Women’s Health Across the Lifespan: Translating Research to Clinical Practice to Promote Health and Wellness focuses on translating evidence-based research into clinical practice to promote and address women’s health across the lifespan. This program, developed in collaboration with Helen L. Coons, PhD, offers participants the opportunity to earn up to 22 CEs. Each session focuses on a specific area of women’s health, offering insights and practical tools for psychologists. This unique opportunity to advance your expertise in women’s health features dynamic speakers with expertise in sex and gender aspects of women’s health who will translate cutting-edge research and guidelines on biomedical, psychosocial, behavioral, and sociocultural aspects of women’s health and wellness for your practice. Case examples will highlight clinical strategies to promote wellness in women from a variety of communities and identities. Presenters will also discuss best practices for communicating with interprofessional women’s health care providers and settings.

Dr. Erlanger “Earl” Turner will explore the psychological impact of racial discrimination and cultural stress on Black youth. Despite the prevalence of these stressors, approximately 80% of Black youth in need of mental health services do not receive care. With racism accounting for 63% of media-reported and 33% of educator-reported incidents, the need for culturally responsive support is critical. Dr. Turner will emphasize the importance of equipping parents with tools to recognize and respond to racial stress, while also promoting resilience and emotional well-being in their children. Strategies discussed can inform clinical practice and enhance family-based interventions.

Dr. Wiyatta Fahnbulleh will focus on the critical role of cultural humility in delivering effective and inclusive care for patients navigating obstetrics and reproductive medicine. She will examine how cultural dynamics, systemic barriers, and communication styles influence patient experiences and clinical outcomes. Using case studies and research-informed strategies, she will explore actionable approaches to enhance cultural sensitivity and patient-centered care. Dr. Fahnbulleh will aim to equip professionals with the tools needed to improve patient care and collaboration within interdisciplinary reproductive health settings.

Many respected models of cultural competence focus on othering clients who come from racialized communities, locally and globally, with the focus of cultural competence being on understanding how clients may be different from who we are. This anthropological view of addressing clients who belong in our communities not only offends and alienates them but also increases barriers to equity and decreases the quality of the therapeutic working relationship. Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman will discuss how developing our cultural competence as practitioners depends on developing an understanding of ourselves and our privileges—and on increasing our awareness of the diversity and culture in our communities—to help increase trust between client and professional.

Dr. Heather Taylor will break down outdated grief models and introduces modern grief concepts designed to reflect the nuanced, real-world experiences of those navigating loss. Through the lens of grief states and the spectrum of grief responses, Dr. Taylor will discuss how to support clients in recognizing the fluid, non-linear nature of grief. She will cover essential strategies for addressing overlooked grief experiences, such as disenfranchised and non-death losses, using inclusive and compassionate language. Dr. Taylor will also present practical, adaptable tools that demystify grief, normalize diverse responses, and empower clients to navigate their ever-changing grief journeys with greater confidence and clarity.

The psychological experience of racism, or racial trauma, impacts an individual’s wellbeing, life satisfaction, and identity development. The anxiety, depression, hypervigilance, and physical symptoms that often manifest from enduring direct and vicarious racial trauma have the potential to rupture one’s self and group esteem. As a result, it is important for racial trauma therapy to be rooted in helping clients explore the strengths, values, and resourcefulness that exist within them, their ethno-racial identity, and their communities. Dr. Handford will use the Community Cultural Wealth Framework to explore the value of using strength-based and culturally informed practices when helping client’s process and navigate their racial trauma.

Over the past two decades, the number of research articles investigating yoga for health has increased substantially. This interest in yoga is mirrored in the general public, with reports of yoga engagement growing at a greater rate. Health providers remain hesitant to discuss yoga with patients due to perceptions of inadequate information or experience to appropriately counsel patients. There is a discrepancy between the general population's utilization of yoga and the rigor of current literature. As more robust research emerges about yoga for health, mental health clinicians can prepare to discuss yoga with patients. This paper reviews types of yoga practices, an overview of current literature on yoga for mental health, and cultural factors to consider to promote health equity.

Institutional racism in health care negatively impacts health outcomes and quality of life and contributes to health disparities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Studies suggest that training can be efficacious in changing attitudes regarding racism; however, literature on the implementation and outcomes of training for healthcare providers is scarce. The authors describe the development and implementation of a now publicly accessible, experiential antiracist training, Dialogues About Race, and include a vignette to model how this training could be applied in a clinical healthcare setting. Highlighted antiracist strategies aim to facilitate positive changes in healthcare providers’ perceived antiracist knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and skills. Implications for advancing antiracist training in health care and future applications are also discussed.

Asexual patients face unique healthcare challenges that result in and maintain health disparities. Among health professionals, a general lack of cultural competence related to asexual identities perpetuates negative healthcare experiences and subsequent avoidance of care. This article provides an overview of asexual communities, the related culture of compulsory sexuality, and healthcare challenges facing asexual patients. Following the overview, the authors outline the necessity of providing asexual-affirming and person-centered mental health care through the presentation of a clinical vignette about a patient questioning whether he identifies as asexual. Through the vignette, a comprehensive, asexual-affirming framework for mental health practice with asexual patients is reviewed, which addresses culturally competent assessment and psychotherapy practices, ethical considerations, common clinical challenges, and incorporation of intersecting minoritized identities.

Multicultural psychology emphasizes the role of social, cultural, and gender forces in creating an individual’s identity; the social and cultural world in which they live; and the psychological strengths that different cultures have to offer. In a complementary way, feminist psychology highlights the importance of collectivist alternatives to mainstream, individualistic thinking in the U.S.; and the identification and dismantling of patriarchal power structures that oppress women. Combining these two in a multicultural, feminist approach to psychotherapy highlights the importance of relating to clients with an understanding of, sensitivity to, respect for, and responsiveness to their cultural identities and life situations. This also involves the therapist building on strengths that come from some cultures bringing a collectivist rather than an individualist orientation to life’s challenges, such as combatting child maltreatment. To illustrate the potential of a multicultural, feminist approach to psychotherapy in cases of child maltreatment among minority individuals, the present article offers two highly successful case studies. The first involves “Bashiir,” a 16-year-old African, first-generation immigrant young man from Somalia; and the second involves “Jacquaan,” a 15-year-old African American young man. Both individuals were referred to therapy because of poor school attendance and academic difficulties, and associated symptoms consistent with a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. These symptoms derived from the clients having lived in poor, dangerous, high crime communities. A crucial component in both cases was the process by which the therapist employed the multicultural feminist approach to cross age, racial, gender, and socioeconomic-class lines to establish a very strong, trusting relationship between the therapist and the client, and between the therapist and the clients’ families.