Supporting Trans & Nonbinary Clients w/Sociopolitical Distress (+Recording)

Dr. Sebastian Barr

In this training, trans psychologist Dr. Sebastian Barr will discuss strategies for working with sociopolitical distress in therapy.

(Please note: this training was rescheduled from July to August 15th. If you already registered for the July training, your registration will automatically transfer to the August 15 training.) Recording will be available to all registrants! You don't need to attend live!

Join us for the expansion of May's successful webinar:Supporting Trans &amp; Nonbinary Clients with Sociopolitical Distress (Part 2)Date: Fri, August 15, 2025Time: 3:00 PM-5:30 PM EDTAre you a mental health professional looking to better support your trans and nonbinary clients during times of sociopolitical distress? This training is for you. Learn practical strategies and tools to provide the effective care that is desperately needed right now. Don't miss out on this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of your clients.Note that while this webinar builds upon Part 1 (<a href="https://transpsychologist.com/trainings/#may-2025" title="https://transpsychologist.com/trainings/#may-2025" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">available here</a>), it may be beneficial as a standalone, as well.What to Expect:In this webinar, Dr. Sebastian Barr will draw from research, clinical experience, and community knowledge to help clinicians build their capacity to step into this work with confidence and comfort.This training will build off of the webinar presented in May 2025, which covered foundations for affirming and effective work in this climate, assessing and conceptualizing sociopolitical distress in clients, and core in-session interventions and approaches. A recording of that webinar can be purchased at Dr. Barr's website: <a href="https://transpsychologist.com/trainings/#may-2025" title="https://transpsychologist.com/trainings/#may-2025" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://transpsychologist.com/trainings/#may-2025</a>Between that webinar and one offered shortly after the elections in November 2024, Dr. Barr has helped thousands of clinicians find their footing and received many pieces of positive feedack.The content in this upcoming training has been updated to speak specifically to the concerns and realities we are now facing, and what this asks of us as mental health professionals. There will be a specific section on helping clients cope with reduced access to gender affirming medical care and/or threats of reduced access. This training will also include practical discussion of complex scenarios, such as working with clients' heightened responsiveness/reactivity, clients who are considering detransition, clients with increased suicidality, trans people needing to relocate for safety, and activist burnout, as well as how to therapeutically address misinformation from clients. Using vignettes, Dr. Barr will discuss with specificty how he incorporates some of the previously taught core in-session approaches and uses other evidence-grounded interventions to manage these contexts.Additionally, there will be more time spent on the therapist's experience of doing this work. Dr. Barr will discuss how therapists can best navigate challenging reactions we are having to the sociopolitical climate, therapy material, and clients. And there will be review of advocacy actions therapists can take for their clients and for the community at large.Q&A will be available for live attendees, though Dr. Barr may need to answer the questions asynchronously if there is not enough time. Why This Matters:While the sociopolitical climate in the U.S. (and globally) has been growing increasingly hostile to trans communities in recent years, this has intensified under the current federal government. Since January 2025 especially, trans and nonbinary people have struggled with worsened mental health as communities navigate hateful rhetoric, risk of violence, restrictions to care and other rights, and fear of what's to come.Many clinicians feel limited in their ability to support trans and nonbinary clients facing this harsh reality and still unpredictable future, with some likening their provision of therapy these days to "offering sunscreen to a person on fire." But therapy can be much more than sunscreen - and it needs to be. Trans and nonbinary communities need access to helpful ways to make sense of and respond to or manage the understandable distress they are experiencing so that they live meaningfully in the present and future. Mental healthcare providers are positioned to be an invaluable resource to trans and nonbinary clients right now - we just need to be grounded in best practices. About The Presenter:Dr. Sebastian Barr (he/him) is a psychotherapist, researcher, consultant, and educator with a PhD in Counseling Psychology. His work focuses on traumatic stress recovery, trans mental health, and the wellbeing of people with trans loved ones. He provides psychotherapy to teens and adults in Massachusetts and Kansas through his independent practice, and has trained thousands of clinicians, educators, and healthcare professionals on effective and affirming care for trans communities.Dr. Barr completed advanced clinical training at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, including two years in the Program for Psychotherapy and work in the Victims of Violence clinic founded by Judith Herman. His research—published in peer-reviewed journals and cited hundreds of times—focuses on the intersections of trauma and trans mental health. He is currently engaged in multiple grant-supported research projects and serves as an advisor on affirming and ethical trans health research.Dr. Barr has received numerous awards for his contributions, including the Trans Research Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, recognition from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health, and the 2023 Early Career Clinical Award from the Society for Counseling Psychology. He was also a past scholar-in-residence at the Faber-Llull Institute in Olot, Catalonia. He has served on the editorial boards of Psychotherapy and Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, and has contributed to several clinical texts and books related to trans mental health and psychotherapy.