Lauren Quesenberry and Courtland C Lee
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, USA
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Neurol Neurosci
This poster session focuses on a study of the identity formation of three specific lesbian/bisexual women who were raised in the Southeast region of the United States characterized by a strong Christian fundamentalist/evangelical influence. Narrowing in on the intersection between religion, sexual orientation, geographic region and/or culture (amidst a variety of other factors having to do with the personal lives of these three participants), this poster will highlight therapeutic implications for counselors and psychologists. Beginning with the basics of identity politics and theory, intersectionality is a concept coined by Crenshaw (1989) to describe the way that issues like racism, sexism etc. seem to overlap and create multiple levels of social injustices. Research findings suggest that each minority class a person possesses compounds and interacts, thereby increasing threats of discrimination. This conceptualization of identity formation challenges the hierarchal nature of power within society and provides the following implications for psychological practitioners: practitioner cultural competence is a dire necessity. When working with persons who are participants in one or more minority classes, the following frameworks must be integral to the counseling process: feminist theory, multicultural counseling theory, relational-cultural theory etc. (i.e. empowerment modality used to dismantle the ways in which an individual has been silenced or blamed for his/her sexual orientation as “choice,” etc.). Understand the dangers of prioritizing culture over other factors/identities (sexuality, SES, etc.) which may reinstate powerlessness (i.e. lack of access to services, problems within that culture). Recent Publications 1. Cass V C (1979) Homosexuality identity formation: A theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality 4(3):219-25. 2. Dahl A L and Galliher R V (2009) LGBQQ young adult experiences of religious and sexual identity integration. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling 3(2):92-112. 3. Szymanski D M (2005) Heterosexism and sexism as correlates of psychological distress in lesbians. Journal of Counseling and Development 83(3):355-360. 4. Parker K (2013) The hell train: a journey from holy roller to feminist lesbian. In, Whitlock R U Queer south rising: Voices of a contested place. ISBN: 9781623961695.
Lauren Quesenberry is a second-year student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Washington DC. She obtained a Master of Arts in Women’s Studies Gender Studies from Loyola University Chicago in 2011 and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Minor in Psychology from Gardner-Webb University in 2009. Her areas of professional and academic focus include women’s trauma/recovery and LGBTQ populations.
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