Promoting Healthy LGBT Interpersonal Relationships

Abstract

Promoting healthy interpersonal relationships – those that, at minimum, are respectful, caring, and free from violence and coercion – is a large social undertaking in which health-care providers can play a critical role. Providers have the capacity to model respectful and caring communication, as well as to establish norms related to interpersonal relationships and help-seeking. By routinely assessing for intimate partner violence (IPV), providers communicate that IPV, physical and sexual violence, stalking, and psychological aggression, whether by a current or former intimate partner, are pervasive problems that merit attention. Once IPV has been identified, providers have an opportunity to provide trauma-informed care and discuss harm reduction strategies with patients who are ready and able to engage with services. The aim of this chapter is to provide guidance on IPV assessment and trauma-informed behavioral health care that considers the ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients may be similar to and differ from heterosexual and/or cisgender (nontransgender) patients.