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Sexual Orientation

Student Name

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Course name

Instructor name

Date of submission
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A reflection based on the course materials

The readings were very insightful to me. I was surprised to learn that psychology or any

behavioral science cannot determine the moral status of same-sex behavior. Previously, I thought

that the application of philosophical reasoning would justify what is moral and what is immoral.

For example, I believed that using utilitarian theory would enable me to judge immoral acts after

considering their impact in causing harm to an individual rather than happiness. The reading

explained to me that psychology (which is a behavioral science) only informs moral reasoning by

measuring specific behaviors, but cannot determine which moral system to use to judge the

morality of an act (Yarhouse & Burkett, 2002).

Through the reading, I realized that there is a need for psychologists to balance the

perspectives taken by clients holding traditional, conservative ideas and those who are religiously

orthodox. Yarhouse & Burkett (2002) illustrate that the only way a psychologist can protect the

marginalized is by ensuring that the balance between conservative religious believers and

religious orthodox believers is maintained in their practice. Thus, in my counseling practice, I

will always ensure that I do not judge clients based on their perspectives but be flexible in my

thinking and reasoning to accommodate any individual client despite the difference in religious

belief that might exist between their belief system and my belief system. Secondly, I realized that

change attempts made by ex-gays results from the condemnatory socio-religious prejudices

levied to them by society members, making the individuals fail to successfully transform through

the identity synthesis process. Thus, in my counseling practice, I will ensure that I break such

myths and stereotypic beliefs that could negatively impact my clients’ reasoning thereby

impairing their successful transformation in the identity formation process. Thirdly, I gained an

insight that reorientation therapy is only successful after careful assessment of the client to
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understand their goals and an intensive assessment of their mental health status so that such

illnesses do not impact the nature of the decisions they make. Thus, in my practice, I will always

ensure that before taking clients through any form of therapy, I will reevaluate their goals and

their mental status to ensure that they are in a position to make rational decisions on their

treatment choices.

I believe that working with the LGBTQ+ population, in general, necessitates a critical

understanding of the evolving needs of the clients, which if not met, psychologists may be

ineffective in their practice. I believe that such is an intensive and demanding task, which any

psychologist should be prepared to dedicate their time and efforts to enhance its success. I believe

that psychologists working with the LGBTQ+ population must thus adopt a culture of continuous

learning to enable them to meet the evolving needs of their clients. The stereotyping facing

transgender children since their childhood impairs with success identity formation thereby many

suffering self-rejection and identity crisis (https://vimeo.com). Thus, I believe that psychologists

must be knowledgeable and accurately informed to enable them to customize their therapies

based on the evolving needs of the clients they serve thereby choosing relevant therapies that

exactly fit into clients’ situations.

One major question I wanted to ask Dr. Garzon is, what is the role of a parent in

facilitating the gender transition process in a transgender adolescent? Such is because as evident

in the presentation, the process of gender transition in Sullivan was enhanced by an online

support group made of women who had similar trajectories (www.psychologytoday.com). With

the increased cases of cyberbullying over such online platforms, youths or children envisioning

gender transition are increasingly exposed to harm. How well can parents ensure that their

children are exposed to the right content and also can effectively monitor the changes in their
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children during the transition process? Such would ensure that any challenges that might

negatively impact the gender transitioning process are adequately and timely identified and

addressed.
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References

https://vimeo.com/217950594

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201803/different-stripe

Yarhouse, M. A., & Burkett, L. A. (2002). An inclusive response to LGB and conservative

religious persons: The case of same-sex attraction and behavior. Professional Psychology:

Research and Practice, 33(3), 235.