Counseling Couples
Workshop Description
Couples facing a partner’s gender transition or exploration—even one that doesn’t involve medical interventions—face unique challenges. While there’s a plethora of materials about supporting a person contemplating or undergoing a gender transition, little exists about supporting and nurturing their loved ones, especially their primary partners. Spouses and partners may be thrown into the awkward position of supporting their partner without support for their own mental health or the health of their relationship. They may also face hostility from friends and/or family of origin for their support or lack thereof. This can leave them isolated, drained, and with nowhere to turn.
Many relationships, even loving, supportive ones, do not survive the upheaval because support and understanding can be hard to find. Transitioning can feel like a very personal project, which may leave the partner feeling alone, and cause communication difficulties as both partners may feel the other can’t understand what each is going through. In this workshop, we will offer tools and discuss best practices for professionals providing support to both partners in a transitioning or transitioned relationship and provide insights into how an individual’s gender transition is really a transition for the whole family.
Conference Track
Professional
Primary Contact
Jacob Anderson-Minshall
Workshop Presenters
Diane Anderson-Minshall, Retrograde Communications
Presenter Bio
Diane Anderson-Minshall is a queer, Native-American journalist, editor, and author. She and her husband of 27 years wrote about their experience transitioning from a lesbian couple to husband and wife in the memoir, Queerly Beloved: A Love Story across Genders. As CEO of Retrograde Communications, Diane serves as the award-winning editorial director of The Advocate, Chill, and Plus magazines as well as HIVPlusMag.com and TinyLivingChic.com. A winner of awards from GLAAD, Folio, and the WPA, Diane has served as executive producer on a number of health programs, including The T with Dr. D and My Health, My Way.
Jacob Anderson-Minshall, Retrograde Communications
Presenter Bio
Jacob Anderson-Minshall is a disabled transgender journalist, editor, and author. After more than 15 years together he and his coconspirator, Diane, transitioned from lesbian couple to husband and wife. Their story, told in the award-winning memoir Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders, has also garnered the attention of Psychology Today, The New York Times, Glamour, and numerous other media outlets. The couple has now been together 27 years. Jacob is cofounder of Retrograde Communications, where he serves as deputy editor of The Advocate and Plus magazines. His new novel, Swimming Upstream, looks at queer kinship, gender non-conformity, and the lasting impacts of trauma.