Matthew D. Skinta, PhD, ABPP, is a clinical health psychologist
who lives with his husband in San Francisco, CA. In addition to a
private practice, he is core clinical faculty at Palo Alto
University, where he directs the Sexual and Gender Identities
Clinic. His past research has focused on the impact of stigma and
shame on health behaviors of sexual minority men, particularly as
it relates to sexual health and HIV-related care.
Aisling A. Curtin, MSc, RegPsychol, PSSI, is a registered
counseling psychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland who
lives with her partner in Dublin, Ireland. She is director of ACT
Now Ireland, has a small private practice, and consults with a
number of organizations to deliver acceptance and mindfulness
workshops. Aisling teaches on many university training programs and
regularly gives workshops internationally on sexuality from a
mindfulness and acceptance vantage point. She is an acceptance and
commitment therapy (ACT) and functional analytic psychotherapy
(FAP) trainer.
"Mindfulness and Acceptance for Gender and Sexual Minorities is an
important contribution to the next wave of therapies for GSM. As we
move beyond a focus on affirmative and non-pathologizing therapies,
it is crucial that we begin to adapt evidence-based therapies to
meet the needs of the diverse populations that we treat.
Mindfulness and acceptance are approaches that are especially
suited for GSM clients struggling not only to accept themselves,
but also to live effectively in a changing, and at times, hostile
culture. This book is essential for any clinician treating GSM
clients."
--Jayme L. Peta, PhD, coauthor of The Gender Quest Workbook
"I finished this book feeling both humbled and at the same time
empowered in my work with GSM clients. It provides a very
approachable overview of the theoretical foundations central to
contextual behavioral science, while at the same time being
extremely practical and directly applicable for clinicians,
offering numerous clinical examples and suggested exercises. This
book is an essential read for any clinician working with issues of
sexuality, gender and gender identity, stigma, and shame from a
functional contextual perspective."
--Jenna LeJeune, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist, and cofounder
and director of clinical services at Portland Psychotherapy Clinic,
Research, and Training Center in Portland, OR
"Matthew Skinta and Aisling Curtin have edited the preeminent book
on GSM-affirmative treatment. Writing from their core personal and
professional experiences, the chapter contributors inspire readers
to become not only more insightful and effective therapists, but to
strive for cultural humility and societal equality. This deeply
thoughtful and heart-stirring treasure trove will guide clinicians
for generations to come."
--Mavis Tsai, PhD, coauthor of A Guide to Functional Analytic
Psychotherapy, and research scientist and clinical faculty at the
University of Washington
"Skinta, Curtin, and the chapter authors respond to the need in the
field to articulate ways in which mindfulness-based approaches can
address many specific challenges faced by gender and sexual
minority (GSM) individuals. It is increasingly important to ensure
that GSM (and other minority) populations are able to access mental
health treatments that are both evidenced-based and follow
culturally competent, affirmative care. This book is a unique
intellectually stimulating resource for clinicians to have in our
tool box, both those who are familiar with mindfulness-based
approaches and desire information about how to work with GSM, as
well as those who work with this population and require information
about mindfulness-based approaches to care."
--Steven Safren, clinical psychologist and professor of psychology
at the University of Miami
"The evolved human brain carries multiple possibilities for
experiencing and acting in the world. Our capacity for love
coexists with our capacity for hatred and cruelty; our capacity for
joy lives with our capacity for depression; we are multidimensional
beings. Such richness of our potential multiplicities is especially
manifest in our sexualities, where many combinations of with whom
and how are possible. Tragically, for complex psychocultural
reasons we have sought to limit, suppress, and constrain this
richness. Shaming and stigma have confined and narrowed choices,
and not always in favor of the heterosexual, e.g. Sparta. We are
oppressed by the repressed. This excellent book brings together a
group of insightful and knowledgeable authors that address the
personal and social costs of shame and stigma on sexual variations.
... Sensitive, wise, and compassionate, this will be a classic in
the field for many years."
--Paul Gilbert, PhD, FBPsS, OBE, professor of clinical psychology
at the University of Derby, and author of Human Nature and
Suffering and The Compassionate Mind
"There is a kind of violence that occurs when we tell people, in
bold headlines and in small, quiet ways: do not express your
difference, do not wonder about who you are, certainly not out
loud, but really not even to yourself. Just be quiet and fit in.
The palette of human sexuality is broad, and that breadth is
largely unknown because we have suppressed the knowing of it, even
among individuals who have a sense of these differences from the
inside out. We have a choice. We can create a kinder, more curious,
and more thoughtful context for our clients to come to know
themselves and to help us to know them. This is an important book
if you want to be part of that kinder context."
--Kelly G. Wilson, PhD, professor of psychology at the University
of Mississippi
"This empowering volume shows how to bring powerful, evidence-based
methods to gender and sexual minorities (GSM): do it through the
application of GSM-affirmative, scientific principles linked to
evidence-based procedures. Acceptance, mindfulness, compassion, and
values-based action open the door to a new and more progressive
conversation with the entire field about how to best meet the
wide-ranging needs of GSM populations. Comprehensive, powerful, and
clearly stated, this wonderful book helps show us all a new way
forward."
--Steven C. Hayes, PhD, Foundation Professor at the University of
Nevada, and codeveloper of acceptance and commitment therapy
(ACT)
"This is a groundbreaking book on several levels. The expert
authors bring the light of cutting-edge behavioral research to
people and challenges that are often overlooked by mainstream
clinical approaches. Furthermore, the book places compassion front
and center in the development of new strategies. This is a
must-read book."
--Dennis Tirch PhD, coauthor of The ACT Practitioner's Guide to the
Science of Compassion, and founder of The Center for Compassion
Focused Therapy
"This volume includes the latest thinking and therapeutic
interventions in our field to help guide clinicians in their work
with gender and sexual minorities. Each of the chapters includes
the nuts and bolts involved in helping GSM clients. No stone is
left unturned in the array of chapters that include such topics as
coming out, same-sex parenting, shame, and being a minority in GSM
communities. The book is clearly aimed at detailing therapeutic
interventions for clinicians, including compassion-, acceptance-,
and mindfulness-based treatments as both standalone as well as
integrated with other approaches such as acceptance and commitment
therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and functional
analytic psychotherapy (FAP). This volume includes specific
suggestions as well as case examples that clinicians can apply in
their work. It even includes a chapter to address the issues
confronting straight therapists working with GSM clients. Their
goals are not only to help clinicians be effective with GSM
clients, but also address implications for society. I highly
recommend this extremely interesting, timely, and well-written and
edited book."
--Robert J. Kohlenberg, PhD, ABPP, professor in the department of
psychology at the Center for the Science of Social Connection at
the University of Washington
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