genderqueer means”, and T om reported, “As a counsellor in my queer service, my experience has been nothing but positive”. So, what can we do to raise all non-binary therapist
experience to this level? Training is clearly key (Davies & Barker, 2015b) and all the people I spoke to call for teaching on gender, sexual, and relationship diversity (along with race, class, disability, and other intersections) to be woven throughout all therapeutic training from the start. It is also important all trainees are encouraged to refl ect upon their gender and other intersections, and their internalised ideas about gender, and that staff “crack down on unacceptable at itudes”. It should not be down to non-binary students to carry the burden of educating colleagues and dealing with misgendering, bullying, or microaggressions. As Karen Pollock explained, “I know I am not alone in either being told that the problem is with us, and that we might hear such at itudes f om clients. Classmates are not clients, we should not have to endure prejudice within the learning environment, it is completely diff erent to how we would deal with such at itudes f om clients”. Imani emphasised that the onus should be on trainees who have issues with gender diversity, not on non-binary trainees: “T ey need to start with examining inside themselves why diff erence is dangerous or threatening to them before they are let loose on clients – in fact that should be compulsory”. More widely, the whole binary gender culture of therapy is
clearly a problem. As Alex Drummond said, “Gender stereotyping in counselling needs to be deconstructed.
Assumptions are going unchallenged and that is leading to discrimination, in direct breach of the equality act, despite it being enshrined in the ethical f amework. As non-binary identities become more mainstream, there should be a process by which the profession gains the knowledge. In the meantime, some clients will receive poor and at times unethical service”. Counselling and therapist organisations need to lead the way
with this, and there is now plenty of guidance available about how to do so (see Richards et al., 2016; Richards et al., 2017). Hopefully, the forthcoming memorandum of understanding against conversion therapy – which includes trans therapists – and the BACP factsheet on Gender, Sexuality, and Relationship Diversity, which I’ve worked on with them, will also be helpful with this. Oſt en, what is required is not huge at all. Several of the therapists I spoke with talked about what an immense relief it was when services did something as simple as having non- binary gender options on forms, or colleagues corrected people when they used the wrong pronoun. I certainly hope the day will come when people don’t feel the need for a non-binary therapist specifi c support group. Sadly we are not there yet.
Find out more If you’re a non-binary therapist and would like to join the
Facebook group, feel free to get in touch with me via my website:
rewriting-the-rules.com or on twit er @megjohnbarker If you’d like to understand more about gender more broadly,
then check out Iantaffi and Barker (2017). For an extensive overview around working with non-binary clients, Richards et al. (2017) will be helpful. Gendered Intelligence is an excellent resource for
information and training in this area and has a growing space for therapists to get involved in this work: genderedintelligence.
co.uk
Context 155, February 2018
Non binary activist-scholars Meg-John Barker, Ben Vincent, and Jos Twist at UK trans pride 2017
References Barker, M-J. (2013) Rewriting the Rules: An Integrative Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships. London: Routledge. Barker, M-J. & Richards, C. (2015) Further genders. In C. Richards & M-J. Barker (eds.) Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Barker, M-J. & Richards, C. (2017) Gender and counselling psychology. In D. Murphy (ed.) Counselling Psychology (BPS Textbook). London: Wiley. Barker, M-J. & Scheele, J. (2016) Queer: A Graphic History. London: Icon Books. Barker, M-J., Vincent, B. & Twist, J. (forthcoming, 2017) Non-binary: A British history. In C. Burns (ed.) Trans Britain. London: Unbound. Davies, D. & Barker, M-J. (2015a) Gender and sexuality diversity (GSD): Respecting diff erence. The Psychotherapist, 60: 16-17. Davies, D. & Barker, M-J. (2015b) How GSD is your therapy training? The Psychotherapist, 61: 8-10. Hegarty, P., Ansara, G. & Barker, M-J. (forthcoming, 2017) Non-binary gender identities. In N. Dess, J. Marecek, D. Best, & L. Bell (eds.) Psychology of Gender, Sex, and Sexualities. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Iantaffi , A. & Barker, M-J. (2017) How to Understand Your Gender: A Practical Guide for Exploring Who You Are. London: Jessica Kingsley. Nadal, K.L., Skolnik, A. & Wong, Y. (2012) Interpersonal and systemic microaggressions toward transgender people: Implications for counselling. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 6: 55-82. Richards, C. & Barker, M-J. (2013) Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide. London: Sage. Richards, C., Bouman, W.P., Seal, L., Barker, M-J., Nieder, T.O, & T’Sjoen, G. (2016) Non-binary or genderqueer genders. International Review of Psychiatry, 28: 95-102. Richards, C., Bouman, W., & Barker, M-J. (eds.) (2017) Genderqueer and Non- Binary Genders. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Twist, J. (2017) Putting the pieces together. Context, 151: 26-29.
Meg-John Barker: I’m a writer, therapist, and activist-academic, specialising in sex, gender and relationships. I’ve been involved in many sets of guidelines, chapters and papers for therapists on these issues, and they’re also covered in my books How to Understand Your Gender (with Alex Iantaffi ), Rewriting the Rules, and Queer: A Graphic History (with Julia Scheele). I use ‘they’ pronouns and my intersections are that I’m white British, non-binary, trans masculine, bisexual, and mixed class. Being between or beyond the binary on gender, sexuality, and class has been a defi ning feature of my experience, and one that informs my thinking greatly. My hopes for the future of systemic practice and gender are that systemic therapy will lead the way in understanding gender in less binary – and more intersectional – ways.
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Being a non-binary therapist within a binary therapy system
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