Queer women and minority stress

his research project firstly considers what is known about Queer women’s experiences of minority stress, and the ways they respond. Then a qualitative project explores and seeks to understand the impact of minority sexual orientation for UK clinical psychology trainees who identify as female and
gay or lesbian.

Section A:
This literature review presents the current theoretical models and empirical data for Queer women and minority stress. It then uses a meta-ethnographic approach to extract primary and second order concepts from thirteen qualitative papers which describe Queer women’s experiences of minority stress and their various responses. Third-order constructs of ‘threat’, ‘response’ and ‘position’ are extracted from this data and a model of how these interact for Queer women is described. Implications of how minority stress may present in Queer women, and the interaction between mental health and responses to minority stress are discussed.

Section B:
This empirical paper explores the experiences for lesbian/gay women on clinical psychology training, and the impact of minority sexual orientation on personal and professional development. Eight interviews are analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Three super-ordinateand nine subordinate themes emerged relating to psychological, relational and theoretical processes trainees engaged in largely in the absence of a shared reflective practice around sexuality and gender. Implications for training and practice are discussed.