"Our feelings are valid" - reviewing the lesbian, gay, and bisexual affirmative approaches in a mental health setting

Adaptation and feasibility assessment of a dating violence prevention program for girls in foster care

BACKGROUND

Dating violence in adolescence is a serious public health issue due to its significant impact on mental health and its significant predictive value for intimate partner violence in adulthood. Universal and selective programs can contribute to the prevention of this issue. Nonetheless, there are few selective programs with evidence of feasibility in contexts of social vulnerability.

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined evidence of the feasibility of a dating violence selective prevention program for girls in foster care by monitoring process indicators during the implementation phase of a pilot study.

METHODS

The program, originally designed for adolescents in the general population, was adapted to the context of girls at risk. The pilot study was conducted in the southern region of Brazil and involved the participation of six girls aged between 15 and 17. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used, and the data were explored through frequency analysis, the Jacobson and Truax test, and content analysis.

RESULTS

The study identified favorable evidence regarding demand, acceptability, and adaptation of the intervention. On the other hand, contextual and institutional barriers hindered recruitment and restricted the reach of the intervention.

CONCLUSION

Although there are changes to be made to improve the program's applicability in its specific context, it should be emphasized that this study provides evidence to maintain the methods and content of the intervention.

Looking into the LGB affirmative therapies over the last fifty years - a mixed method review synthesis

In the past few decades, affirmative therapies for sexual minorities have burgeoned. These are appropriate therapies but often there is a lack of adequate research. We set out to study the research evidence available. For this mixed-methods review, we identified 15 studies looking into the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in psychological therapies. These included nine qualitative, five quantitative and one mixed method studies. Minority stress hypothesis may explain some of the major difficulties LGB individuals face. Studies showed computer based therapies may reduce or even eliminate unhelpful responses on part of the therapist. Challenges related to confidentiality and privacy in this context remain. Therapists may focus on minority stress but other stressors and not just discrimination may contribute to various mental health problems and their clinical presence. And finally, divergent findings found internalized homophobia may best explain discrimination-based minority stress and that therapist self-disclosure of own sexuality produced better results than the therapists who did not self-disclose. These findings are discussed and future directions for research are identified.