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Gender-Affirming Care: Skills, Language & Cultural Competency Homestudy - NO CE CREDIT

About this course

This introductory foundational workshop established the clinical and conceptual groundwork for providing affirming, evidence-based care to transgender and non-binary adult clients. Participants built working fluency in core terminology, queer and trans identity development models, common microaggressions transgender and non-binary clients experienced, and the critical distinctions between cissexism and transphobia. The training examined how gender socialization shaped both client experience and clinician bias and explored the unconscious impact of cissexism on clinical decision-making even in well-meaning clinicians. All content was grounded in WPATH SOC 8 language recommendations. This training acted as a stand-alone training, in addition to Part 1 of Dr. Franklin's Providing Gender-Affirming Care to Trans and Non-Binary Clients 5-part series, as it provided a solid framework from which the series built.


Agenda:

10 mins — Welcome, introductions & learning objectives

5 mins — Active learning framework & consent note

10 mins — WPATH SOC 8 overview and language recommendations

15 mins — Core terminology: sex assigned at birth, gender identity, gender expression

15 mins — Gender socialization and the cost of rigid gender norms

10 mins — Breakout activity: gender expression

10 mins — Cissexism vs. transphobia: key distinctions

15 mins — Transgender microaggressions: 12 categories and mental health impact

15 mins — Non-binary identities, intersex experience, QTBIPOC & intersectionality

10 mins — Identity development models: Cass, D’Augelli & Bilodeau

5 mins — Self-reflection & closing Q&A


ADAA Member Benefit 

Free for ADAA members - ARC Health is pleased to provide ADAA members access to continuing education opportunities at no cost.

Verification Required - Use promo code 'ADAA'. This code is intended only for current ADAA members. Use of this code confirms that you are eligible for this ADAA member benefit. Individuals who are not current members and use this code will be required to pay the full registration/fee amount.  


Learning Objectives

  • Apply key terminology related to gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and gender socialization when working with trans and non-binary adult clients in clinical contexts
  • Distinguish between cissexism and transphobia, and identify how each manifests in clinical settings and therapeutic relationships
  • Describe the 12 categories of transgender microaggressions identified by Nadal et al. (2012) and explain their impact on mental health
  • Analyze the influence of unconscious bias and internalized cissexism on clinical decision-making with trans and non-binary clients

Learning Levels

  • Beginner

Target Audience

This educational activity is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, and Counselors.

Course Instructor(s)

  • Shannon Franklin, PsyD

    Dr. Shannon Franklin is a licensed psychologist in the State of California with specialized expertise in LGBTQIA+ affirmative care, gender identity and gender-affirming treatment, neurodiversity, trauma, and multicultural and anti-racist frameworks. She is a co-founder of Element Q Healing Center, an LGBTQIA+ trauma-specific holistic intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization program (IOP/PHP), and currently serves as Director of Clinical Training for Monima Behavioral Health. In this role, she oversees doctoral training programs across Element Q Healing Center, Monima Wellness Center (a women's trauma IOP/PHP), and KMN Psych, an outpatient assessment clinic serving the greater San Diego community.

    Dr. Franklin brings extensive experience from her work in university and research settings, having provided clinical services at California State University Northridge, California State University San Bernardino, the University of California San Diego, the University of San Diego, and Scripps Research Institute. She has also served on the leadership team at Hillcrest Psychological Associates, a group private practice dedicated to serving the LGBTQ+ community, where she led a weekly Diversity Seminar, provided supervision, and specialized in working with clients who identify as queer, transgender, Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color.

    A dedicated trainer and educator, Dr. Franklin creates structured learning environments through formalized supervision, didactic seminars, and consultation groups, ensuring clinicians maintain current, evidence-informed knowledge to effectively serve diverse client populations. Her clinical and scholarly work is grounded in an examination of social structures, power dynamics, and intersecting identities, and how these forces shape psychological experience and therapeutic relationships. She is deeply committed to empowering historically marginalized communities through both direct clinical practice and the professional development of the next generation of psychologists.

    Dr. Franklin earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Business, from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and her Master of Arts and Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Family Psychology, from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California.

Disclosure

There are no financial disclosures.

CE Process Info

Content

  • Materials
    4 parts
    • Recording
    • Powerpoint
    • References
    • S. Franklin Gender Affirming Resource Collection

FAQs

  • Course Completion
    To complete the course, review the course objectives, then watch the video power point presentations following along with the corresponding pdf, and lastly complete an evaluation. Your certificate will be available to download immediately when you complete the evaluation. Note that you can not continue in the course until you complete the previous section.
  • State Board Jurisdictions Approval
    Many licensing boards accept CE from APA approved sponsors as well as for trainings approved by boards in other jurisdictions. You may check with your board directly to confirm if your state approves CE for this training.
  • Grievance
    If a grievance arises pertaining to continuing education activities or processes, please contact Stacy Coyle profdev@archealthpartners.com as soon as possible, so that the nature of the concern may be addressed in a timely fashion.
Gender-Affirming Care: Skills, Language & Cultural Competency Homestudy - NO CE CREDIT
You Have Completed This course
$45
You are enrolled
  • Type
    Self-Paced
  • Publication Date
    Sep 17th, 2026
  • Expires on
    September 18th, 2036

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