Abstract
Transgender people experience physical and mental health disparities relative to cisgender people. These health disparities are maintained by a paucity of health care practitioners with knowledge of transgender health care. Clinical psychologists who apply gender affirming care are one of the central health care practitioners for transgender people. Educational interventions involving transgender community members can improve health practitioners' knowledge and attitudes about supporting transgender clients, particularly when delivered during training programs. The study aimed to explore the perspectives and educational needs of clinical psychology students in Aotearoa New Zealand around providing culturally competent care for transgender clients. Three focus groups were conducted with eight clinical psychology students across all years of training (n = 3, 3, 2) alongside transgender community members (n = 2, 2, 3) who attended as community "ambassadors" after community consultation. Thematic analysis of focus group data led to the development of three themes. The first theme was about how participants wanted to learn more about the experiences of transgender people so they could more confidently support transgender clients. The second theme was about how participants found that participating in a focus group with transgender ambassadors helped fill some gaps in their knowledge about transgender health care. The third theme was about the ways participants thought transgender community members could be included in teaching sessions, while balancing some logistical constraints in the clinical psychology program. These findings support the notion that clinical psychology students would benefit from learning about transgender health care during their training, particularly with input from transgender community members.
Public Significance Statement Clinical psychology students who participated in this study expressed a desire to learn more about providing care for transgender people; in particular, by involving transgender community members in teaching activities within their course. These findings support international research suggesting that education in training programs can equip health practitioners, like clinical psychologists, to support transgender clients in the future.