Inviting “Kate's” Authenticity: Relational Cultural Theory Applied in Work with a Transsexual Sex Worker of Color Using the Competencies for Counseling with Transgender Clients

Abstract

This practice-based article presents our work with Kate, a transsexual woman of color, sex worker, and child abuse and hate crime survivor who, despite initial mistrust, sought counseling for an assessment of readiness to begin hormone therapy. In our counseling journey with Kate, we employed the American Counseling Association's (ACA) Competencies for Counseling with Transgender Clients through relational-cultural theory (RCT), a feminist model of social justice in human development. We navigated RCT's core tenets of connections and disconnections throughout the counseling journey, allowing us to overcome obstacles of Kate's mistrust of the counseling relationship that were due to perceived barriers in seeking a gender identity disorder diagnostic assessment. Our practice of RCT demonstrates a growth-fostering relationship that supported and empowered Kate within the context of the diagnostic assessment.

KEYWORDS:

• relational-cultural theory
• sex-worker
• transgender
• transsexual