Sexual Identity Development · Clinical Exercise

It Explains So Much

A client says two contradictory things in his first session and both are true. Most of the ways this case goes wrong involve resolving the contradiction for him.

What this exercise practises

Holding a developmental frame steady with a client in the middle of something that feels to him like a catastrophe and a rescue at once, and keeping the questions that build an account separate from the questions that ask him to decide.

Nothing here asks you to work out what he should do about his marriage. That is not what the frame is for.

Estimated time to complete this exercise: 25 minutes

1Two sentences
2Four questions
3Not delayed
4Fluidity
5Resources
6Close

Before you begin

How this one works

Five short parts, all multiple choice or sorting, with feedback on every answer and the stronger answer shown when you miss it.
The client in this case says two contradictory things in his first session and both are true. Most of the wrong answers in this exercise work by resolving that contradiction for him.
Nothing in the exercise asks you to decide what he should do about his marriage, because that is not what a developmental frame is for.
Nothing is graded and nothing you type leaves your browser. The writing box at the end is optional.

The skill being practised is holding a developmental frame steady while a client is in the middle of something that feels to them like a catastrophe and a rescue at the same time.

References

  1. Cass, V. C. (1979). Homosexual identity formation: A theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality, 4(3), 219–235.
  2. D’Augelli, A. R. (1994). Identity development and sexual orientation: Toward a model of lesbian, gay, and bisexual development. In E. J. Trickett, R. J. Watts, & D. Birman (Eds.), Human diversity: Perspectives on people in context (pp. 312–333). Jossey-Bass.
  3. Diamond, L. M. (2008). Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.5
  4. McCarn, S. R., & Fassinger, R. E. (1996). Revisioning sexual minority identity formation: A new model of lesbian identity and its implications for counseling and research. The Counseling Psychologist, 24(3), 508–534.
  5. Russell, S. T., & Fish, J. N. (2016). Mental health in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 12, 465–487. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093153
  6. Savin-Williams, R. C. (2005). The new gay teenager. Harvard University Press.