About this course

Learning Objectives

• Identify the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria and distinguish it from gender incongruence as defined in the ICD-11
• Describe at least four experiential types of dysphoria (e.g., physical, social, sexual, existential) and explain their clinical relevance to assessment and treatment planning
• Contrast the diagnostic frameworks of the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 with respect to pathologization, and evaluate the implications of each for affirming clinical practice
• Apply at least three assessment questions to evaluate gender dysphoria and comorbid presentations in adult clients

Learning Levels

• Beginner

Target Audience

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Shannon Franklin, PsyD

  Licensed Psychologist

  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

References

• American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
• American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people. American Psychologist, 70(9), 832–864.
• Arcelus, J., Claes, L., Witcomb, G. L., Marshall, E., & Bouman, W. P. (2016). Risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury among trans youth. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 13(3), 402–412.
• Becerra-Culqui, T. A., Liu, Y., Nash, R., Cromwell, L., Flanders, W. D., Getahun, D., Giammattei, S. V., Hunkeler, E. M., Lash, T. L., Millman, A., Quinn, V. P., Robinson, B., Roblin, D., Sandberg, D. E., Silverberg, M. J., Tangpricha, V., & Goodman, M. (2018). Mental health of transgender and gender nonconforming youth compared with their peers. Pediatrics, 141(5), e20173845.
• Bouman, W. P., Claes, L., Marshall, E., Pinner, G. T., Longworth, J., Maddox, V., Witcomb, G., Jimenez-Murcia, S., Fernandez-Aranda, F., & Arcelus, J. (2017). Sociodemographic variables, clinical features, and the role of preassessment cross-sex hormones in older trans people. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 13(4), 711–719.
• Coleman, E., Radix, A. E., Bouman, W. P., Brown, G. R., de Vries, A. L. C., Deutsch, M. B., Ettner, R., Fraser, L., Goodman, M., Green, J., Hancock, A. B., Johnson, T. W., Karasic, D. H., Knudson, G. A., Leibowitz, S. F., Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., Monstrey, S. J., Motmans, J., Nahata, L., … Arcelus, J. (2022). Standards of care for the health of transgender and gender diverse people, Version 8. International Journal of Transgender Health, 23(Suppl. 1), S1–S259.
• Eisenberg, M. E., McMorris, B. J., Rider, G. N., Gower, A. L., & Coleman, E. (2017). 'It's kind of hard to go to the doctor if you don't know who you are': Primary care experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming youth. International Journal of Transgenderism, 18(3), 338–348.
• Murchison, G. R., Watson, R. J., Gordon, A. R., & Agénor, M. (2023). Identity support in romantic relationships among young transgender adults: A qualitative study. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. [Verify full citation — published through The T4T Lab at Boston University]
• Peitzmeier, S. M., Hughto, J. M. W., Potter, J., Deutsch, M. B., & Reisner, S. L. (2020). Development of a novel tool to assess intimate partner violence against transgender individuals. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(11–12), 2376–2397.
• Witcomb, G. L., Bouman, W. P., Claes, L., Brewin, N., Crawford, J. R., & Arcelus, J. (2018). Levels of depression in transgender people and its predictors: Results of a large matched control study with transgender people accessing clinical services. Journal of Affective Disorders, 235, 308–315.