LGBTQ+ in clinical psychology training in the UK: The sound of silence

Abstract

This article describes the pervasive silence in operation across UK clinical psychology trainings regarding LGBTQ+. We speak from experience as trainers in clinical psychology, and as members of the LGBTQ+ community, drawing on our professional observations and lived experience. We explore what silence may serve as a thin disguise for and draw on the work of LGBTQ+ activists and poets, Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich. The risks in continuing this silence are discussed, which include training courses operating in contravention of wider EDI policies and legal frameworks, and to the psychological safety and wellbeing of staff and trainees from minorities left to raise their voices alone in EDI discussions. We propose that there are risks that are quite particular to LGBTQ+ staff and trainees in the group process, including being asked to hold the rest of the group’s disavowed conflicts around sexuality and gender. Some of the missed opportunities in silencing LGBTQ+ in EDI discussions are also explored. We propose a revisioning of the EDI landscape: an ‘invitation in’ to a future where competition for limited resources is allayed, diverse viewpoints are welcomed, and voices are given the freedom to synchronise, with the gifts of LGBTQ+ experience and thinking included.

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ORCID for Anna Chiara Sicilia: orcid.org/0000-0002-4428-2017

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