67th Annual Conference

Friday, February 26

Session 309

Dialogue and Mutual Respect: The Interplay of Religious and LGBTQ Issues in Group

Chair:

Mark E. Beecher, Ph.D., Associate Clinical Professor, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Panelists:

Gary L. Adams, M.Div., Ph.D., Psychologist, Counseling Services, University of Houston Clear Lake, Houston, Texas

Pat Alford-Keating, Ph.D., Director of Training, USC Student Counseling Center, Los Angeles, California

Chad V. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Relations, University of Oklahoma, Schusterman Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Carlos A. Taloyo, Ph.D., Staff Psychologist, Oregon State University, Counseling and Psychological Services, Corvallis, Oregon

Beginning with presentations of how the interplay of religious and LGBTQ issues has occurred in the lives of four group psychotherapists, this session is designed to open a dialogue about how these issues play out in group psychotherapy, at AGPA, in professional settings, in social interactions, and in individuals’ lives.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Review and better understand the interplay of religious and LGBTQ issues.

2. Identify ways that LGBTQ and religious issues may impact groups and individuals within groups.

3. Discuss the interplay of religious and LGBTQ issues in a group setting.

Course References:

Abernethy, A. D., & Lancia, J. J. (1998). Religion and the psychotherapeutic relationship: Transferential and countertransferential dimensions. Journal of psychotherapy practice and research, 7, 281-289.

Boswell, J. (1981). Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Carter, R. T. (Ed.). (2004). Religious beliefs and sexual orientation [Special Issue]. The Counseling Psychologist, 32(5).

Yarhouse, M., & Tan, E. S. N. (2004). Sexual identity synthesis: Attributions, meaning-making, and the search for congruence. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.