Correlates of Transgender and gender nonconforming counseling competencies among psychologists and mental health practitioners

With the new Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People (American Psychological Association, 2015), it is ever more important that psychologists and mental health practitioners possess the appropriate counseling competencies (e.g., knowledge, skills, and attitudes) to ensure that the best quality of care is provided to transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) persons. This study explored correlates of TGNC counseling competencies among psychologists and mental health practitioners. Participants (n = 102) included master's level counselors and social workers, as well as doctoral-level psychologists. Participants were recruited from a national multicultural counseling conference that took place in the United States, and they each anonymously completed a questionnaire packet. Controlling for social desirability, a blockwise hierarchical regression indicated that several practitioner identity-related variables contributed to the TGNC counseling competencies. Self-identifying as a sexual minority, self-identifying as a racial/ethnic minority, and being an advanced career professional with 8 or more years of clinical experience predicted TGNC counseling competencies. Implications for education, practice, and future research are discussed.