This research project received funding through the 2023 Institute for Diversity Science Seed Grant Program
Principal Investigator: Stephanie Budge, Associate Professor, Department of Counseling Psychology, UW–Madison
Co-Investigators: Elliot Tebbe, Marquel Norton, Sergio Dominguez, Joonwoo Lee, Louis Lindley
Project website: https://www.transcarecollabstudy.com/
Abstract: Transgender and nonbinary (individuals whose gender identity is different from their assigned sex at birth) people of color report experiencing high levels of distress due to experiences of discrimination, shame, and feeling the need to hide their identity. Engaging in therapy may be one method to help with decreasing distress. Prior to this study, there was only one other study that showed therapy is effective for transgender and nonbinary people; also, no one has studied the effects of therapists having shared identities with their clients and how/if this may help transgender and nonbinary clients of color in dealing with discrimination, shame, or the impact of hiding their identity. The purpose of this study is to analyze data from a clinical trial conducted from January 2022-July 2023, where transgender and nonbinary clients of color were followed for up to 15 sessions to determine the mental health impact of therapy interventions and compare to previous therapy experiences.
For the Institute for Diversity Science Grant, we will be analyzing data based on three research questions. The first research question focuses on what types of challenges transgender and nonbinary clients of color experienced in their therapy prior to participating in the clinical trial. The second research question focuses on how the clients in this study experienced changes (both positive and negative) after participating in 15 psychotherapy sessions. The third research question analyzes specific tools the therapists used in actual therapy sessions from the study to find out what tools were most effective. The information gathered from this study can help researchers develop better psychotherapy tools so that psychotherapy can be most effective for transgender and nonbinary people of color.
Learn more about the project
This video features Marquel Norton (they/them), Joonwoo Lee (he/him), and Stephanie Budge (she/her) talking about their IDS Seed Grant Study. The purpose of the study is to analyze data from a clinical trial conducted from January 2022-July 2023, where transgender and nonbinary clients of color were followed for up to 15 sessions to determine the mental health impact of therapy interventions and compare to previous therapy experiences. For the Institute for Diversity Science Grant, they are analyzing data based on three research questions. The first research question focuses on what types of challenges transgender and nonbinary clients of color experienced in their therapy prior to participating in the clinical trial. The second research question focuses on how the clients in this study experienced changes (both positive and negative) after participating in 15 psychotherapy sessions. The third research question analyzes specific tools the therapists used in actual therapy sessions from the study to find out what tools were most effective. Even though Marquel, Joonwoo, and Stephanie shared information about the overall study, they would love to acknowledge their co-authors on the multiple projects funded by this IDS Seed Grant (in alphabetical order): Michael Accardo, Elly Day, Sergio Domínguez Jr., Stan Gao, Louis Lindley, Em Matsuno, Greyson Mize, Ace Pili, and Elliot Tebbe.