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Chapter 20: Sex, Gender, and Affectional Identities and Intersectionality: Expanding Application of Gender Diversity

DOI:

10.1891/9780826163424.0020

Authors

  • Grey, Earl

Abstract

Understanding the variance across sex/gender/affectional diversity is a foundational part of clinical practice with gender-influenced client issues. All clients have biological developments that lead to sex/gender/affectional differentiation and variance. As a specialist in this topic area, I have learned that most of my clients have experienced both direct and indirect clinical barriers that required focused treatment on sex/gender/affectional issues that can be compounded by cultural context factors. Further, the impact of systemic oppression that perpetuates racism, colorism, ableism, sizeism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and transphobia can directly impact the therapeutic relationship. The concept of intersectionality aids clinicians to gain rich understanding of a client’s experience with oppression and privilege. In this chapter, we explore how to improve positive treatment outcomes by integrating a sex/gender/affectional diversity, intersectionality, and Eriksonian psychosocial development with specific consideration to systemic oppression based on sex/gender/affectional identities across all phases of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.