In-Service - When Identities Collide: Best Practices for Family Therapy with LGBTQ+ Youth and Young Adults in Mormon Families

Title: When Identities Collide: Best Practices for Family Therapy with LGBTQ+ Youth and Young Adults in Mormon Families

Presenter: Sami Simpson, PhD, LMFT

Description: This presentation will delve into pioneering research that establishes best-practice guidelines for family therapists working with LGBTQ+ youth and young adults from Latter-day Saint families. Employing a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative interviews and surveys, the study breaks new ground and fills a substantial gap in existing literature. Attendees will gain insight into how they can enhance their ability to provide self-aware, intersectional, nuanced, culturally respectful, research-informed, meaningful, therapeutic support for these young people and their families.

Learning Objectives: 

1.    Cultivate Self-Awareness: Participants will engage in self-reflection activities to recognize their own intersecting identities, power dynamics, and privilege. This presentation will promote a deeper understanding of their use of self-disclosure in the therapeutic relationship, and its impact on their work with LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in Mormon families.

2.    Expand Knowledge: Participants will learn about the unique knowledge needed to support them in conducting family sessions with LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in Mormon families. They will be equipped with research findings regarding cultural humility and respect, topics for family psychoeducation, and helpful therapeutic modalities.

3.    Enhance Skills: Participants will acquire practical, research-based strategies to conduct effective, nuanced family therapy with LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in Mormon families. They will be able to apply these strategies in their practice to facilitate improved mental health outcomes and family relationships.

CEU’s have been applied for all in‐service programs through Rocky Mountain University and the Utah Psychological Association. CEU’s are free for Guild members & $5 for non‐members, per meeting. CEUs for Plan-B events have been applied for via NASW.