«Call me by my name»: Language issues in counsellors’ cultural competence with gender non-conforming people

Abstract

Language, both through its verbal manifestations and its non-verbal and environmental ones, is a locus of particular interest in counselling with trans and gender non-conforming people. Discrimination and microaggressions can be evidenced in all three aforementioned domains of communication. Linguistic marginalisation occurs when counsellors or psychotherapists commit acts of misgendering and deadnaming, or seem incapable of addressing the specific needs of their clients. Cultural competence, person-centeredness and the informed consent model have a particular involvement in mental health providers’ training, but are frequently used as falsely universal values that address also universalised experiences and identities. In contrast with this view, the present paper wishes to highlight the situated value of these innovations in therapeutic alliances. Each sociocultural context supposes a different adaptation of terms, meanings and dynamics. During the last years, but particularly after the recent ICD revision in 2018, discussion on gender diversity has evidenced changes worldwide: in that respect, I briefly examine three different Mediterranean contexts, those of Italy, Spain and Greece.