Matching the experiences of what culturally competent mental health support means to LGBTQI individuals and practitioners

• Autor(a) principal: Schmidt, Inga
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30630
• topic: Cultural competence; Sexual and gender diversity; Mental health care; LGBTQI individuals; Terapêutica -- Therapy; Counselling; Practitioner; Mental health care/services; Competência cultural; Diversidade sexual e de género; Cuidados de saúde mental; Indivíduos LGBTQI; Aconselhamento; Profissional; Cuidados/serviços de saúde mental

Affirmative mental health support is not yet equally accessible for sexual and gender diverse individuals. This qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews to explore what the experiences of both clients and professionals reveal about diversity competence in mental health care in the European context. The experiences of ten lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or intersex (LGBTQI) individuals (aged 24-36) offered insights into professionals' competencies in working with sexually and gender diverse clients and ideal improvements for affirmative support. In addition, twelve clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and/or counselors (aged 26-65) reflected diversity on the continuum of cultural competence in terms of awareness, attitudes, knowledge, and skills. The following themes emerged in a separate thematic analysis of both perspectives. First, the client perspective reported their experiences in the areas of (1) Therapeutic Experience, (2) Practitioners Competence, and (3) Mental Health Care System. Second, practitioner experiences were categorized into (1) Awareness and Attitudes, (2) Diversity Knowledge, and (3) Clinical Skills. Third, three themes were prevalent in both perspectives: (1) Validation of LGBTQI Clients’ Experiences and Emotions, (2) Therapeutic Qualities, (3) Shared Experiences. Practitioner awareness was considered most important, as was actively reaching out to valid sources of knowledge, including lived experiences related to sexual and gender diversity and LGBTQI+ networks. In summary, the coherence of both perspectives highlights the need to go beyond a clinical framework for recognizing diversity in mental health care and to create a more holistic picture of diversity competencies in mental health care in the European context.