2020 Ethics Workshop

Workshop Working with Transgender Individuals and their Families: Ethical Dilemmas Encountered Inside and Outside of Group Therapy

Working with the issues that transgender individuals, family members and those who love them face, can be challenging. Transgender people want to be able to live and be treated according to their natural and true gender which is not the gender they were given at birth. The process of change can take many steps that go beyond surgical correction and outer appearance. For many, it is a struggle that also includes legal, social, personal, ethical and spiritual challenges that are brought up in therapy with the hope of being understood, believed and respected by the therapist. Therapists may find themselves challenged with client values that differ from theirs and be compelled to look at their own ethics and attitudes regarding gender, religion, non-traditional sex, body dysmorphia, surgery for non-binary or non-gender conforming clients, hormones for children and teenagers, discrimination, family estrangement, and resilience. Knowing how these issues affect spouses, children, parents and others who love those transitioning is important for a successful transition. Therefore, therapists need a progressive knowledge of gender issues and how they present in therapy while being self-aware of their own feelings. This didactic and experiential workshop will present issues that therapists need to consider to effectively do this work. We will break into groups for discussion and resolution of cutting-edge ethical issues that present in and out of group therapy. In addition to presenting tips for therapists doing this work, there will also be an emphasis on transition and its impact on family members, particularly the parents.

Denise O’Doherty LPC, MSN, LMFT, RN

Denise O’Doherty is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Registered Psychiatric Nurse. She is also an IMAGO Relationship Therapist.

Early in her practice, she worked with crossdressers and their families and those with lesbian and gay issues. This has progressed to include individuals with non-binary gender identity, gender dysphoria, and those making gender transitions. Although her practice is mostly adults, she works with teenagers experiencing gender dysphoria and gender non-conforming identities.

In addition to her 32-year, full-time private practice in Houston, she is also an educator, lecturer and author. She has been a Clinical Instructor for the University of Texas at Houston School of Nursing. She taught in the LCDC program at the University of Houston. She also taught personal development classes for Leisure Learning Unlimited in Houston for 20 years.

In addition to gender issues, Denise specializes in Relationship Counseling, Pre-Marital Counseling, Addiction, Recovery and Codependency.

Denise recently published, Personal Boundaries and Effective Confrontation — A Workbook. (September 2019). Her first book, Thriving Through Transition — Self-Care for Parents of Transgender Children made the Amazon best seller list in September of 2018. Both her books are available on Amazon. Thriving Through Transition is also available on Amazon in Spanish.

To view more about Denise, visit www.RelationshipTherapistRN.com