Improving the Lives of Sexual and Gender Minorities: The Promise of Psychotherapy Research

Current psychotherapy research with sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) is inadequate to address the health disparities in this population. Psychotherapy can benefit from research demonstrating the unique experiences of SGMs with respect to behavioral health, internalized stigma, coping, and resilience. This article describes research approaches, questions, and measurement that can be employed to study psychotherapy. Given the impact of minority stress and microaggressions on SGM individuals, many of the recommendations provided in this article focus on how these components should be infused throughout a diverse range of psychotherapy interventions. Namely, we provide recommendations for researchers focusing on SGM populations in randomized controlled trials and psychotherapy process research. We also provide 7 specific recommendations that focus on psychotherapy research measurement with SGM populations and how researchers can focus their efforts to reduce disparities for SGM individuals. Finally, we identify additional constructs to consider for future intervention research with SGM individuals.