Family and Systems Aggression Toward Therapists
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-20-2010
Description
Mental health professionals who work with transgender clients often report feeling unsupported by colleagues and/or the institutions that employ them. Moreover, family members of transgendered clientsmay aggress against the therapist, whom they see as assisting their family member in this shame-producing gender transition. To test the prevalence of direct and indirect acts of aggression against therapists who work with transgendered clients, a questionnaire was sent to members who work with this population. Results show that while threats and/or assaults from families of transgendered patients do occur, they are no more frequent than assaults perpetuated by relatives of non-transgendered clients. However, health care providers who work with this population are more likely to experience prejudice or administrative aggression from within mental health systems.
Citation Information
Ettner, Randi; White, Tonya; and Brown, George R.. 2010. Family and Systems Aggression Toward Therapists. International Journal of Transgenderism. Vol.12(3). 139-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2010.514218 ISSN: 1553-2739