Handbook of LGBT issues in community mental health - Jack Drescher

Take your knowledge of the mental health issues that affect LGBT people to the next level!

The Handbook of LGBT Issues in Community Mental Health provides reliable, up-to-date information on clinical issues, administrative practices, and health concerns related to the provision of public sector mental health services to LGBT people. The handbook presents clinical case material and describes various current clinical programs, with details about how they were developed and fostered, as well as their unique role in the provision of mental health services to this population. Contributors share their experiences developing two of the largest public LGBT programs in the United States and offer practical strategies for developing LGBT mental health programming in any community.

This single source brings together mental health clinicians, administrators, and advocates whose work involves public sector issues that concern the LGBT community. These seasoned experts provide in-depth information for those who need to know about the current state of mental health care in public psychiatry for LGBT individuals. The book also explores the professional and popular literature on the subject, providing a broad overview of the issues in this expanding clinical area.

The Handbook of LGBT Issues in Community Mental Health contains five chapters that target policy, administrative, and programmatic issues, providing a neglected perspective for clinicians, program developers, administrators, advocates, and funders. In addition, you'll find:

• two case studies that vividly demonstrate the relevance of culturally appropriate services and highlight the reasons why services in this area are so sorely needed
  
• a psychiatrist's recollections of the changes he faced while working in a homophobic environment within the Veterans Administration system
  
• fascinating interviews with Francis Lu and Barbara Warren that probe the thoughts, experience, and opinions of these leaders in the development of public sector mental health programs for LGBT people
  
• an examination of the role of gender identity in the treatment of a male-to-female transgender person with major mental illness

In the Handbook of LGBT Issues in Community Mental Health, you'll also find practical, how-they-did-it information that shows:

• how LGBT organizations in New York State organized to gain public funding for mental health and other human services, and how a new advocacy strategy that consolidated LGBT human service organizations into a statewide network was pioneered in that state
  
• how mental health care for sexual minority teens was incorporated into the medical clinic setting at a major metropolitan hospital
  
• how a culturally sensitive program for LGBT people with major mental illness was developed in New York State's largest community mental health center
  
• how a small, volunteer community health agency developed into a multi-million dollar facility that provides comprehensive health care to New York City's LGBT community