Sex is the biological component of males and females such as one’s hormones, genitals and reproductive systems. Whereas, gender is the socially constructed aspect of males and females like roles, norms, practices and expectations of people identifying as a particular gender. Both are mistakenly often used interchangeably. In 2018, a landmark judgement was passed by the Supreme Court, when it scraped Section 377, decriminalising gay sex and legalising homosexuality. This decision saw the stigma against homosexuality take a hit, causing a lot of people to come forward with their gender identity and beliefs in the hope of acceptance by society.
Gender identity is a set of beliefs one has of oneself with regards to gender and its roles, and what they identify with the best. Another related component is gender expression which is, how an individual expresses themselves and their gender externally in the form of roles, practices, dressing etc. With increasing acceptance on a macro or a societal level, awareness and sensitivity of different gender identities and roles have become imperative for people, especially mental health practitioners. Mental health practitioners play a pivotal role in this matter in more ways than one expects.
Read More: Indigenisation and Gender Equity in Psychology: Recognizing Diverse Contributions and Voices
They can help create awareness and advocate equality across various gender identities and these professionals take responsibility for bettering the mental health of the stigmatized section of the society by being sensitive to the discrimination and hardships faced by individuals with different gender identities. Before proceeding on how to be gender sensitive in mental health practice, it may be important to familiarise ourselves with a few terms:
- Non-Binary: People identifying themselves as non-binary are those who don’t identify themselves as either male or female. They see gender as more fluid than just being a binary construct.
- Transgender: Individuals identifying as Trans are those whose gender does not align with their sexual characteristics assigned at birth.
- Cisgender: Individuals identifying as Cis are those whose gender aligns with their sexual characteristics at birth.
- Agender: These individuals do not identify themselves with any specific gender.
Apart from gender identities, another up-and-coming issue about gender, which has taken centre stage in sociology and psychology is pronouns. Along with awareness and sensitization about gender identities and roles, the one wants to be addressed apart from one’s name, has also become an important matter to educate oneself on. Just like gender identity, pronouns also vary apart from He and She. It is always a good idea to use gender-neutral language and pronouns if one is not sure of the other person’s gender identity, rather than straight jumping to just a Him or a Her.
Read More: The Psychology Behind Gender Fluidity
Gender Sensitivity in Mental Health Practice May Encompass Awareness of the following issues
- Having a gender-sensitive approach to psychiatric diagnosis.
- Refraining from conversion and reparative treatments to serve individuals.
- Avoiding assumptions regarding any individual’s gender identity and sexual preference.
- Being sensitive to various gender identities and pronouns without appearing ignorant and disrespectful.
- Educating oneself on the nuances of romantic and sexual relationships of individuals not identifying as binary.
- Relationship between gender identity, roles mental health and well-being as well as the presence of psychopathology.
- Having an understanding of the developmental trajectories of non-binary, trans people and also that of binary people.
- Acknowledging one’s own biases and stereotypes, identifying prejudices regarding non-binary, homosexual individuals.
- Helping individuals better manage unique life situations like self-acceptance, harassment, discrimination and relationship issues.
- Acknowledging isolation, silence and invisibility around homosexuality without promoting toxic positivity and false understanding.
- Bridge the gap between age-old knowledge of gender identities, and norms and a more inclusive approach to understanding this social construct.
- Mental health practitioners may be mindful of a couple of ways through which they can create a sensitive, inclusive and more non-judgement space for individuals of all gender identities.
- Discrimination and differences are faced by individuals having different gender identities and even the same is faced by those who don’t identify as being of any specific gender. Discrimination is faced in various settings like workplace, family and educational setups.
Read More: Understanding Gender and Sexuality in Psychology
In recent times a lot of young mental health practitioners use the term queer affirmative to communicate their sensitivity and broaden their client outreach. Though this may be a step forward towards greater acceptance and reduced stigma, utmost care must be taken to learn and acknowledge that it takes much more than a single word on one’s resume or Instagram page, to cater to the needs of the LGBTQA community.
To create a gender sensitivity mental health practice, one needs to make a conscious effort to normalize non-binary and binary gender identities instead of treating either of these like ailments. One practice that can be considered as a stepping stone to having an inclusive and sensitive environment to practice mental health is to work on the self and be able to identify one’s biases regarding the community.
