Counseling in a Gender-Expansive World - by Douglas Knutson & Chloë Goldbach & Julie M Koch

About the Book

"Provides practical, real-life suggestions and interventions to help therapists, supervisors, and trainees increase in their competence and confidence in working with transgender and gender-expansive clients"--

Book Synopsis

A 2023 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title

Transgender and gender-expansive people are increasingly becoming the focus of media, politics, and of public conversation. With this increased attention comes greater visibility and counselors are now, more than ever, likely to clinically engage with openly transgender or gender-expansive clients during their careers. This is in spite of the fact that many counselors have not received specific training in skills, knowledge, and awareness necessary to provide affirming, informed care for these populations. In this book, the authors provide practical, real-life suggestions and interventions to help therapists, supervisors, and trainees increase in their competence and confidence in working with transgender and gender-expansive clients. The resources provided here are informed by evidence-based practice, scholarship on intersectionality, and by social justice and advocacy movements. This book is a useful supplement to clinical work with transgender and gender-expansive people, especially for the many clinicians who work in regions with limited transgender-specific resources.

Review Quotes

Counseling in a Gender-Expansive World is a great introduction to terminology used within and to describe transgender communities. This book encourages current and future mental health practitioners to think about their own relationship to gender and how their own gendered biases may impact their ability to work with and support trans clients. This isn't just a textbook--it's a toolkit. Each chapter has self-reflection questions at the end that are thought-provoking and push you to reflect on who you are and want to be as a provider. This is an important read for cisgender providers generally, but especially those who want to work with trans and gender-expansive clients.

--Brendon T. Holloway, MSW, doctoral student and graduate research assistant, University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work

Counseling in a Gender-Expansive World is an excellent in-depth look at the world of gender outside of the binary. The authors help readers understand their own concepts of gender with reflection questions for class discussions and to help students understand their own perceptions of gender, gender identity, etc. The authors challenge students to grow in their understanding of gender in our society. This book will be a helpful tool for furthering the development of mental health professionals in understanding affirmative practices for all gender identities.

--Beck A. Munsey, Tarleton State University, Fort Worth

Counseling in a Gender-Expansive World provides a fresh and empathic perspective for service professionals working with gender-expansive people. Each chapter also provides a blueprint for self-reflection on the clinician's own lived experiences of gender and developed biases, and their impact on our identities and interpersonal interactions. Honest, approachable, and thought-provoking, this resource respectfully challenges the current social construct of and beliefs on gender.

--Nick Santo, DSW, LCSW-R, psychotherapist and adjunct lecturer at New York University

Douglas Knutson, Chloë Goldbach, and Julie M. Koch's book Counseling in a Gender-Expansive World: Resources to Support Therapeutic Practice presents the most comprehensive offering on working with gender-expansive clients to date. Therapists will come away feeling more confident and culturally competent in their work with TGNCNB (transgender and gender non-conforming non-binary) folx and be better equipped to build stronger therapeutic alliances with these marginalized clients.

--Ivan Diller, LCSW-R, Founder and Clinical Director, Omni Psychotherapy

In these times when the gender affirmative model is ascending and the gender-expansive world will be a better one for it, Knutson, Goldbach, and Koch offer the invaluable gift of a GPS to guide us in the care and support of transgender and gender-expansive people of all ages. A must-read for anyone who wants to learn or expand their knowledge about the concepts, theory, context, practice and resources that will ensure effective therapeutic practice for transgender and gender-expansive people of all ages.

--Diane Ehrensaft, author of The Gender Creative Child and director of Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Gender Center, Benioff Children's Hospital, University of California, San Francisco

This book is a through, detailed, and helpful exploration of gender identity and its impacts on people. It provides a great overall picture of the experiences and needs of gender-expansive clients, and guides students and clinicians alike in developing their ability to be supportive and culturally sensitive professionals working with this community. Case examples, self-as-therapist exploration, clinical recommendations, and summaries for each chapter contribute to this excellent resource for counselors interested in working with the gender-expansive community.

Beyond assisting those in traditional helping professions, the authors have taken care to demonstrate an inclusive definition of human service professions. This air of inclusivity is present throughout the text and provides an important reminder that we are all human beings with the ability to help create a better world--and that much of this involves accepting and supporting one another. I fully recommend this book to anyone wanting to better support the gender-expansive community.

--Alicia A. Bosley, assistant professor of counseling and mental health professions, Hofstra University

This book is an essential reference for counselors, therapists, educators, and human services staff. As the authors point out, "gender-expansive" clients typically have faced traumatizing rejections, betrayal, disenfranchisement, and violence. They need an affirmative counseling environment. Understanding the foundations of their experience, gender terminology and identities, pronouns and pitfalls (e.g., so-called deadnaming) is critical. Counselors need to explore and understand the assumptions, biases, theoretical knowledge, and values surrounding gender-expansive clients and issues. Building a therapeutic relationship requires understanding how gender identity intersects with life span development, geographic location, privilege, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, the intersectional self, and socioeconomic realities. Counselors need to provide affirming professional interactions. One consequence of geographic location is that clients may confront safety, transportation, or service fee issues, and may find teletherapy more practical. Building a trusting relationship is vital, as are goodness-of-fit of assessment and diagnostic frameworks. Common pitfalls include ignoring gender-expansive identities and interactions, deadnaming, and homogenizing the population. Positive ethics, legal issues, and practice concerns require consideration, as well as attention to transitions and providing an affirming environment. This is an excellent book that includes poignant vignettes, powerful examples, thoughtful "reflection questions," references, and suggested readings. Practical recommendations are also described. The "Binary and Me" exercises and "Pitfalls" sections are especially useful. Highly recommended. All readers.

-- "Choice Reviews"

This book offers both students and clinicians an overview of gender expansive people, their identity development over the lifespan, and how clinicians and mental health professionals can benefit from adopting affirmative counseling with LGBTQIA+ clients.

--Mari Alschuler, Youngstown State University

This is a timely, comprehensive textbook for learners in the health professions seeking to understand gender-expansive identities and issues of providing affirming, competent care. It is nuanced in its discussion of intersectionality, social justice, oppression, and privilege. This is a great resource for educators, learners, and professionals, especially those new to providing gender-expansive care.

--Lara Stepleman, Augusta University

About the Author

Douglas Knutson (he, him), PhD, LHSP, is an assistant professor in the School of Community Health Sciences, Counseling and Counseling Psychology at Oklahoma State University. He serves as director of the Diversity and Rural Advocacy Group (DRAG), a consortium of international researchers and advocates who focus on health and resilience in LGBTQ+ populations. Dr. Knutson has published 38 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, professional papers, and encyclopedia entries. He has coauthored 74 presentations delivered at international, national, and local conferences and professional meetings. His work has been referenced in USA Today, Stateline, and NPR News. He currently serves on the editorial boards of The Counseling Psychologist and Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Dr. Knutson's work is focused on the development and implementation of transgender- and nonbinary-affirming interventions with an emphasis on rural populations.

Chloë Goldbach (she/her/hers), MS, MA, is a White, lesbian, transgender woman and PhD candidate in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). She organizes community-wide events on transgender and nonbinary issues as an officer of the SIUC Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies organization, serves as an associate researcher of the Diversity and Rural Advocacy Group (DRAG) at Oklahoma State University, teaches courses on LGBTQ+ and workplace diversity issues, leads a YouTube channel on transgender and nonbinary topics, and is a therapist-in-training with a focus on serving LGBTQ+ clients and clients with eating and body image concerns. Chloë has published 10 peer-reviewed articles, encyclopedia entries, and professional papers, all related to issues impacting LGBTQ+ individuals. She has delivered more than 40 presentations at international, national, and local conferences, training workshops, and professional meetings. She is currently conducting research on barriers to healthcare access for transgender and nonbinary people, experiences of LGBTQ+ people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and centering the voices and experiences of transgender and nonbinary people in the treatment and conceptualization of gender dysphoria.

Julie M. Koch (she/they), PhD, is professor of counseling psychology in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. She/they has extensive experience with clinical practice with LGBTQ+ rural populations. Dr. Koch is a former high school teacher and school counselor. Dr. Koch enjoys working with schools and international collaborations. She/they was a Monbusho Scholar at University of Hokkaido and received a Fulbright Specialist Grant to work with the LGBT Centre in Mongolia.