Winter, 2009
We have been asked by the editors to respond to the letter from the “members of the gender emphasis group” sent to the Alliant Community via the first issue of The Voice (Issue 1, fall 2009). As program directors for the two clinical programs in San Francisco we are extremely concerned with the issues raised by this group of students. We believe that our role in this matter is three-fold: First, to continue to set the record straight, as has been begun by other faculty and students via email communications; second, to encourage and facilitate continued open dialogue on this matter and related issues; third, to take leadership in creating the change that is necessary and continuing to build CSPP into the premiere training program in psychology for multicultural competence, including competence in LGBT and gender issues.
Regarding the record, we encourage The Voice to publish the response by Dr Robert-Jay Green and the ensuing email dialogue that resulted. We realize that not everyone received all the emails, nor could everyone respond to all involved due to email system limitations. We understand the Rockway Queer Alliance has posted the entire email dialogue to their Moodle site, so this is another venue to retrieve the information. In addition to the very important information offered by Dr Green, we add the following context and further information about LGBT/Gender related course offerings in the San Francisco clinical programs:
There has been much ongoing discussion among faculty and administrators in the CSPP San Francisco programs about maintaining and increasing the emphasis and offerings in gender and LGBT issues in psychology. The PsyD faculty met on October 30 to discuss the program needs for all of our current emphasis areas. We agreed that the direction of our emphasis areas will be shifting within the next two years, from specific “emphasis areas,” to “faculty’s areas of interest and research.” Within the next two years, the faculty will also develop a Multicultural/Social Justice Track that will be inclusive of the multiple diversity areas (e.g. race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, etc.)
This is both a long-term goal and a short-term one. Our highest priority in this regard is that our current students get what they came here for, i.e., comprehensive, top-tier, training in clinical psychology as a generalist, with opportunities for emphasizing specific expertise in a few areas, including gender and LGBT issues. For this academic year and the next academic year, all current emphasis areas will each be designated a core faculty contact person. The core faculty contact will be responsible for coordinating emphasis area activities (including meetings, speakers, etc.) and working with the program directors to ensure courses are offered to meet the interests and objectives of emphasis areas. The contact person for the Gender Emphasis area this year is Dr Alison Cerezo.
Dr Cerezo, and a group of faculty members, including, Drs Stephen Blum, Sheila Henderson, Michael Loewy, and Val Mitchell have already been meeting with the Gender Emphasis Student group. For fall 2009, a meeting and colloquium for students and faculty interested in LGBT issues took place on November 3rd. Dr Loewy was to discuss his LGBT related research but, instead, a lengthy and in-depth discussion took place with several of the authors, and others, from the gender emphasis group letter to The Voice. This discussion resulted in a great deal of learning and understanding on the part of both students and faculty.
Some other plans for spring 2010: Dr Alison Cerezo, will be offering a course related to psychologists role as social justice agents, particularly regarding race and sexual orientation and, Dr Rahima Gates, an adjunct faculty member, will be teaching a course titled, “Ethnicity, Women, and Health.” We are also arranging for Dr Tania Israel from UCSB, President-Elect of Division 17 of APA, to be this year’s Distinguished Rockway Lecturer and present her research on “evidence-based psychotherapy with LGBT clients” as part of our spring 2010 Presidential Lectures (date tba). Dr Cerezo and Dr Michael Connor will also be offering PsyD research proposal clusters appropriate for the Gender Emphasis Area beginning fall 2010. Again, it is important to point out that all of this is in addition to the offerings already enumerated in Dr Green’s letter.
We feel that it is important to emphasize that there are many faculty members in our programs who have interest and expertise in gender and LGBT issues beyond those who identify as LGBT. Students are encouraged not to make assumptions about faculty expertise based on factors like sexual orientation and race; instead, inquire directly and meet with faculty to discuss research and clinical ideas. In the professional training of psychologists (unlike undergraduate education), we believe that coursework is designed to introduce you to the areas of study in which you are expected to become expert. There is no way to cover all the content in one course that a competent psychologist must learn over a lifetime. Faculty members are meant to be mentors, models, and Socratic teachers, bringing out the knowledge in the student. As doctoral-level scholars, you are expected to take primary responsibility for your learning, from matriculation and for the rest of your life. So, if there is not enough gender or LGBT content in courses, talk to the instructor about it, raise the issue in the class, or research the topic as part of your work for the class.
We are very encouraged by students advocating for themselves. We are endeavoring to train psychologists who are social change agents and this initiative is evidence that the skills exist in our students. In your advocacy for yourselves and your education, you are also advocating for competent care for LGBT populations. We support this and encourage continued dialogue on minority mental health training issues via email and other venues. In fact, we urge broadening the focus to ensure competence with African American, Latino, Asian, Native American, elder, disabled, fat, and other underserved populations, many of whom are also LGBT.
Sincerely,
Dr Valata Jenkins-Monroe, PsyD Program Director
Dr Michael Loewy, PhD Program Director