Mental Health Providers Transphobic Biases

Transgender and gender nonconforming individuals face a disproportionate amount of discrimination and prejudice in their daily lives. In addition, transgender and gender nonconforming individuals often face trouble accessing mental health services and care. Provider-level barriers contribute to the troubles transgender people encounter in mental health settings. By minimizing these barriers, care would be more accessible to all gender nonconforming individuals. This study examines the relation between contact with the LGBT community and provider-side barriers because of the implications having contact with LGBT people may have on care delivery. Mental health providers (n=96) from various disciplines were surveyed about their transphobic biases with The Genderism and Transphobia Scale (GTS) and their relationships with LGBT individuals. Data is still being collected before analyses will be run. An ANOVA will be used to examine the relationship and look for differences between providers with no LGBT acquaintances, providers with few LGBT relationships, and providers with many LGBT relationships. Implications for mental health care providers and transgender individuals include easier accessibility to care and will be discussed further