Abstract
Transgender people face abuse, stigma and prejudice which leads to psychosocial issues and mental health problems. However, there are a limited number of social workers who counsel transgender clients in South Africa, resulting in a lack of service to this population. Social workers lack the required knowledge, understanding and resources to assist transgender clients thus resulting in transgender people feeling isolated. This study explores the knowledge, experiences and reflections of South African social workers who have counselled transgender people. It also explores social workers’ perceptions of their professional strengths and limitations in working with transgender clients. A qualitative exploratory research design was used to gain insight into social workers’ experiences of counselling transgender people in South Africa in order to develop a richer understanding of their first-hand experiences. Seven South African social workers were interviewed, and the interview transcripts were then analysed using thematic content analysis. Key findings show that South African social workers find counselling transgender people challenging due to their lack of knowledge and understanding of the issue. The social workers’ personal beliefs and biases challenged their ability to remain neutral in their practice with transgender clients. Therefore, the social workers emphasised the need for practitioners to remain self-reflective, insightful and aware of their own perceptions, beliefs and biases to avoid negatively impacting the client. The social workers suggested that practitioners counselling transgender clients take a trans-positive, strengths-based approach, ensuring that their responses are gender-affirming, empowering, supportive, empathic and non-judgemental. They recommended that universities and continued professional development training include gender and sexuality in education to prepare social workers for counselling transgender clients. They also recommended social workers take the initiative and responsibility to educate, lobby and research in order to inform social work practice with transgender people. This research has practical significance as it intends to inform social work practice with transgender clients. This research provides information about transgender and social workers’ experiences with, and recommendations of, tools, skills, and theory for practice. This research potentially opens doors for future research and policy recommendations, as it demonstrates the gap in literature and highlights the need for social workers to counsel transgender clients, specifically in the South African context.
M.A. (Social Work)