February 27, 2006

GLBTI Resource Center cosponsors seminar highlighting transgender issues

The Lionel Cantú GLBTI Resource Center sponsored a one-day seminar this month titled "Working with Transgender Clients: Clinical Issues and Community Resources." The seminar, held at the Seacliff Inn in Aptos, targeted mental health professionals and physicians in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Santa Clara counties. More than 125 people attended.

Cosponsors for the event were Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Family Services Agency, the Diversity Center, and Watsonville Community Hospital. A grant from the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County provided funding.

“Transgender individuals are dependent on both medical practitioners and mental health care professionals to facilitate their gender transitions. Medical schools and psychotherapy training programs rarely address the needs of gender variant patients and clients, resulting in providers who lack necessary skills and cultural sensitivities. The seminar successfully bridged this education gap,” said Deborah Abbott, director of the campus's Lionel Cantú GLBTI Resource Center.

The keynote speaker was Jeanna Eichenbaum, L.C.S.W., program manager of the Transgender Recovery Project at Walden House in San Francisco. A transgender client panel followed. A photo exhibit, “Transfigurations: The Making of a Man,” by local photographer Jana Marcus was on display.

For more information about the seminar or for a DVD of the presentation, contact Deborah Abbott at dabbott@ucsc.edu