Antioch University Los Angeles and the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association of Southern California Will Sponsor the LGBT-Affirmative Psychotherapy Conference

The sixteenth annual psychotherapy conference will be hosted on the Antioch University Los Angeles campus in Culver City.

CULVER CITY, Calif., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Sixteenth Annual LGBT-Affirmative Psychotherapy Conference will be held on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at Antioch University Los Angeles, 400 Corporate Pointe, Culver City. The one-day conference presents academic research and expertise on LGBT issues to professionals working with these clients in their psychotherapy practices.

Speaking at the conference will be Alan Downs, PhD, California licensed clinical psychologist, author of The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World, and former CEO of Michael's House, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Palm Springs, California.

The conference is designed to meet the educational needs of psychiatrists, psychologists, LCSW, MFT, MSW, interns and students of psychology. Continuing education (CE) credit, up to five hours, will be available at the conference for LCSW's and MFT's as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. CE credit will also be available for clinical psychologists, as conference co-sponsor, LAGPA, is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

This marks the first year that the LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA) will co-sponsor the conference with the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association of Southern California (LAGPA). It is also the first year that the conference will be held on the campus of Antioch University Los Angeles.

The LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at AULA is an innovative program designed to provide comprehensive theoretical and practical preparation for students who are training to become licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT). Founded in 2006, the LGBT Specialization is one of the first master's level programs in clinical psychology to train students to work with LGBT clients using an affirmative model.

"We are trying to teach students and the community about how to be LGBT-affirmative," said Lauren Costine, PhD, associate faculty member of the LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at AULA and co-coordinator of the conference. "Not only are we affirming that being LGBT is wonderful and beautiful and fabulous but we are also confronting the horrific internalized self-hatred that most LGBT people have on some level from growing up in such a homophobic and heterosexist society."

Doug Sadownick, PhD, Director of the LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at AULA and panel speaker at the conference added, "This particular psychotherapy conference will also help mental health practitioners become more apprised of LGBT-affirmative ideas. These ideas are new, they are cutting edge and they can help LGBT clients become stronger and realize their full potential."

The program at the conference will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is open to professional and advanced students in health related fields. For more information about the conference and registration, please visit www.LAGPA.org. Registration deadline is October 10, 2010.

SOURCE Antioch University Los Angeles