Relational cultural theory emerged in the 1970s as a reaction to the dominant view of women in psychology and continues to challenge societal values while promoting social justice. Key tenets of relational cultural theory are to promote growth-fostering relationships and move toward connection. These may be applied in a variety of contexts within…

This article provides guidance in facilitating the development of culturally sensitive skills for working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) populations that take into account power and privilege. Social work faculty and students have an ethical obligation to be competent and aware of privilege. When working with LGBTQ…

Feminist supervision is based on the principles of feminist theory. Goals include sharing responsibility for the supervision process, empowering the supervisee, attending to the contextual assumptions about clients, and analyzing gender roles. This article explores feminist supervision and guidelines for providing counseling supervision…

Using a case example, the authors explore how the counseling field's participation in the discourse of heterosexist dominance fosters microaggressions toward sexual and gender-transgressive minorities. Specifically, the authors deconstruct four linguistic assumptions of the discourse of heterosexist dominance: (a) the sex/gender binary, (b)…

In this article, the development of a master's-level course regarding girls' and women's issues in counseling is described. First, the pedagogical foundation for the course design is highlighted. Second, the learning goals for the course are outlined: (a) knowledge of counseling issues pertinent to girls and women in contemporary society, (b)…

As the field of family therapy has evolved, there has been growing recognition as to the importance of gender in family therapy. To prepare the next generation of family therapists adequately, it is important that they recognize the many and complex ways in which gender permeates their work. In this article we present an integrative model to help…

Methods used in a graduate course on women's issues in counseling are described, and implications for counselor education are discussed. Emphasis is placed on including experiential learning activities so as to help students understand women's experiences within Western culture. Counseling concepts and interventions for dealing with women's issues…

Describes how one marriage-and-family-therapy (MFT) accredited program has been transformed as the result of a conscious decision to examine and modify the entire educational process. As a foundation for the transformation, faculty chose a "genderist" philosophy as the most effective approach. (Author/MKA)

The emergent consciousness and political activism within the transgender community has important implications for the field of counseling. In the current paradigm, the focus has shifted from using surgical and hormonal interventions and thereby enabling transgendered persons to "pass" within the traditional gender binary of society to affirming…