We are currently holding our Transgender + Gender Expansive Support Group meetings virtually. Our meetings are supported by an easy-to-use online meeting tool called Zoom. CLICK HERE to get set-up with Zoom.
Join us for our regular monthly meeting focused on the transgender and gender expansive community, friends, families, and allies for support and education. Support group will follow the education portion.
Self-Care Strategies for Parents: Using Mindfulness and Meaning Making to Ease Emotional Discomfort
with Linda K. Reeves, MA, LMFT (she/her) WPATH GEI Certified Gender Specialist
Parents/caregivers of trans and non-binary children experience their own emotional metamorphosis in response to their child’s declaration that they are something other than cisgender. This journey of transformation is unique for everyone, and it is fraught with painful emotions that can be destabilizing. In this talk, Linda shares ideas and tips on how to process and learn to tolerate your difficult feeling states. No matter where you are on your journey, learning basic mindfulness and meaning making skills will help you:
Explore your emotions without criticism or judgment
Identify the unhealthy narrative you tell yourself
Recognize your ability to assign meaning to your emotions
Embrace a safe haven during times of overwhelm
About our Presenter
Linda K. Reeves (she/her) is a proud PFLAG mom, and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who provides psychotherapy and intensive therapeutic retreats to LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, families, and partners of loved ones who are transgender or gender non-binary. To better serve the unique challenges of gender diverse individuals, Linda is WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) GEI Certified as a gender specialist. Linda is also an Adjunct Professor at Antioch University and a board member and co-founder of the PFLAG Manhattan Beach / South Bay chapter. Linda speaks at conventions and provides educational workshops on affirmative LGBTQ+ practices. Linda is also writing a book for parents of transgender and gender non-binary loved ones. Linda received her master’s in clinical psychology from Antioch University, Los Angeles with a specialization in LGBTQ+ Affirmative Psychotherapy, and completed her clinical training at the LA LGBT Center. She earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism from San Diego State University.
A NOTE ABOUT VIRTUAL MEETINGS:
We will be utilizing Zoom features that provide the highest level of safety and confidentiality possible. Zoom is free to you and you need not have an account to join us. If you are new to Zoom, you can follow the links [here] for brief tutorials on all you need to know to sign on to a Zoom meeting with us. We ask that each of you that would like to participate in the on-line support, contact us in advance by email at rsvp@pflagmanhattanbeach.org to RSVP for the meeting. We will cut off RSVPs at 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. All participants will receive a follow-up email with the link to the Zoom call and a password. For confidentiality’s sake, please do not forward these to another participant — they are welcome to contact us directly to receive the link.
We recognize that youth may be interested in the educational part of this meeting and they are welcome to join us. As usual, we ask that youth who may want to stick around for our support groups be joined by a parent. Some heavy emotions can emerge in the course of our sessions and having a parent on-hand helps to ensure that the needs of any youth on the call are met.
There are some benefits to utilizing new tools like Zoom. We recognize that our typical evening support group meetings are not feasible for everyone due to work, family or other demands. If there is a need, we would like to offer an additional support group Zoom conference call sometime during the daytime hours. If you are interested in a daytime support group, email us at info@pflagmanhattanbeach.org and let us know what times might be more workable for you.
If you need more personalized assistance and support, we remain here for you. Email us confidentially and we will work with you to identify the best member of our team to assist with your individual needs.