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Trauma, Resilience, and Health Promotion in LGBT Patients pp 3–14Cite as

Intersection of Trauma and Identity

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have made major advances toward equality in recent years. However, they continue to encounter victimization at alarming rates. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the intersection of trauma and identity among LGBT individuals. First, we review criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and then discuss how current conceptualizations of trauma overlook associations between non-traumatic events and PTSD-like disorder. Next, we discuss minority stress, the developmental impact of homophobia and transphobia, and the connection between PTSD and traumatic and non-traumatic events. Finally, we conclude with a case example to illustrate the concepts discussed in this chapter.

Keywords

  • Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
  • PTSD
  • Trauma
  • Stressor criterion
  • Victimization
  • Prejudice and discrimination

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Fig. 1.1
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Fig. 1.3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 360 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Hill Hall, Room 401, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Edward J. Alessi

  2. Silver School of Social Work, New York University, 1 Washington Square North, New York, NY, 10003-6654, USA

    James I. Martin

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Correspondence to Edward J. Alessi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Kristen L. Eckstrand

  2. William B. Castle Society, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Jennifer Potter

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Alessi, E.J., Martin, J.I. (2017). Intersection of Trauma and Identity. In: Eckstrand, K., Potter, J. (eds) Trauma, Resilience, and Health Promotion in LGBT Patients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54509-7_1

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