Envision: You Launches LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Provider Training

Envision:You has launched its LGBTQ behavioral health provider training for mental health clinicians, addiction counselors and peer specialists.

Through the training, launched February 1, providers develop new skills and gain critical knowledge to enhance the delivery of quality, culturally relevant, and affirming behavioral health interventions for members of the LGBTQ community.

LGBTQ individuals seek therapy at higher rates than heterosexuals and often experience insensitive encounters with mental health providers making. Through the training, Envision:You aimed to address this issue and provide a culturally appropriate and affirming treatment option in Colorado.

“The LGBTQ+ community faces barriers to quality mental health treatment due to a lack of providers who don’t understand diverse sexual and gender identities,” says Steven Haden, CEO and co-founder, Envision:You.

SonderMind, a virtual platform that connects people to licensed therapists, has offered the training to its providers through a multi-phase, in-person and online training that consists of an introductory, 90-minute on-demand course and a comprehensive nine hour webinar (two half-days) or a one day in person training.

“Statistically, LGBTQ+ adults and youth nationwide are four times more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Yet only 55 percent of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community say that they, or a family member, receive necessary mental or behavioral healthcare,” says Jolene Conway Clatterbuck, director of clinical programs at SonderMind.

In 2019, Envision:You set out to evaluate existing LGBTQ provider trainings and literature on culturally relevant interactions in order to identify best practices in partnership with the OMNI Institute. The findings identified gaps in current trainings including the limited focus on the intersectionality and the absence of a trauma informed perspective and provided the framework for the LGBTQ behavioral health provider training program.

Envision:You is a Colorado LGBTQ mental health and substance abuse disorder initiative that aims to support, educate, and empower members of Colorado’s LGBTQ community who are living with a mental health and/or substance use disorder. Registration is now open for the training program. Providers can sign up at www.envision-you.org/lgbtq-behavioral-health-training to learn more about the training and cost.

If you or someone you know is experiencing an emotional or mental health crisis, please contact Colorado Crisis Services by calling 844-493-8255 or text TALK to 38255.