Course Overview

The purpose of the course is to increase students’ understanding of life span theories, human behavior theories, and intervention models and techniques when working with people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or additional identities (LGBTQ+). Although the emphasis will be on a social work perspective, students from various majors will benefit from this knowledge if they plan to work with LGBTQ+ people or if they would like this knowledge for their personal benefit. Important issues covered include sexual-minority identity formation; internalized homophobia; transference and countertransference issues; theories of assessment and intervention; and, cultural competence.