Art donated by Hidden Springs of McKinney residents, on display for fundraising auction, Mckinney, TX.

Through VTI’s work globally, increasingly more people have enhanced personal interactions with people with dementia.

BETHESDA, Md. (PRWEB)
January 05, 2022

In celebration of GivingTuesday on November 30, 2020, Meridian Senior Living’s more than 50 communities hosted a Meridian Art Gallery and Auction as part of a fundraiser for the Validation Training Institute (VTI) and its work to train and educate people on effective communication techniques with residents who suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia. Through this community service effort led by residents, Meridian communities raised almost $3,000 for VTI.

Raising awareness and funds, each Meridian community hosted an Artist Gallery and Reception featuring resident-created artwork for sale in an auction during Active Aging Week, October 4-10, 2021. Auction funds raised on-site were directly donated to VTI by each community and all other out of town auction winners submitted donations using VTI’s dedicated Gofundme platform at msl.life/vti. In addition to the Meridian community-based artist galleries, each community showcased a selection of the resident-created art pieces on their respective community Facebook page.

GivingTuesday is a “Global Generosity Movement” that urges people and organizations to donate time, funds, or offer a voice about a significant cause in their local community to make a positive impact. GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 as a simple idea of instituting one day for people to give back to their local or global community. Today, it has grown into a global undertaking including hundreds of millions of participants inspired to celebrate generosity. Meridian Senior Living has chosen to support VTI for GivingTuesday after years of seeing VTI’s methodology greatly benefit its residents.

“I have personally experienced the positive impact on thousands of people’s lives when caregivers implement Validation Techniques,” said Kevin Carlin, Owner, Meridian Senior Living and Volunteer Board Member for VTI. “Through VTI’s work globally, increasingly more people have enhanced personal interactions with people with dementia.”

Founded by Naomi Feil in 1983, VTI is a U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization that offers progressively developed certification levels and training programs in addition to a network of national and regional Validation organizations to disseminate information, train interested individuals, and maintain the Validation Method, a distinct way of communicating with those with dementia. VTI’s ultimate objective is to “nurture respect, dignity and well-being in the lives of older adults experiencing age related decline and their caregivers.” Validation is a method of communicating with and helping cognitively impaired seniors. It helps reduce stress, enhances dignity and promotes happiness. Built on an empathetic and holistic approach, Validation asks caregivers to ‘step into the shoes’ of those with dementia and ‘see through their eyes’ to understand the meaning of their often-complex behaviors. This method allows seniors the opportunity to express, both verbal and non-verbal, their often-suppressed feelings and needs.

For more information about Meridian Senior Living, visit meridiansenior.com.

About Meridian Senior Living:

Meridian Senior Living, a privately held company based in Bethesda, Maryland, owns and operates seniors housing communities across the country and provides operational consulting to 24 communities in China. With approximately 50 communities in 17 states and more in development, Meridian is one of the largest seniors housing operators in the U.S. The company prides itself on providing the highest quality care, exceptional lifestyle programming and a distinctive dining experience for its residents. For more information on Meridian Senior Living, visit meridiansenior.com.

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When people don’t treat themselves with kindness, they can create or exacerbate a number of psychological issues. Self-compassion should be this year’s top resolution.

Being treated unkindly by others can do a lot of damage to your self-esteem, but it can be equally damaging, if not more so, if you are excessively harsh with yourself.

MONTREAL (PRWEB)
December 31, 2021

Parents and teachers encourage children to be kind to others, and there is no denying the value of such a vital lesson. Self-compassion, however, is not emphasized nearly as much. Being gentle with oneself is particularly crucial to learn at a young age, especially in response to mistakes and failures. In fact, a study conducted by the research team at PsychTests.com indicates that people who frequently insult themselves when they mess up are not only miserable, they also hate learning, give up on goals, and back down from challenges. This is a strong incentive to make a resolution to practice more self-kindness in 2022.

Analyzing data collected from 12,259 people who took the Emotional Intelligence Test, PsychTests’ researchers compared people who habitually chastise themselves (Self-chastising group) and those who don’t (Self-respecting group) on a number of traits and skills. Here’s where they differed the most:

(Note: Scores range on a scale from 0 to 100)

SELF-AWARENESS

> Score for Self-chastising group: 48

> Score for Self-respecting group 73

SELF-ESTEEM

> Score for Self-chastising group: 34

> Score for Self-respecting group 80

SELF-EFFICACY

> Score for Self-chastising group: 41

> Score for Self-respecting group 78

GOAL-SETTING

> Score for Self-chastising group: 53

> Score for Self-respecting group 72

SELF-MOTIVATION

> Score for Self-chastising group: 43

> Score for Self-respecting group 74

STRIVING

> Score for Self-chastising group: 69

> Score for Self-respecting group 80

RESILIENCE

> Score for Self-chastising group: 51

> Score for Self-respecting group 81

POSITIVE MINDSET

> Score for Self-chastising group: 41

> Score for Self-respecting group 76

CONTENTMENT / LIFE SATISFACTION

> Score for Self-chastising group: 35

> Score for Self-respecting group 73

TENDENCY TO RUMINATE

> Score for Self-chastising group: 76

> Score for Self-respecting group 34

PSYCHTESTS’ STUDY ALSO REVEALED THAT:

> 71% of Self-chastisers allow others to make them feel bad about themselves (vs. 21% of Self-respecting group).

> 66% find it difficult to accept compliments (vs. 21% of Self-respecting group).

> 64% downplay their achievements (vs. 18% of Self-respecting group).

> 50% are never satisfied with what they have achieved (vs. 15% of Self-respecting group).

> 63% panic when given a task that challenges them to push out of their comfort zone (vs. 14% of Self-respecting group).

> 75% second-guess their decisions (vs. 19% of Self-respecting group).

> 77% experience constant self-doubt (vs. 9% of Self-respecting group).

> 68% struggle to bounce back from disappointment, rejection, and failure (vs. 8% of Self-respecting group).

> 52% hate change (vs. 16% of Self-respecting group).

> 61% can’t figure out what they want out of life (vs. 14% of Self-respecting group).

“Being treated unkindly by others can do a lot of damage to your self-esteem, but it can be equally damaging, if not more so, if you are excessively harsh with yourself,” explains Dr. Ilona Jerabek, president of PsychTests. “We hate to fail…that goes without saying. The irony is, although 74% of the Self-chastisers believe that they can learn an important lesson from failure, they still beat themselves up over it. What people need to recognize is that failure is not necessarily a sign of incompetence. It’s a sign that you perhaps need to try a little harder, change your approach, lower the bar a little if you’re setting it excessively high, or take a short break to regain perspective and then try again. Failure is really just one of the steps on the path to eventual success.”

“At the beginning of a new year, many people take the opportunity to create goals that are frequently geared towards self-improvement. This is good. What I would recommend is the addition of one more goal that will really have a huge impact on your life: Be kinder, gentler, and more patient with yourself. You’re going to screw up a few times…sometimes a lot of times, but that doesn’t make you stupid, useless, or incapable. So send some of that kindness you give to others towards yourself. Self-compassion and self-respect are invaluable.”

Want to assess your EQ? Check out our Emotional Intelligence Test at: https://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3979

Professional users, such as HR managers, coaches, and therapists, can request a free demo for this or other assessments from ARCH Profile’s extensive battery: http://hrtests.archprofile.com/testdrive_gen_1

To learn more about psychological testing, download this free eBook: http://hrtests.archprofile.com/personality-tests-in-hr

About PsychTests AIM Inc.

PsychTests AIM Inc. originally appeared on the internet scene in 1996. Since its inception, it has become a pre-eminent provider of psychological assessment products and services to human resource personnel, therapists and coaches, academics, researchers and a host of other professionals around the world. PsychTests AIM Inc. staff is comprised of a dedicated team of psychologists, test developers, researchers, statisticians, writers, and artificial intelligence experts (see ARCHProfile.com).

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Child at Clarity Child Guidance Center

Founded in 1886, Clarity Child Guidance Center is the only nonprofit in South Texas providing a continuum of mental health care for children ages 3-17 and their families, to manage mental health conditions ranging from ADHD and anxiety to suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia.

SAN ANTONIO (PRWEB)
December 30, 2021

Clarity Child Guidance Center is the only nonprofit in South Texas providing a continuum of mental health care for children ages 3-17 and their families, to manage mental health conditions ranging from ADHD and anxiety to suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia. Clarity offers a stand-alone mental health hospital and specialized inpatient/outpatient treatment for children, with the region’s largest concentration of child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Clarity CGC provides professional education and CEUs at Claritycon, its annual children’s mental health conferences held throughout the year. Because of Covid, Claritycon was transformed into Claritycon Reimagined—with mini-conferences to offer three options for attendance: live in-person at studios of KLRN-PBS TV; live virtual; or digital playback.

“Claritycon Reimagined 2021 (cont.)” has featured three sessions with one half-day session remaining on Feb. 18, 2022, offering 5 CEU credits. Cost is $25 per CEU. The three sessions can be bundled at a discounted price; groups are also discounted.

Registration is now open for the February 18 session from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. which will feature these experts in the field of mental health and children:

• “Law Enforcement Working with Children and Adolescents: Perceptions, Strategies, and Future Development” – Brandi Burque-DeCarlo, PhD is a psychologist with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
• “Strong Families, Strong Forces: An Innovative Program to Support Family Systems” – Vanessa Jacoby, PhD, an Assistant Professor within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UT Health San Antonio and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Dr. Jacoby provides clinical services to active duty service members and their families for the STRONG STAR Consortium and the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD. Her research interests are in the developmental trajectory and treatment of PTSD and other trauma-related disorders. She specializes in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD and Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD. Additionally, Dr. Jacoby has worked with trauma-exposed children and whole families utilizing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and has experience in incorporating family members into evidence-based treatments for PTSD. (https://www.strongstartraining.org/team)
• “Migrant Children” – Monica Faulkner, PhD, LMSW is a Research Associate Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin and the Director and co-Founder of the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing. She holds Bachelor degrees in Government and Social Work from UT-Austin and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Houston. She received her PhD in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. As a social worker, Dr. Faulkner has worked as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and as a case manager for children in foster care. Dr. Faulkner also worked in the Texas Legislature focusing on policy issues related to health and human services for two legislative sessions. (https://txicfw.socialwork.utexas.edu/staff/director/monica-faulkner/)

Because past Claritycon sessions are available on demand, professionals can still pay to watch past Claritycon sessions from February 2021 through November 2021 and earn CEUs credits at a cost of $25 per credit hour.

Claritycon attendees include child psychologists, social workers, pediatricians, educators, childcare providers, school counselors, special education teachers, Child Protective Services specialists, Juvenile Justice workers, small counseling offices, students and others.

Clarity’s “traditional” full in-person, all-day Claritycon conference will be back at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio on July 21-22, 2022.

For more information on Claritycon, contact events@claritycgc.org or 210-593-2148, or visit http://www.claritycgc.org/annual-conference-claritycon/.

Clarity Child Guidance Center is honoring Methodist Healthcare Ministries with its Community Leaders Award for Claritycon 2020-2021. Claritycon is produced with the support of The USAA Foundation and these sponsors: H-E-B, Methodist Healthcare Ministries, CPS Energy, Valero Energy Foundation, H.E. Butt Foundation, C.H. Guenther & Son, Inc., Mays Family Foundation, Greehey Family Foundation, NuStar Energy L.P., Community First Health Plans, Southwest Psychiatric Physicians, Frost Brokerage, Frost, Ami Gordon, Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Charles E. Cheever Jr., Taylor and Alison Boone, University Health System, Christus Health Fund, Barbara Kyse, Bill and Margie Klesse, Crystal Kohanke, Texas Insurance Agency, Laurel Ridge Treatment Center, BKD, LLP, PunchDrunk, Alamo Kiwanis, Northside Lions Charitable Foundation, Bercom Handy Paint Products, DOCUmation Business Technology Integration, Advanced Pharmaceutical Consultants, Inc., San Antonio Medical Foundation, Susan Evers, Matera Paper Company, Inc., Ortiz Pharmacy, MST HVAC LLC, Peggy Deming, St. Mary’s University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee; Tom and Anita Briggs, and Paul Martin.

ABOUT CLARITY CHILD GUIDANCE CENTER:

Founded in 1886, Clarity Child Guidance Center is the only nonprofit in South Texas providing a continuum of mental health care for children ages 3-17 and their families, to manage mental health conditions ranging from ADHD and anxiety to suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia. What makes it unique:

• Stand-alone mental health hospital on an eight-acre campus in the South Texas Medical Center
• 66-bed hospital and 6-bed Crisis Service unit offering specialized inpatient/outpatient treatment for children
• Serves all children in need of care, regardless of their family’s ability to pay; more than 60% of patients are disproportionately low-income
• Offers the region’s largest concentration of child and adolescent psychiatrists through a partnership with Southwest Psychiatric Physicians
• Serves as a teaching hospital for the esteemed University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Baylor College of Medicine, Incarnate Word Nursing College, and several other nursing schools

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“At BluePearl, we recognize that there must be a greater emphasis on self-care and ability to handle stressors that exist in our profession long before one reaches the point where they would consider self-harm,” said Andrea Monnig, Director, Clinical Development at BluePearl.

TAMPA, Fla. (PRWEB)
December 30, 2021

BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital, one of the largest providers of post-graduate training programs in the U.S., today announced the launch of a new wellness training program, Clinicians-In-Training. Clinicians-In-Training Health and Well-being Program offers interns, residents, and ER clinicians enrolled in BluePearl’s House Officer and emERge programs trainings with a veterinary social worker or wellness educator and access to mental health and wellness resources.

Each year, BluePearl trains approximately 200 rotating interns, specialty interns, residents, and ER clinicians through its House Officer and emERge mentorship programs. BluePearl continuously strives to identify areas of opportunities to improve its post-graduate training programs. Clinicians-In-Training was developed by BluePearl’s Health and Well-being Team after soliciting feedback from interns which showed the need for greater emphasis on intern, resident, and ER clinician wellness. BluePearl’s Health and Well-being Team consists of 10 highly skilled veterinary social workers and Dr. Sonja Olson, a veterinarian and a Wellness Educator.

“It is well documented that the veterinary suicide rate is significantly higher than the general population. At BluePearl, we recognize that there must be a greater emphasis on self-care and ability to handle stressors that exist in our profession long before one reaches the point where they would consider self-harm,” said Andrea Monnig, DVM, DACVECC, Director, Clinical Development at BluePearl. “We want these young clinicians to be able to manage these stressors and set up boundaries that are going to lead to long-term professional and personal satisfaction. We know that this profession needs to hit the reset button on wellness, and it is our hope that this program is the start of something big.”

Through Clinicians-In-Training, interns, residents, and emERge clinicians will receive the tools and skills needed to tackle the human challenges of veterinary medicine and life. The program will cover wellness topics such as managing expectations, imposter syndrome, moral distress, setting boundaries, and compassion fatigue. The Health and Well-being Team will also introduce residents and interns to the mental health and wellness resources within the organization and assist in connecting them to a local mental health professional as needed. A simultaneous line of trainings and support will be provided to program directors, mentors, and hospital leadership.

“New graduates often struggle with the transition from student to clinician. Imposter syndrome can be rampant, communications can be challenging, and they often find themselves in situations that are an emotional rollercoaster. All of this can take a toll on young clinicians,” said Lori C. Harbert, MSW, LCSW, Director of Health and Well-being at BluePearl. “It is our hope that this program provides young clinicians with a toolbox of skills to help them balance the demands of the profession. We want to ensure they learn behaviors of self-care early on, so they become habits that guide them through their personal and professional life. We want them to know that they are important and valued. If at any time they are struggling, there is someone there to support them. If this program can save one life, it is worth it.”

By planning wellness activities both inside and outside of hospitals, the Health and Well-being Team hopes to strike a balance between work and life, allowing interns, residents, and ER clinicians in training to bond together as a group and influence the culture inside practices for long-term impact.

Learn more about BluePearl’s internship and residency training programs here.

Learn more about emERge here.

About BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital

Founded in 1996, BluePearl is one of the largest specialty and emergency veterinary practices in the U.S. today. BluePearl has more than 100 hospitals in 29 states that together employ 7,000+ Associates, including 1,330+ veterinarians, 1,600+ veterinary technicians, and 4,100+ other professionals. Each year, our compassionate teams provide high-quality care for more than 1.1 million pets and their families. BluePearl clinicians also participate in clinical studies to discover new treatments and procedures that improve pet health. As part of the Mars Veterinary Health family of brands, BluePearl is committed to its purpose — A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS® — because pets make a better world for us. Learn more at BluePearlVet.com.

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Providing a robust mental health offering to employees is becoming the norm for many companies

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB)
December 21, 2021

Cerebral, the leading online mental health company and fastest-growing mental health care startup in history, today announces a partnership with Olive, the automation company creating the Internet of Healthcare, to provide Olivians access to their virtual mental health services. Through this partnership, Olivians and their families will now be able to connect with Cerebral’s mental health care providers via telehealth and direct messaging and leverage digital tools.

Nearly 80% of US workers are worried about their mental health. In an effort to better support employees, many employers are looking to add or improve the mental health benefits they provide to their employees. Olive will be providing Olivians and their families an extra layer of support by leveraging Cerebral’s mental health services, including virtual therapy, virtual counseling, medication management, and digital tools.

“Providing a robust mental health offering to employees is becoming the norm for many companies,” said Kyle Robertson, founder and CEO of Cerebral. “We’re excited to partner with Olive and be that one-stop shop for high-quality mental health care for Olivians and their families.”

Currently, individuals leveraging Cerebral have reported 20% fewer missed work hours due to health problems and a 25% decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety within two months of starting treatment. Individuals can also connect with a Cerebral provider within two days versus a wait time of three to four months that is often experienced when seeking care from a mental health facility.

“The past nearly two years brought a multitude of changes to our employees, from remote work and virtual schooling due to COVID-19 to the challenges associated with our company’s hyper-scaling, all of which can significantly impact mental health,” said Brian Rutkowski, Chief People Officer at Olive. “Olivians want and deserve more comprehensive mental health coverage, and we’re thrilled to partner with Cerebral to enhance our mental health benefits and better support our employees well beyond the pandemic.”

About Cerebral

Cerebral’s mission is to improve access to long-term, high-quality mental health care to everyone who needs it. Unlike traditional mental health care, Cerebral is accessible, convenient, affordable, and free of stigma. With several full-service monthly subscription plans to choose from, members receive online access to prescribing providers, behavioral counselors, talk therapists, and nutritionists—all from the comfort of home, with medication delivered straight to their door. Cerebral was founded and launched in January 2020 and is now the fastest growing mental health company in history. For more information, visit cerebral.com.

About Olive

Olive is the automation company creating the Internet of Healthcare. The company is addressing healthcare’s most burdensome issues through automation — delivering hospitals, health systems and payers increased revenue, reduced costs, and increased capacity. People feel lost in the system today and healthcare employees are essentially working in the dark due to outdated technology that creates a lack of shared knowledge and siloed data. Olive is driving connections to shine new light on healthcare processes, improving operations today so everyone can benefit from a healthier industry tomorrow. To learn more about Olive, visit oliveai.com.

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Leonard Perlmutter
Educator, Philosopher and Yoga Scientist

“AMI’s Foundation Course offers easy-to-use instruction on how Your Conscience can transform the debilitating and poisonous energy of worry and anger into powerful reserves of beneficial healing energy, will power and creativity.” Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev)

AVERILL PARK, N.Y. (PRWEB)
December 21, 2021

The American Meditation Institute (AMI) begins 2022 with new classes to relieve stress and burnout, enhance creativity, and strengthen the body’s immune system. Available to the general public, the six-session Foundation Course will be taught by AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter from January 11 through February 15, 2022 from 6:30-8:30pm ET on Tuesday evenings, and will provide attending physicians 18 continuing medical education (CME) credits.

For six thousand years, countless women and men have experimented with practical methods to optimize their minds and bodies—with the goal of achieving happiness, health and fulfillment. AMI’s Foundation Course curriculum, developed for the 21st century by Leonard Perlmutter, is the only such program of its kind—incorporating Holistic Mind/Body Medicine, AMI Meditation, meditation-in-action, easy-gentle physical exercises and breath work, Yoga Science, Philosophy, and Psychology. Each weekly session combines the best of ancient Eastern wisdom with the practicality of modern Western medical science.

The Foundation Course begins with an understanding of the Four Functions of the Mind, as described in Perlmutter’s new book YOUR CONSCIENCE. Students will learn how to optimize the capacities of the mind, and how to easily experiment with lifestyle choices that will bring about better health, self-confidence and increasing fulfillment. According to Leonard Perlmutter, “Every human being already has unlimited wisdom and creativity at the core of their being––they just need to learn a few tools to coordinate the voices of the Ego, the Senses, and the Unconscious Mind in order to access the unerring wisdom of the Conscience.

For the past eleven years, the Foundation Course has been accredited by the American Medical Association for continuing medical education credits, a status awarded only to those educational programs that meet the highest standards of professional review.

In 2008, AMI conducted a retrospective case study of participants who had previously completed and practiced the material taught in Leonard Perlmutter’s Foundation Course. The study found that students experienced the following positive, reproducible, long-term health-promoting changes: lowered blood pressure, lowered heart rate, reduced cholesterol levels, decreased chest pain, diminished or extinguished acute and chronic pain, weight loss, increased breathing capacity, increased exercise capacity, improved quality and quantity of sleep, improved energy levels, increased creative capacity, diminishment of migraine headaches, significant reductions in stress and fear, elimination of irritable bowel syndrome, and a general sense of happiness and optimism in all facets of life for every participant.

According to recent course graduate, Donald Starzinski MD, who is Board Certified in Neurology in Saint Paul, Minnesota, “As a Neurologist with a keen interest in Integrative Health and Wellness, I would strongly recommend AMI’s Foundation Course. It was life-changing for me, both in my personal and professional life.”

About the American Meditation Institute

The American Meditation Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization devoted to the teaching and practice of Yoga Science, meditation and its allied disciplines as mind-body medicine. In its holistic approach to wellness, the AMI combines the healing arts of the East with the practicality of modern Western science. The American Meditation Institute offers a wide variety of classes, retreats, and teacher training programs. AMI also publishes Transformation a bi-monthly journal of Yoga Science as Mind-Body Medicine. Call 518.674.8714 for a mail or email subscription.

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“It’s critical that all transgender and nonbinary youth across the country have access to medical care that is affirming, patient-centered, and evidence-based.”

NEW YORK (PRWEB)
December 14, 2021

Researchers at The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people, today published a new peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Adolescent Health that found gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth. These findings underscore the need to expand access to best-practice, gender-affirming medical care, as is currently prescribed by doctors across the country and recommended by the major medical and mental health associations.

The article, titled “Association of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy with Depression, Thoughts of Suicide, and Attempted Suicide among Transgender and Nonbinary Youth,” is the first large-scale study to examine hormone therapy among transgender and nonbinary youth, based on a sample of more than 9,000 who provided data on GAHT.

Key findings include:

• 
  Half of all transgender and nonbinary young people said they were not using GAHT but would like to, 36% were not interested in receiving GAHT, and 14% were already receiving GAHT. On average, the young people sampled were just over 17 and a half years old.
• Young people receiving GAHT reported a lower likelihood of experiencing recent depression and considering suicide compared to those who wanted GAHT but did not receive it. Specifically for young people under age 18, receiving GAHT was associated with nearly 40% lower odds of recent depression and of a past-year suicide attempt.
• Parent support for their child’s gender identity had a strong relationship with receipt of GAHT, with nearly 80% of those who received GAHT reporting they had at least one parent who supported their gender identity.
• Youth of color had lower rates of accessing GAHT when they wanted it compared to white youth.

“The Trevor Project is proud to publish the first large-scale study to examine hormone therapy among transgender and nonbinary youth. It’s clear that gender-affirming care has the potential to reduce rates of depression and suicide attempts while banning this vital care and exposing young people to harmful political rhetoric can cause real harm,” said Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director of The Trevor Project. “It’s critical that all transgender and nonbinary youth across the country have access to medical care that is affirming, patient-centered, and evidence-based.”

“This study emphasizes the potential benefits of gender-affirming hormone therapy as a mechanism to reduce feelings of gender dysphoria and minority stress among transgender and nonbinary youth — thereby working to improve mental health outcomes and prevent suicide,” said Dr. Amy Green, VP of Research at The Trevor Project. “These data should serve as a call to action to resist blanket bans on gender-affirming medical care and to invest in more research on this topic so that youth and their families can make evidence-informed decisions regarding care.”

A record number of anti-transgender bills have been debated across the country in 2021, including the passage of a ban on gender-affirming medical care in Arkansas and at least 20 other states considering similar legislation. This study found that transgender and nonbinary youth who lived in the South — the region where the majority of bans on GAHT have been introduced (subsequent to the collection of this data) — reported the highest rates of not being able to access GAHT when they wanted it. These efforts to restrict gender-affirming care may negatively impact mental health through two separate but linked pathways, the first by directly prohibiting medical care that many of youth rely on to reduce feelings of gender dysphoria and the second by increasing minority stress through exposure to negative public attention and harmful rhetoric in debates around transgender rights.

The study builds upon research that demonstrates how transgender and nonbinary youth face elevated risk for depression, thoughts of suicide, and attempting suicide compared with youth who are cisgender and straight, including cisgender members of the LGBTQ community. A 2020 study, “Understanding the Mental Health of Transgender and Nonbinary Youth,” published by The Trevor Project’s researchers in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that transgender and nonbinary youth were 2 to 2.5 times as likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to their cisgender LGBQ peers. Further, Trevor’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that more than half (52%) of transgender and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 1 in 5 reported attempting suicide — compared to 32% of cisgender LGBQ youth who seriously considered suicide and 1 in 10 who attempted suicide in the past year.

If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.

Methodology

The content and methodology for The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health were approved by an independent Institutional Review Board.

This quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted using an online platform between October 12, 2020 and December 31, 2020 among 34,759 LGBTQ youth respondents between the ages of 13–24 residing in the United States, including 11,914 transgender or nonbinary youth (9,019 of which reported data on GAHT). This report uses “transgender and nonbinary” as an umbrella term to encompass a wide variety of gender identities held by non-cisgender youth. For additional information on methodology such as sample description and comparability, filters and exclusions, question development, and more please visit https://www.TheTrevorProject.org/survey-2021.

About The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people. The Trevor Project offers a suite of 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs, including TrevorLifeline, TrevorText, and TrevorChat as well as the world’s largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth, TrevorSpace. Trevor also operates an education program with resources for youth-serving adults and organizations, an advocacy department fighting for pro-LGBTQ legislation and against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric/policy positions, and a research team to discover the most effective means to help young LGBTQ people in crisis and end suicide.

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