Oppression and the Politics of Gender in Queer and Trans Lives

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (MAC-ACBS) is proud to sponsor:

Oppression and the Politics of Gender in Queer and Trans Lives

When: Friday, May 16, 2025 9:00AM- 5:00PM

Where: 17 Commerce Street, Baltimore, MD

Speaker: Matthew Skinta, PhD

6.5 CEs Pending from ACBS and NASW

Detailed Schedule:

9:00- 9:30: Opening meditation and agenda setting

9:30- 10:45: Overview of the current state of political hostility, known adverse effects, and their relationship with core experiential avoidance processes

10:45-11:00: Break

11:00- 12:00: Functional Analytic Psychotherapy with queer and transgender clients, self-assessing sexual and gender experiences

12:00-1:00: Lunch

1:00- 2:00- The role of compassion, community and the process of building meaningful relationships

2:00- 3:15: The Matrix as a tool for establishing a values-orient practice

3:15- 3:30: Break

3:30- 4:30: Sources of resilience and resistance

4:30- 5:00: Unfinished business, case discussion, Q&A, wrap-up

Cost:

$200- Standard Registration (no CEs)

$175- Early Bird (until April 1)

$20- Student/Emerging Economy

$25- CE certificate

Target Audience: Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced

This activity is pending approval to offer CEs for psychologists, licensed counselors, and social workers. You must attend the course in its entirety in order to receive continuing education credits. Attendees who miss more than 15 minutes (e.g., arrive more than 15 minutes late, leave more than 15 minutes early) will not be given CE credits. CE credits are given for 6.5 hours of instruction time and are not given for the break. Partial credit is not available. CEs are awarded contingent on timely post-event paperwork submission by event organizers.

Refunds: A $25 processing fee will be charged for registration refunds up to May 1st. For cancellations after May 1st, participants will be offered a 50% refund OR can apply 100% of the cost to a future training. If you need a refund, please contact us via email at [email protected].

Course Description:

Recent years have yielded concern and hotly politicized debates over the legal rights of queer and trans people, as well as legislative interference in medical access. Contextual behavior therapies offer us important tools to build social safeness and thriving among queer and trans people within a hostile political climate. This workshop will emphasize the importance of social safeness and resistance as an alternative to resilience frameworks, drawing from past research on how queer and trans Polish individuals withstood the phenomena of "LGBT Free Zones." CBS therapies such as ACT and FAP, however, emphasize the importance of “walking the walk.” This workshop will explore how a therapist might choose a path of valued action in the face of a shifting legal landscape that increasingly restricts access to trans affirming care, as well as important tools for resilience and resistance that apply to both clinicians and clients.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees will:

1. Identify and analyze the sociopolitical factors shaping contemporary debates around queer and trans rights, including legal restrictions on gender-affirming care.

2. Differentiate between resilience frameworks and social safeness as a response to oppression, and explore their implications for queer and trans well-being.

3. Investigate the strategies used by queer and trans individuals in oppressive environments to resist and survive systemic oppression, drawing insights for application in other hostile environments.

4. Examine how contextual behavior therapies (ACT, FAP) can be utilized to support queer and trans individuals in navigating political and social adversity.

5. Learn and apply therapeutic techniques that emphasize resistance, community-building, and advocacy within a clinical setting.

6. Strengthen skills for helping clients process experiences of discrimination, internalized oppression, and systemic marginalization through an affirming therapeutic approach.

7. Reflect on the ethical obligations of clinicians working with queer and trans clients and develop strategies for advocacy within professional and community spaces.

Instructor Bio:

Matthew Skinta is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Affiliated Faculty of Women and Gender Studies at Roosevelt University (Chicago, USA). He is a peer-reviewed trainer of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, a certified Functional Analytic Psychotherapy trainer, and a certified teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training. Dr. Skinta's global work on the adaptation and advancement of cognitive behavior therapies for work with sexual orientation and gender diverse people has led to the award of Fellow status in the American Psychological Association's Division 44 and 52, the Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapies, and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He has written and edited books on affirmative psychotherapy to mitigate the effects of sexual and gender minority stress, and has offered clinical consultation and provided psychotherapy workshops around the world. His clinical work incorporates those approaches that might promote vulnerability, acceptance, and self-compassion in ways that nurture social connections and the health that comes with safety in our relationships.

The presenter reports no conflicts of interest. No commercial support is being received for this training.

For any questions about this event, you can reach out to MAC-ACBS at [email protected].

Host or Publisher MAC-ACBS