#20220421-1 WEBINAR: Mental Health in LGBTQ+ Youth

Description

Mental Health in LGBTQ+ Youth: Tapping into Community Resilience

(April 2022) Individual resilience is your ability to handle stressors on your own. Community resilience is your ability to handle stressors with the support of those around you.  LGBTQ+ youth are at increased risk for victimization, substance use, and suicidality. Many of them do not have the benefit of a supportive family of origin, and bullying and ostracization often mark their educational experiences. Many also lack access to supportive faith communities. All of these factors culminate in an increased propensity for mental health concerns. So, how do we help? What can adoptive, foster, and kinship parents do? Well, first things first, we can recognize that no child should have to endure these things alone. They should not be expected to rely on individual resilience. Individual resilience is an unfair meter stick to utilize when creating expectations for children and adolescents. Instead, we should normalize the need for community support. Join LGBTQ+ sensitivity and transgender inclusion subject matter expert Dr. A.C. Fowlkes for a discussion of the importance of community support and how adoptive, foster, and kinship parents can not only provide support but can be intentional in tapping into existing community-level mechanisms of support for LGBTQ+ youth.

Dr. A.C. Fowlkes is the Chief Executive Officer of Fowlkes Consulting which is an LGBTQ+ sensitivity and transgender inclusion consulting firm. He is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and has worked in the field of Diversity and Inclusion for over 10 years. He is an LGBTQ+ Subject Matter Expert and Thought Leader. His passion for LGBTQ+ sensitivity and inclusion is palpable and has resulted in him becoming a highly sought after speaker and consultant. He has provided training and consultation in multiple settings which include but are not limited to: the financial sector, the aerospace sector, the prison system, institutions of higher education and psychiatric hospitals. As a transgender man himself, Dr. Fowlkes has a profound appreciation for the impact (both blatant and subtle) of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Dr. Fowlkes is a Forbes Contributor, where he writes about LGBTQ+ sensitivity, transgender inclusion and allyship. He is also a proud member of the Board of Directors for the Trevor Project.Dr. Fowlkes has a Ph.D. in health psychology with a clinical specialization. His clinical training has afforded him an opportunity to work at various levels in the mental health field, most recently serving as the Chief Operating Officer or Interim Chief Executive Officer for multiple behavioral health facilities. He has also provided clinical services in the prison system, having previously served as the Chief Psychologist of the second largest prison in Virginia. Dr. Fowlkes is a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider. He has worked with some of the highest risk sex offenders in the country. He has operated in positions of clinical and executive leadership for the past ten years and has developed a reputation for improving clinical product and patient satisfaction which in turn leads to improvement in key performance indicators. He is a proponent of transformational leadership and prides himself on his ability to grow leaders.

Watch time: 90 minutes

Eligible Certificate of Completion time: 90 minutes