Healthy Relationships Program for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual + (2S/LGBTQIA+) Youth
The Healthy Relationships Program (HRP) for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual + (2S/LGBTQIA+) Youth is a small group positive mental health promotion program.
HRP helps build resiliency and promote well-being among 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth. It affirms, validates, and celebrates sexual, gender, romantic, and sex characteristic diversity, cultivates a caring and supportive community, and helps 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth develop skills and strategies that promote healthy relationships.
This trauma-informed, equity-infused, strengths-focused and skill-building program explores stressors unique to 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth, including identity and expression invalidation, stigma, prejudice and discrimination, internalized oppression, coming out, safety, and microaggressions.
HRP for 2S/LGBTQIA+ Youth is a modular program that includes 17 sessions, each lasting approximately 45 minutes, and affords flexibility about which sessions may be delivered based on youth voice and choice. It may be implemented in Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSA) or 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth group settings. Research indicates that youth enjoy the program and benefit from the skills they learn, as well as the connections they make with others (Lapointe & Crooks, 2018).
Program Information
Program PosterProgram Overview
Program Frequently Asked Questions
Learn More about the Program (Video)
Resources
Supplementary Resources for Facilitation- HRP for 2S/LGBTQIA+ Youth Training and Implementation Overview | French
- Building capacity to work with 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth: Understanding concepts and terminology | French
- A guide to starting and supporting a GSA | French
Session Videos (In-Person)
- 2S/LGBTQIA+ Youth's Experiences and Protective Factors
- Session #2 - Mine to Name: Identities/Ways of Beings. Activity: Breaking Binaries - Debriefing Questions
- Session #4 - My Journey: Coming Out
- Session #5 - My Mind Matters: Mental Health and Well-Being (Part 1). Opening Circle
- Session #7 - Thinking Ahead: Making Safer Choices About Substance Use. Opening Circle
- Session #9 - My Superpower: Coping with Challenges. Microaggression Cards Activity - Key Questions
Session Videos (Online)
- Session #10 - We All Have a Say: Rights and Responsibilities. Closing Circle
- Session #12 - Right and True: Communication Styles. Activity: Case Studies and Microaggressions
- Session #14 - Ships: Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships. (Un)Healthy Relationships Activity
- Session #15 - (Re)Building Ties: Addressing Relationship Violence
Research
Publications- Enhancing 2SLGBTQIA+ Student Support Through Practical Professional Development and Structured GSA Programming
- Conditions and supports suggested by educators to enhance the implementation of a program offered in GSAs.
- Who are we missing? The impact of requiring parental or guardian consent on research with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Two-Spirit, Queer/Questioning youth.
- GSA members' experiences with a structured program to promote well-being.
- Feasibility and fit of a mental health promotion program for LGBTQ+ youth.
- The Fourth R: Implementing evidence-based healthy relationships and mental health promotion programming in diverse contexts.
Presentations
- Workshop - How school staff and youth programmers can harness queer- and trans-informed knowledge and resources. PREVNet Annual Meeting, Impact and sustainability: Integrating different ways of knowing. Toronto, ON, September 16, 2022.
- Workshop - Exploring and experiencing a positive mental health promotion program for LGBT2Q+ youth. PREVNet 10th Annual Conference: Promoting Healthy Relationships for Youth - Creating Spaces that Support Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Toronto, ON, May 15, 2019.
- Workshop - Promoting resiliency and well-being among LGBT2Q+ youth through a group intervention. Banff International Conferences on Behavioural Science: Equipping Schools and Communities to Support Student Mental Health. Banff, AB, March 17-20, 2019.
- Paper Presented - Development and three-year pilot of an evidence-informed mental health promotion program for LGBT2Q+ youth. 2018 Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health. Las Vegas, NV, October 11-13, 2018.
Land Acknowledgement and Anti-Colonial Programming Commitment
The Centre for School Mental Health, Western University, is located on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This geographic region was originally cared for by the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples. Chippewa of the Thames First Nation (part of the Anishinaabe); Oneida Nation of the Thames (part of the Haudenosaunee); and Munsee-Delaware Nation (part of the Leni-Lunaape) are proximal Indigenous communities in this area. The Centre wishes to recognize and celebrate traditional and contemporary Indigenous peoples’ knowledges and contributions on Treaty 6 and 7 land. We call on settlers who utilize this resource to learn about regional treaties, original peoples, and histories in their area and infuse traditional ways of knowing and being into their youth programming.
