Title: Transgender: Moving from Awareness to Advocacy

Presenter: Becca Smith, MA

Description: The presentation reviews and summarize the Transgender Population. The definition of Transgender which will include Gender Identity and Gender Queer will be explained. This presentation will also discuss how to best serve the transgender community in a counseling capacity. This will include supporting them psychologically, helping with campus resources, navigating referrals for medical issues, including hormone therapy and possible gender affirming surgery. Participants will be provided examples of how to write a support letter for hormone therapy and gender affirming surgery using the Standards of Care from WPATH. The presentation will finally explain the challenges this population faces especially with the political issues in the media. The expected outcome of this presentation is that participants will acquire an overall increased competency to work with the Transgender population in a counseling setting.