Summary
The provision of mental health services for transgender and non-gender-responsive (TGNC) people is a complex and multi-criteria task that has not yet been sufficiently developed in the scientific literature and practice. This paper assesses service quality indicators and challenges in Lubbock, Texas, and looks into the future to extend the methodology to other geographic regions. Typically, psychiatrists lack cultural and clinical competence and experience in working with transgender and sub-gender people. Moreover, in many regions, resources, including human resources, are limited, so this problem is overgrown with a set of causes and effects that have a negative impact on mental health services. This paper analyzes the main methods of therapy presented in the scientific literature and their integration and indications for use in the specified city.
Literature Review
The provision of mental health services for a TGNC is a long-term, multi-step process. First of all, a person experiences gender identity disorder (GID), which is expressed in a mismatch between the sex assigned to a person at birth and his / her identity. These tests are carried out in the form of questionnaires with a variety of questions that can identify GID at an early stage. As a rule, such tests are carried out even in childhood and adolescence, but many people manage to hide their problems. Medical care for patients following the establishment of GID is very important for their psychological state and affects the further process of treatment and maintenance of mental health (Lee et al., 2018). The problem’s general point is to keep the mental health of the TGNC in proper condition.
Many different techniques and techniques have been used quite successfully in TGNC therapy. Some are also based on questionnaires, such as the Trans Health Survey. This therapeutic technique determines further medical action, including Gender Affirmation Medical Intervention (GAMI) or restricting work to psychological techniques. However, studies show that GAMI can reduce indicators of social anxiety, in other words, certain stressful psychological conditions that plague a person in society or a company (Butler et al., 2019). Medical confirmation allows transgender people and TGNCs to feel more confident in society but requires further preventive work by mental health professionals.
This adaptation aspect in society has been developed in a specific cognitive-behavioral therapy for transgender people (TA-CBT). This research and development of such therapy have provided an opportunity to bring several benefits to general mental health care for TGNC. First, transgender people are now able to cope with the traumatic events that have defined their gender identity and manage their consequences. Second, adaptation, supported by growing confidence, allows the development of skills for navigation and communication in society, taking into account the social, cultural, and interpersonal aspects that dictate the norms of behavior in modern society with a tradition of encouraging cisgender privilege (Austin et al., 2017). However, this therapy sheds light on an understanding of both the TGNCs’ behavior and the appropriate medical intervention depending on the scenario and individual case.
Traditional psychology methods, including compassionate methods, have found positive results in the modern scientific literature on TGNC. These methods have not been used often in the case of transgender people, but modern research is proving their relevance and relevance. In addition, at the junction of methods and techniques, relatively progressive solutions for TGNC appear. For example, the use of art therapy promotes self-compassion and complacency, allowing the patient to control better his emotional impulses, which, among others, are aimed at self-criticism. Art therapy, coupled with compassionate methods, has resonated in the psychological treatment of transgender people (Beaumont et al., 2015). This technique improves the conditions for social adaptation and self-acceptance, which will allow TGNC to experience minor psychological disorders and emotional outbursts.
Deficiencies in mental health care can lead to the development of other physical illnesses. Such influences are studied in the context of TGNC since the specificity of the problem plays a specific role in the development of various diseases. In a variety of situations, the mental health problems of TGNC can impact cardiovascular disease, lipids, bone health, and endocrine systems (Hembree et al., 2017). Systematic reviews and individual studies of medical practitioners allow for a deeper dive into the indicated problem, comparing the pairwise effects of each criterion involved in the study. Such information will help identify and prevent various diseases in TGNC, study the hormonal background, its changes and influence on other organs, and determine the role of the mental state in all these processes.
Moreover, there is a particular problem of lack of resources in various regional hospitals. This problem severely affects treatment outcomes, especially in areas yet under-explored, such as TGNC mental health (Holt et al., 2020). A thorough study of the above methods and techniques of medical interventions or therapies will create a specific open knowledge base that will help to increase the percentage of correctly diagnosed diagnoses, treatment results, and further prevention and prevention of diseases in patients of this group.
The main problem with this work is the lack of decentralized data on the methods and therapies being undertaken for the mental health of the TGNC. Moreover, the quality of services provided by medical institutions is lower in various regions remote from megacities. This study will collect and classify successful practices and describe their integration and application within a specific city. Then a similar experience can be iteratively repeated for other cities. This study will contribute to the field of counseling because of the wealth of experience, in other words, in this way, the central hypothesis of this study can be described: systematizing theories, methods, and techniques in the field of mental health for TGNC will help to increase the rates of treatment outcomes and adaptation of transgender people in a social society. The importance of this work is determined by the need to avoid negative consequences due to the untenable social adaptation of TGNC, their psychological disorders, and their unbalanced psyche.
Methodology
The methodology of this work is based on the literature review and techniques described above. As a rule, the primary data collection method for TGNC was precisely the questionnaire or questionnaire since many of the studies described above were focused on this type of data collection. This paper should investigate the city of Lubbock, Texas, and the range of services that TGNC provides for mental health services in the region. The data obtained can be further interpreted and assess the quality of the services provided to propose specific methods to develop an accessible knowledge base to improve the accuracy of diagnoses and indicators of good results.
Population and Sampling
The main requirements for selecting participants are their involvement in the TGNC groups, which is determined by particular types of questionnaires, among which the copies described in the literature review are used. In addition, it is required to determine not only the very fact of belonging to this group but also the stage at which the patient is psychological. In parallel, with the help of such questionnaires, it is possible to assess the level of social anxiety and how strongly the influence of cultural aspects affects this case. If possible, it is necessary to recruit patients of different nationalities into the group if the conditions of the selected city allow it.
Patients will be selected at designated mental health clinics. The briefing of the participants will be carried out in order to obtain accurate data. The sincerity of the surveyed patients should be guaranteed by maintaining their anonymity since the quality of the services provided, the availability of specific techniques in medical institutions, and the competence of specialists are assessed first. The research should be carried out in the most comfortable environment for the patient since the research studies mental health and advocates maintaining his calm state.
Instrumentation
The literature review revealed a specific tool that will be used to interpret the findings. The Mini-Social Phobia Inventory (Mini-SPIN) tool used has high reliability with a Cronbach alpha of 0.82 and is a three-item self-rating scale that assesses the level of social anxiety. This study recommends GAMI for TGNC people with body dissatisfaction who want to conform to social gender binary forms because it is associated with reduced social anxiety and increased body satisfaction (Butler et al., 2019). Applying and integrating this method will help to understand its relevance and relevance to TGNC in underserved regions. The expiration date for this instrument is usually short, as this instrument is usually used for screening.
The rationale for using this particular tool is due to the positive results of its use for TGNC people who are dissatisfied with their bodies and high reliability rates. Cultural aspects and differences lie in several important factors that can determine further treatment. First, there is a need to distinguish between LGBT people and TGNCs (Nowak, 2017). Secondly, the influence of the client’s gender history and self-identification on the state of health, both physical and mental, can vary by ethnicity. In this regard, questionnaires should take these questions into account to conduct an in-depth analysis and correct interpretation of the results obtained.
Procedures and Analysis
The variables measured include general health and mental health problems, access to healthcare facilities and services, and stigma. According to these variables, a Mini-SPIN-based questionnaire for patients will be created, which will show not only the current state of their mental health and social adaptation but also indirectly show the services used in Lubbock clinics in Texas. Interpreting the findings will help evaluate the chosen variables and the cultural aspects that impact each patient’s case. In addition, correlations can show certain dependencies that are specific only to this region. Avoiding such statistical inaccuracy is possible only in the future when applying this approach in other cities and states. This study should be carried out in several stages since the period of each Mini-SPIN iteration is short, but in these questions, it is a pretty good indicator for screening. Obtaining reliable results will show the hypothesis’s consistency and increase its relevance in further research in other cities and states.
Integration
In the field of counseling, the knowledge base will be updated and improved, which will be used to prevent diseases caused by unstable mental health or poor social adaptation. Even though transgender culture is alien to biblical principles, transvestism (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Deuteronomy, 22: 5), as the closest concept, is condemned in scripture. GID may have various reasons, but biblical principles are ultimately the same for everyone.
Regardless of the nature of RGI, which can be genetic, physiological, spiritual, or psychological, it can be overcome and healed through faith in Christ and constant trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. Any sin can be atoned for, as the salvation of Jesus can change lives, regardless of physiological factors. An example is the following quote from scripture: “And some of you were just like that, but you were washed, sanctified and justified by the Spirit of our God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (King James Bible, 1769/2017, 1 Corintios 6:11). Everyone has hope, and TGNC people are no exception, so in consulting work, supporting a biblical position will only be beneficial in such studies.
The issue of social adaptation, as a rule, rests on the problem of differences from the overwhelming majority, which dictates their norms of behavior and rules in society. This problem is usually associated with TGNC and is also a consequence of racism, discrimination, and many other ailments of society (Snow et al., 2019). Research in the field of social minorities and understanding their thinking makes it possible to implement the principle of biblical equality. However, still, all research should be based on empirical indicators, experience, and analytics of the existing knowledge base, which has a predictive function that is highly relevant in matters of diseases associated with deviations in the mental state.
References
Austin, A., Craig, S. L., & Alessi, E. J. (2017). Affirmative cognitive behavior therapy with transgender and gender nonconforming adults. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 40(1), 141–156. Web.
Beaumont, S. L. (2015). Art therapy for gender-variant individuals: A compassion-oriented approach. Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 25(2), 1–6. Web.
Butler, R. M., Horenstein, A., Gitlin, M., Testa, R. J., Kaplan, S. C., Swee, M. B., & Heimberg, R. G. (2019). Social anxiety among transgender and gender nonconforming individuals: The role of gender-affirming medical interventions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(1), 25–31. Web.
Hembree, W. C., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Gooren, L., Hannema, S. E., Meyer, W. J., Murad, M. H., Rosenthal, S. M., Safer, J. D., Tangpricha, V., & T’Sjoen, G. G. (2017). Endocrine Treatment of Gender-Dysphoric/Gender-Incongruent Persons: An Endocrine Society* Clinical Practice Guideline. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 102(11), 3869–3903. Web.
Holt, N. R., Hope, D. A., Mocarski, R., Meyer, H., King, R., & Woodruff, N. (2020). The provider perspective on behavioral health care for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals in the Central Great Plains: A qualitative study of approaches and needs. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 90(1), 136–146. Web.
King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. Web.
Lee, H., Park, J., Choi, B., Yi, H., & Kim, S.-S. (2018). Experiences of and barriers to transition-related healthcare among Korean transgender adults: Focus on gender identity disorder diagnosis, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery. Epidemiology and Health, 40. Web.
Nowak, K. (2017). Mental Measurements Yearbook. The Charleston Advisor, 19(2), 35-38.
Snow, A., Cerel, J., Loeffler, D. N., & Flaherty, C. (2019). Barriers to mental health care for transgender and gender-nonconforming adults: A systematic literature review. Health & Social Work, 44(3), 149-155.