Most of mental health practitioners are quite clear that their interventions and treatment plans need to be informed and supported by scientific research. However, when it comes to working with minorities, this quite often happens to not be the case. As a psychologist, researcher, and clinical supervisor, specialized in working with minorities, including LGBTQ2S+ clients, immigrants, refugees, and people of color, I have observed many cases where the clients were mistreated, stigmatized, and sometimes further retraumatized by well-meaning but ill-informed practitioners. In my presentation, I would like to demonstrate the need for mental health practitioners to consistently rely on recent evidence when treating minority clients. For example, such easily accessible resources as APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with LGB clients, the Report of the APA Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation, the APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming people, as well as the DSM 5, can be instrumental in helping practitioners provide culturally sensitive and evidence-based care to their clients, and will help prevent stigmatizing or retraumatizing them.
