We see a future where all trans and gender-diverse people can feel safe accessing the mental health care they need

Transforming Supports is a community-based research project that aims to understand how trans and gender-diverse young people experience safety in mental health and trauma support contexts and what their priorities are for research on this topic.

This project seeks to improve mental health services that provide trauma support to trans and gender-diverse people by identifying areas for improvement, barriers to access, and directions for future research that are centred on community needs and priorities.

This research is important because many trans and gender-diverse people have a need for mental health support or but right now there is little research about how to best provide useful, safe, and accessible mental health care, especially trauma-related mental health care, to trans and gender-diverse communities.

Understand and describe what safety means for trans and gender-diverse people in trauma-related mental health care
Understand trans and gender-diverse people people’s experiences with trauma-related mental health supports
Identify the ways that trans and gender-diverse people are finding support for their mental health needs and what feels helpful
Identify recommendations for improving trauma-related mental health care for trans and gender-diverse communities
Identify existing barriers to accessing trauma-related mental health supports for trans and gender-diverse communities so that barriers can be addressed and services may become more accessible
Communicate findings to mental health care providers and organizations

Our Goals

How do trans and gender-diverse people describe their experience of safety when accessing trauma services and supports?
What does safety in trauma service provision mean for trans and gender-diverse people who have experienced trauma?
What hinders or prevents access to trauma-related support services for trans and gender-diverse people?
How can trauma services and supports be improved to better serve the needs of trans and gender-diverse communities?
What are the research priorities and research preferences for trans and gender-diverse people related to mental health and trauma supports?

Our Research Questions

Background

Many trans and gender-diverse people find that mental health services do not feel helpful, safe, or accessible. When they need support, many trans and gender-diverse people report that there are barriers to accessing the care they need and that when they do connect to services, mental health care is often unhelpful or even re-traumatizing.

Despite an identified need for appropriate and safe care, there remains a scarcity of literature and research addressing these concerns and a glaring gap in knowledge regarding mental health support for trans and gender-diverse communities.

This project begins to address this gap by exploring trans and gender-diverse people’s experiences with mental health services, specifically trauma-related mental health services, and their perspectives and opinions for future research to improve mental health supports for trans and gender-diverse communities.

This project will engage with trans and gender-diverse community members with lived experience attending, accessing or wanting to access trauma-related mental health supports in order to identify shared goals and needs for improving services and recommendations for future research project design.

Our Approach

Trauma-Informed

All aspects of the project are designed with the knowledge that trauma can impact people in different ways at different times. The approach to this project prioritizes trauma-informed principles such as choice, control, collaboration, and strengths-based focus. We want participants and community partners to have the information they need to make informed choices about their roles in the project and to feel supported throughout the process.
Community-Engaged

This project is community-based and engages directly with trans and gender-diverse community members throughout the project. Collaborating with community members and community organizations that support trans and gender-diverse people help to make this project relevant and useful.
We will work to ensure that our research benefits the communities involved and is conducted in respectful ways that are accountable to the communities and individuals impacted by the research.
Centring Dignity and Respect

The dignity and respect of all research participants and community members is centred in all project activities. Participants and community members’ experiences and expertise is valued and respected throughout the project.
We want a project that centres the voices and experiences of trans and gender-diverse people. We aim to have a project that feels useful and hopeful for trans and gender-diverse people.
Intersectional

Trans and gender-diverse people are not all the same. People have different experiences in their lives. By taking an intersectional perspective, the research team emphasizes that understanding different experiences highlights different challenges within systems such as mental health care.
Experience-Focused

Our experiences can shape our understanding of the world. Our approach to this project centres experience as an important way of knowing about something. By understanding how different people experience contexts like mental health supports, we learn more about how these services are working (or not working) and ways to improve them.

FAQs

This project is for people who do not identify as cisgender. The term trans and gender-diverse while imperfect offers an umbrella term where, we hope, people who do not identify as cisgender may see themselves. This can include people with many different identities such as (but not limited to): transgender, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, genderfluid, genderqueer, or agender.
Language is always changing. We wanted to use terminology that was easily recognizable and while maybe not exact, that many people would feel they fit with.
Yes. This project is approved through the University of Victoria’s Human Research Ethics Board to ensure that all research activities meet the standards of ethical research with people.
Ethics Protocol: 22-0210-01
University of Victoria Human Research Ethics Board can be contacted at ethics@uvic.ca or 250-472-4545
Updates, including new reports, will be posted to this website. Check back regularly to see the progress.
At the end of the project, we will be hosting a knowledge sharing event. Keep in touch with the project to find out more!
We also recommend visiting Trans Care BC for education and resources for your practice.

Ways to Get Involved

Participate in an interview

Share your story about your experience with mental health supports in a confidential interview with trauma-informed interviewer

~ Interview sign-up is now closed ~

Participate in a
community consultation

Share your voice and perspectives for the future of trauma-related mental health care research through a facilitated, in-person, small group discussion

~ This event is now complete ~