The Role of School Counsellors and Psychologists in Supporting Transgender People

Abstract

As growing numbers of transgender people -including students, parents, and educators -become visible within schools, so comes with this the requirement that schools ensure their full inclusion. This article suggests that school counsellors and psychologists have an important role to play in supporting transgender people within schools. As an initial scoping of this suggestion, the article reports on findings from two Australian surveys: one focused on cisgender parents of transgender children, and one focused on cisgender school counsellors and psychologists in regard to their capacity for working with transgender people. The findings suggest that while the parent sample had largely negative experiences with school counsellors, the professional sample reported a high level of confidence in working with transgender people, although differences in gender and religiosity impacted upon school counsellors' and psychologists' acceptance of transgender people, and clinical knowledge for working with transgender people. The article concludes by advocating for ongoing training for school counsellors and psychologists in regard to working with transgender people, in addition to outlining the role that school counsellors and psychologists can play in facilitating a whole of school approach to transgender issues.

The capacity of South Australian primary school teachers and pre-service teachers to work with trans and gender diverse students

“…However, the findings suggest that women had more positive attitudes when compared with men. This echoes findings reported in previous research on the attitudes of school staff (Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2015;Bowers et al, 2015;Silveira & Goff, 2016), psychologists and psychology students (Riggs & Sion, 2016), and the general population (e.g. Nagoshi et al, 2008;Norton and Herek, 2013) towards trans and gender diverse people, in which men have been found to have a greater investment in, and anxiety about, the gender order and their place in it, which it has been suggested leads to more transphobic attitudes and behaviours (Riggs & Sion, 2016;Nagoshi et al, 2008;Norton and Herek, 2013).…”

“…Research with parents of young trans and gender diverse children suggests that a key barrier to inclusion relates to school staff members' understandings of gender, and whether discussions of gender diversity are viewed as taboo or are positively included within school policies and practices (Pullen Sansfaçon, et al, 2015). Studies show that a lack of knowledge amongst staff makes school experiences difficult for both parents and children (Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2015;Pullen Sansfaçon, et al, 2015), and that parents may even experience hostility from staff (Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2015;Kuvalanka, et al, 2014). Other studies have found that parents fear for their child's safety at school (Hill & Menvielle, 2009;Riley, Sitharthan, Clemson, & Diamond, 2013).…”

Attitudes Toward Transgender Men and Women: Development and Validation of a New Measure

“…Walch et al's ( 2012 ) ATTI consists of 20 items derived primarily from existing homophobia scales, all of which loaded on one factor with a reliability of α = 0.95. While Walch et al ( 2012 ) demonstrated discriminant and convergent validity and Riggs and Bartholomaeus ( 2015 ) demonstrated the predictive validity of the ATTI, Riggs and Bartholomaeus's ( 2016 ) application of the ATTI to an independent sample produced no statistically significant results. They hypothesized that may have been because the ATTI, “despite the amendments made, is relatively blunt” (Riggs and Bartholomaeus, 2016 , p. 216).…”

Australian mental health professionals’ competencies for working with trans clients: a comparative study

“…Across the world, trans people (referring here, following Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2015, to people whose gender differs from that normatively expected of their assigned sex) are increasingly accessing mental health services. Yet previous research suggests that many trans people have negative experiences with mental health care providers (e.g., del Pozo de Bolger, Jones, Dunstan, & Lykins, 2014;Ellis, Bailey, & MacNeil, 2015; McNeil, Bailey, Ellis, Morton, & Regan, 2012;Riggs, Coleman, & Due, 2014).…”