Violence Against LGBTQ+ Persons: Research, Practice, and Advocacy

As violence against LGBTQ+ persons continues to be a pervasive and serious problem, this book aims to inform mental health providers about the unique needs of LGBTQ+ survivors of interpersonal and structural violence. Individual chapters analyze unique aspects of violence against specific subpopulations of LGBTQ+ persons in order to avoid ineffective and sometimes simplistic one-size-fits-all treatment strategies.

Among the topics covered:

• Macro Level Advocacy for Mental Health Professionals: Promoting Social Justice for LGBTQ+ Survivors of Interpersonal Violence 
• Intimate Partner Violence in Women’s Same-Sex Relationships 
• Violence Against Asexual Persons
• Invisibility and Trauma in the Intersex Community
• Sexual and Gender Minority Refugees and Asylum Seekers: An Arduous Journey
• Sexual and Gender Minority Marginalization in Military Contexts
• Navigating Potentially Traumatic Conservative Religious Environments as a Sexual/Gender Minority 

Violence Against LGBTQ+ Persons prepares mental health professionals for addressing internalized forms of prejudice and oppression that exacerbate the trauma of the survivor, in order to facilitate healing, empowerment, healthy relationships, and resilience at the intersection of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and diverse social locations. This is a valuable reference for psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, mental health professionals, and graduate students, regardless of whether they are preparing for general practice, treatment of LGBTQ+ clients, or treatment of survivors and perpetrators of various forms of violence.

Emily M. Lund, PhD, CRC (she/her/hers), is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education in the department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She holds a PhD in rehabilitation counseling from Utah State University, a master's degree in educational psychology from Texas A&M University, and bachelor's degrees in psychology and social work from the University of Montana. She has worked with people with disabilities in their families in a variety of clinical and educational settings. Her primary research interests include interpersonal violence and trauma in people with disabilities; suicide and non-suicidal self-injury in people with disabilities; the experiences of counseling and psychology graduate students with disabilities; and LGBTQ+ issues, particularly as they intersect with disability. She has published and presented extensively on these topics, and currently has over 75 peer-reviewed publications. In addition to this volume, she is an editor of the book, Religion, Disability, and Interpersonal Violence (2017), also published by Springer.

Claire M. Burgess, PhD (she/her/hers), is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts, a clinical psychologist in private practice and working for VA Boston Healthcare System. Her passion lies in providing education to trainees, as she teaches nursing students and psychiatry residents topics such as cognitive behavioral therapy and LGBT health.She serves as an LGBT Veteran Care Coordinator, connecting veterans to services and providing education to staff and trainees across disciplines. Dr. Burgess assists organizations with trauma-informed care considerations for transgender and gender non-conforming patients. During her postdoctoral training, Dr. Burgess conducted research and interventions at the Fenway Institute and VA Boston Healthcare System, where she completed an LGBT Health Postdoctoral Fellowship. She additionally has led two national workgroups on transgender and intersex patient care and is currently in a third workgroup, developing provider education on trauma-informed care of sexual minority veterans in healthcare settings. She received her MA and PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Southern California, where she was a graduate researcher in the Center for LGBT Health Equity.

Andy J. Johnson, PhD (he/him/his), teaches a variety of courses in the Department of Psychology at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His research interests center on the intersection of religion, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability/disability with interpersonal violence. A volume he edited, Religion and Men's Violence Against Women, and a volume he co-edited with Ruth Nelson and Emily Lund, Religion, Disability, and Interpersonal Violence,are published by Springer. 

Andy is on the Board for the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV), where he currently serves as Co-Chair of Action Team 2: Training and Mentoring. A member of the Policy Committee for OutFront Minnesota, Andy has testified on the psychological research demonstrating the harmfulness and ineffectiveness of conversion therapy in support of efforts to ban conversion therapy in the state legislature.  

He is current member of American Psychological Association (APA) Division 44: Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, and a former Member-at-Large for APA Division 36: Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. Recently, Andy served as a member of the Olmstead Specialty Committee on Violence Against Persons with Disabilities for the State of Minnesota. He earned his MA and PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.