The School Counselor's Role in Supporting and Advocating for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Transgender and Gender-Expansive children and adolescents are resilient, capable, and amazing and deserve to work with school counselors who build upon their strengths. School counselors who espouse fluid, multilayered, and complex conceptualizations of gender and affectional identities are best equipped to meet the needs of TGE children and adolescents. Therefore, it is essential that school counselors be well-versed and knowledgeable about the identities of those with whom they are working, as well as welcome ongoing growth in areas such as self-awareness.

Transgender and gender-expansive affirming child-centered play therapy.

“…School counselors and school-based play therapists also need to consider the greater system that impacts the TGE students working to eliminate inequities and barriers they face. Although detailed information on play therapist selfawareness, legal and ethical imperatives in the school setting, advocacy issues in the school setting, and other counseling considerations for supporting parents and caregivers is beyond the scope of this article, all play therapists should ensure accurate knowledge, awareness, and skill in this area (see Byrd & Donald, 2021;Byrd & Farmer, 2020). A few such specifics will be noted below.…”