Proud and Prepared: A Guide for LGBT Students Navigating Graduate Training

Here’s what you can find inside Proud and Prepared:

• APAGS-CSOGD Mission Statement
• On the Use of Language in this Guide
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Assessing Your Program’s Climate
• Chapter 2: Self-Disclosure in Graduate School
• Chapter 3: The Importance of Social Support
• Chapter 4: Mentorship and LGBT Students
• Chapter 5: Tips for Transgender or Gender Variant Students
• Chapter 6: Tips for Bisexual Graduate Students
• Chapter 7: LGBT Advocacy and Confronting Discrimination
• Chapter 8: Conducting LGBT Research
• Additional Resources for LGBT Students
• APA’s Ethical Codes of Potential Interest to LGBT Students
• Domain D of APA CoA’s Guidelines and Principles
• About APAGS
• Information on LGBT Mental Health
• References

This resource is just one of several provided for students by the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS), the premier group committed to achieving the highest quality graduate training experience for the next generation of scientific innovators, expert practitioners and visionary leaders in psychology.

“The word ‘pride’ has become associated with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities thanks to countless parades and other community events and celebrations with that title … What does pride actually mean though? According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2015), pride can be both ‘the consciousness of one’s own dignity” and “a person or thing that is the object or source of a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction.’ In titling this resource guide ‘Proud and Prepared,’ we hope to not only align ourselves with the history of LGBT empowerment, but also to emphasize both of those aspects of pride in our own identities. We hope that through using this resource guide, you and other students like you will not only be reminded of your own worth as an individual but also of the satisfaction and pleasure you can take in your unique intersecting identities.

“It is true that as members of a marginalized population, LGBT-identified individuals may experience frequent discrimination and microaggressions, and navigating the graduate school process can be more complicated and challenging as a result. However, there are also unique opportunities to be had in graduate school as an LGBT-identified individual or ally. This guide is therefore designed to prepare you to take on the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities graduate school may present.

“Rather than simply providing a list of resources (although such a list is included in the final section), this guide is filled with suggestions, advice, and support written by a variety of LGBT psychology graduate students. Proud and Prepared is presented as a series of chapters, each of which addresses a distinct set of issues graduate students may face. These chapters have been intentionally written by students from diverse personal and academic backgrounds to represent a broad range of perspectives. We wish to note that this is not an exhaustive guide, but rather a starting point for spurring additional exploration.”