Odyssey Training Center recently rolled out a new class, “Gender Awareness and Responsiveness,” taught by our newest trainer, Sorin Thomas LAC, LPC. Sorin is a queer and non-binary transgender Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Addictions Counselor trained at Naropa University Boulder, Colorado in Contemplative Psychology (BA) and Somatic Psychology (MA). Sorin is the Executive Director and Clinical Supervisor at Queer Asterisk, a non-profit organization comprised of queer and trans therapists and educators providing affordable therapeutic services for the LGBTQPIA+ communities of Boulder and Denver.
Below is all the information you need to enroll in this exciting new class:
Description:
Gender Awareness and Responsiveness provides addiction counselors with the necessary skills to offer gender-inclusive treatment to their clients. The focus of this training is the intersectionality of gender, biological sex, and sexual orientation and the diversity inherent therein. The aim is to cultivate mindfulness in hopes of having a positive impact on gender inclusivity within the field of addiction.
Applicability:
Professional responsiveness to gender-binary and identity issues is a cornerstone of modern addiction treatment. Inclusion is also one of the most important aspects of addiction treatment. At Odyssey, we believe that all people from all walks of life deserve the best treatment they can. This is a message we want to instill in our students from Day 1. A study of 34 transgendered individuals in Vancouver, Canada shows the variance in effectiveness of treatment when an individual’s identity is not accepted prior to treatment. Those who were accepted by their treatment counselors reported experiencing a much more effective treatment process than those whose identity wasn’t accepted.
A little more about Sorin:
What do you enjoy about training students? About training at Odyssey?
What I most enjoy about training students is the collaborative process of sharing our thoughts about and emotional connections to the material being presented. What I most enjoy about training at Odyssey is the commitment to expanding our conceptualization of addiction to better serve ourselves and each other.
Why do you believe training is important for students to become effective addiction counselors?
Training is important because the way in which we conceptualize human conditions is constantly evolving. Addiction as a human condition is not new. How we understand, approach, and interact with addiction in the 21st Century is what’s new and worthy our continuing education because it’s about us and we’re worth it.
Fun Fact!
I love to play. I especially love to play strategic board games and outdoor recreational sports with friends.