Purpose: The Western Washington University Speech-Language Clinic contributes to a university-wide effort to provide holistic and reliable gender-affirming care for individuals across the gender spectrum. The clinic's gender-affirming voice and communication program recognizes the ethical responsibility to infuse both clinical education and client care with trauma-responsive practices. Given the well-documented exposures to violence, adversity, and trauma in the transgender and gender-expansive community, the program maintains a robust commitment to practices that support clients learning and thriving in a safe, collaborative therapeutic environment. This requires that both clinical teaching and service delivery be responsive to the specific needs that trauma-informed care aims to meet. Method: This article summarizes important background information to contextualize the need for trauma-responsive, gender-affirming care. It then describes three main facets to delivering trauma-responsive services to the transgender and gender-expansive community within a university training clinic. The approach integrates (a) organizational alignment to support the integrity of the care system, (b) the development of clinician communication and counseling skills to ensure interactions are person-centered and trauma-responsive, and (c) the application of specific trauma-responsive practices in the context of direct service delivery. Conclusions: Trauma-responsive clinical and academic training programs can benefit all stakeholders. This article offers guidance for ongoing research and improving outcomes by contributing to practice-based evidence in trauma-responsive, gender-affirming voice care.
Yarrow Pospisil (Fri,) studied this question.