Monterey County Rainbow Connections Gender Diversity Provider Training

Using Non-Violent Communication to Support Family Acceptance of LGBTQ+ Youth

March 12, 2025

CE’s Available
The Gender Health Training Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Gender Health Training Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Using Non-Violent Communication to Support Family Acceptance of System-Involved LGBTQ Youth

This training supports professionals in supporting caregivers who reject LGBTQ youth in their care for religious and/or spiritual reasons. It is often difficult for professionals supporting queer and/or trans youth in care to know how to talk to caregivers, whether biological family, resource parents, clinical providers, or other caring adults, about the importance of acceptance and affirmation during and after a young person comes out. Rejection by caregivers and important adults have lifelong impacts on LGBTQ youth on individual and systemic levels. This training will discuss common anti-LGBTQ spiritual/religious beliefs and how to have conversations about caregivers’ values, beliefs, and practices that validate and respect them, while also supporting family acceptance for their LGBTQ children. Using resources from the Family Acceptance Project and the principles of non-violent communication, participants will practice having difficult conversations with rejecting caregivers and familiarize themselves with community-based resources that can be shared with caregivers. These skills will be practiced in small group roleplays.

What we will cover?

  • Use research from the Family Acceptance Project to validate caregiver experiences and encourage them to seek support outside of exposing their children to their struggles or responses to coming out.
  • Participants will practice using non-violent communication as one tool to facilitate conversations with rejecting parents/caregivers of LGBTQ youth.

Learning objectives:

  • Create a 1-2 sentence “elevator pitch” summarizing health research establishing a connection between family rejection & long-term negative health outcomes for LGBTQ youth.
  • Review four principles of non-violent communication as one tool to support increasing family acceptance.
  • Practice using non-violent communication in a small group roleplay.

Presenter

Luke Pacha is the owner of Infinite Diversity LLC. He holds a Master of Religion and Psychology, Master of Divinity, and Certificate of Sexuality and Religion from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Psychological Services from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Luke straddles the worlds of academia/theory and practice, serving as the Board President of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, a national non-profit organization that publishes a 705-page resource guide of the same name, by and for the trans, gender expansive, and nonbinary communities. Through this work, he connects with leading transgender and gender expansive scholars in medicine, law, mental health, social sciences, politics, and culture to collaborate on editions of Trans Bodies. He recently authored the Religion and Spirituality chapter of the second edition of the book, released April 15, 2022, and served as Survey Editor, managing a nationwide qualitative survey of over 2,000 respondents quoted in the book, and editing several chapters. Luke co-authored an academic review of methodologies used to survey transgender & nonbinary people based on the Trans Bodies Second Edition Survey, “Surveying trans and nonbinary communities: Research methodologies, accountability, and ethics with the Trans Bodies, Trans Selves Survey (2nd edition),” published in Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in 2022.

Luke also co-authored the Religion and Spirituality chapter in the surgical textbook Gender Confirmation Surgery: Principles and Techniques for an Emerging Fieldedited by Loren Schecter, released 2020. He has been featured as a subject matter expert on gender pronouns in Rolling Stone, Grammarly’s Guide to Personal Pronouns,  and NPR Cap Radio about best pronoun practices in the workplace. He has also been interviewed on NPR’s The Takeaway and been published in LGBTQ Nation. More information can be found about Luke at infinitediversityllc.com.

Using Non-Violent Communication to Support Family Acceptance of System-Involved LGBTQ Youth

March 12, 2025
1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

. This training will discuss common anti-LGBTQ spiritual/religious beliefs and how to have conversations about caregivers’ values, beliefs, and practices that validate and respect them, while also supporting family acceptance for their LGBTQ children.

Upcoming Events

JANUARY

Supporting Gender Transition for Youth

January 23, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

FEBRUARY

Debunking Myths About Trans Youth

February 12, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Fertility and Reproductive Health

February 20, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

How to Fill Out a Gender Support Plan for Child Welfare & Educational Providers

February 26, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

MARCH

What’s Your Pronoun?

March 5, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Using Non-Violent Communication to Support Family Acceptance of LGBTQ+ Youth

March 12, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Supporting Families through the Gender Journey

March 19, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

APRIL

Religious & Spiritual LGBTQ+ Affirming Resources

April 2, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Gender Affirming Surgeries

April 17, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Understanding the SAFETY Act: Protecting LGBTQ+ Student Privacy

April 30, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

MAY

WPATH Standards of Care: Part 1

May 1, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Supporting Neurodivergent LGBTQ+ Youth

May 7, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Beyond He and She

May 20, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

WPATH Standards of Care: Part 2

May 28, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

JUNE

Coming out

June 4, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Supporting Gender Euphoria

June 12, 2025 / 1:30 – 4:30 pm PT

Session is 180 min including time for Q&A.

3 CE Credits Available

The Gender Health Training Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Gender Health Training Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

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