Course overview

A GROWING NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ARE COMING OUT AS BISEXUAL, OR AS PART OF WHAT IS GENERALLY CALLED THE BISEXUAL UMBRELLA THAT INCLUDES OTHER IDENTIFIERS SUCH AS PANSEXUAL, OMNISEXUAL, OR OTHERWISE SEXUALLY FLUID. INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFYING AS PART OF THE BISEXUAL UMBRELLA ARE VULNERABLE TO RECEIVING THREE MESSAGES FROM SOCIETY AT LARGE: (A) THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS BISEXUALITY, (B) YOU ARE A CONFUSED PERSON WHO HAS NOT YET FIGURED THINGS OUT, AND (C) BISEXUAL PEOPLE USE THEIR SEXUALITY IN DEVIANT OR MANIPULATIVE WAYS. ALL OF THESE MESSAGES CARRY OPPRESSIVE COGNITIONS ABOUT THE SELF AND SENSE OF BEING IN THE WORLD THAT CAN BE EXPLORED AND DISCUSSED AS TRAUMA ISSUES. IN THIS COURSE, SOME OF THE BASIC TERMINOLOGY, DEFINITIONS, AND STATISTICS ABOUT BISEXUAL MENTAL HEALTH ARE COVERED TO HELP MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS BETTER GET TO KNOW THIS POPULATION. THE CONCEPT OF OPPRESSIVE COGNITIONS AS TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES ARE DISCUSSED, AND THE WAYS IN WHICH UNINFORMED TREATMENT PROFESSIONALS FEED INTO THESE SHAMING COGNITIONS ARE DISCUSSED. SOLUTIONS FOR CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING BI-AFFIRMING TREATMENT CULTURES ARE ALSO PRESENTED.