Clinical psychology, sexuality and gender

Clinical psychology has an early ignominious past with regard to sexuality and gender. Burns and Zitz provide a history of the perspectives taken on sexuality, gender and their variants through the lens of clinical psychology, moving from an individualist, positivistic perspective to more current positions such as intersectionality and post-modern understandings of distress. Alongside this changing perspective the development of the profession and its therapeutic practices will be charted. Burns and Zitz carefully explain how the position taken towards gender and sexuality is interwoven with, and influenced by, its relationship to constructions of ‘science’ and competing professions such as psychiatry. Current practice, relating to systemically informed formulations are described in relation to modern day clinical psychological issues surrounding sexuality and gender.