Research is formalized curiosity - Zora Neale Hurston

Family acceptance and support is the biggest predictor of health for LGBTQ youth. Through a community-engaged project, we sought to bring evidence-based family therapy practice to Missouri for equipping mental health professionals to engage the families of LGBTQ adolescents to improve acceptance and support. This project is funded by Missouri Foundation for Health.

In December 2020, Saint Louis University (SLU) hosted a 3-part Attachment Based Family Therapy Training for Missouri mental health professionals and community partners. We had 65 attendees from across the state serving rural and urban communities.

We recruiting for families with queer and trans/gender creative youth to take part in a pilot study using Attachment Based Family Therapy at the Center for Counseling & Family Therapy at SLU. Email anna.parker@health.slu.edu to inquire about the study.

An interdisciplinary research team including trans* identified team members began this study in the summer of 2019. The aims of this qualitative study takes an interpretative phenomenological approach to understanding the the everyday, embodied experiences of transgender people who seek hormone therapy for gender-affirming healthcare. This study is funded through an internal grant from Saint Louis University.

Data analysis and reporting are underway with pending publications of our findings.

Families and religion impact the health, partnering practices, and risk of exposure to sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts. This is a multifaceted project began in 2015 aimed at using both qualitative interviews and national surveys for understanding the experiences of LGBTQ adults who grew up in religious families. Publications are available for reporting on the study findings: 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jmft.12323

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jmft.12442

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00918369.2020.1804255

Currently, we are analyzing a large, national dataset of transgender and gender diverse adults in the U.S. for extending our understanding of the prevalence and impact of gender/sexual orientation change efforts within racial, religious, and gender identity groups.

Seeking counseling and family therapy works to increase wellbeing and relationship satisfaction. However, some people benefit more than others from therapy and many people end of up leaving therapy prior to improvements in their mental health. To better understand the process of therapy and improvements needed in our approach to therapy, this study utilizes client and therapist data collected over the past 17 years (2002-2019) to examine the role of social locations (e.g., race, gender, etc.) and other factors (e.g., severity of symptoms, degree of hope) for predicting longevity and the success of therapy. The hope is to inform better practice of therapy that improves services offered. 

In the St. Louis metropolitan area, the demographics suggest a large and growing youth population vulnerable to poor behavioral health. Early intervention and prevention efforts by mental health professionals trained to address and strengthen family relationships are a key element to an effective behavioral health workforce for addressing the needs of youth and their families in the region. 

This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health Resources and Services Administration through a Behavioral Health Workforce Development grant.

Publications are available for reporting on the study findings:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01926187.2021.1958270

Addiction and overdose due to opioid abuse continue to be a significant problem in society and disproportionately impacting marginalized communities. This study sought to define the role of Peer Specialists on interprofessional treatment teams, in their work with families of those struggling with substance abuse, and explore experiences they have in motivating people to enter treatment. 

This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health Resources and Services Administration through a Behavioral Health Workforce Development  for Substance Abuse & Opioid Use grant.

This study is in data analysis with reporting our findings commencing fall 2021.