Bi+ Erasure

Bi+ Erasure

An interview with Dr. Mimi Hoang, Ph.D., about Bi+ Affirmative therapy and what therapists often get wrong about working with Bi+ people. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Mimi about how often Bi+ people are left out of the conversation (and training) regarding LGBTQ+ people, the consistent erasure and exclusion Bi+ people face, the biases that show up in the therapy room, and how therapists can better prepare themselves for working with the largest segment of the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Mimi Hoang, Ph.D. (she/her/hers), Psychologist, Author, and Activist

Dr. Mimi Hoang is a nationally-recognized psychologist, educator, author, and grassroots activist specializing in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) and Asian Pacific Islander (API) communities. Since the 1990s, she has co-founded three organizations in Los Angeles for bisexual, pansexual, fluid, and other nonmonosexual (AKA "bi+") individuals, authored multiple publications, and earned a seat at the landmark 2013 White House Bisexual Community Roundtable. Dr. Mimi's steadfast leadership has earned her multiple awards, a feature in Jan Dee Gordon's LGBTQ of Steel photography book, mentions in Cosmopolitan and HuffPost, and being named “One of the Most Significant Women in the Bisexual Movement.” She currently works as a Staff Psychologist at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Student Psychological Services, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles, and is the creator of the "Bi on Life" self-empowerment series. Learn more at www.drmimihoang.com.

In this episode we talk about:

• The tendency for conversations around LGBTQ+ training often leaves out information bisexuality
• Mimi’s story, including the organizations she has created to support people who are bisexual, pansexual, fluid, and other nonmonosexual individuals
• The challenge of identifying within a binary of gay or straight and heteronormativity
• What therapists often get wrong when working with Bi+ clients
• How likely it is that your client will come out to you
• The biases against bisexuality in the therapy room
• Misunderstanding, over simplification, quantification, and other problems in exploring sexuality with Bi+ people
• Bi-Phobia from the gay community and code switching to “fit in”
• The concept of Bi Erasure
• The reasons for Bi+ erasure and exclusion
• The doubt of existence of bisexuality
• The huge gap in psychotherapist education related to bisexuality
• The importance of getting more training on bisexuality
• Asking the sexual orientation question, exploring sexuality
• Neutralizing your language when talking about partners
• Best practices for treating Bi+ people