The University of Missouri-St. Louis is set to hold a workshop focused on counseling youths of various sexual orientation and gender identity.
The name of the workshop is titled “Counseling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth.” The workshop is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 22 from 9:30 a.m. through 3:30 p.m. and will be held on UM-St. Louis’ North Campus at the Regional Center for Education and Work Building in the Partnership Conference Room. Those interested in registering can call 314-516-4613 or e-mail sfcc@umsl.edu.
The event is aimed toward counselors and mental health professionals with the goal of increasing general awareness about sexual orientation, gender identity, stereotypes, and oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. It is also aimed at increasing the understanding of how the oppression faced by these young people can affect their social and psychological development, and to spread the word of the proper ways to counsel these young people that have experienced such things.
“There will be a couple of guest presentations and personal narratives from a few students and other individuals,” Dr. Angela Coker, assistant professor of counseling and family therapy at UM-St. Louis, said. “The general purpose is to educate counselors and raise their awareness about issues related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth community, in addition to developing therapeutic ways to help them learn how to deal with counseling this population.”
The workshop is sponsored by Chi Sigma Iota and the School and Family Counseling Center, and led by the Division of Counseling and Family Therapy in the College of Education at UM-St. Louis.
“These organizations will be periodically hosting workshops for training mental health professionals,” Dr. Jennifer Maag, clinical assistant professor and Director of the School and Family Counseling center, said.
The registration fee is $5 for student counselors and $75 for professionals and it includes both lunch and morning refreshments. Plus there is an additional, optional CEU fee of $15 to be paid the morning of the event. The event is open to anyone who wants to learn more about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth issues, but is more directed toward school counselors, community counselors, social workers, psychologists, educators, and school administrators.
“The workshop will focus on increasing awareness about sexual orientation, gender identity and social stigmas, as well as equipping participants with an understanding of how those issues may impact the psychological and social development of individuals,” according to the press release posted on the UM-St. Louis newsroom.
The event will feature six guest speakers including a few of UM-St. Louis’ own counseling and family therapy professors, most notably Dr. Mark Pope, professor and chair of the Division of Counseling and Family Therapy at UM-St. Louis. Other notable speakers appearing from around the area include: Darci Hillyer, counselor at Francis Howell High School, David Hart, adjunct professor at Southwestern Illinois College, and Scott Emanuel, adult advisor for Growing American Youth in St. Louis. Also, Matthew Lemberger and Angela Coker, both assistant professors of counseling and family therapy at UM-St. Louis, will be hosting a group discussion as well.