Learning new skills an important tool for clinical therapist Rachel Tree to support 2SLGBTQIA+ community

As a clinical therapist, Rachel Mason Tree has seen first-hand how the needs of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community have evolved over her 19-year career.

To keep up with those changes, she has tapped into her lifelong love of learning to update her skills and knowledge, taking on additional training, including through the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to offer gender affirming care services.

With those newfound skills in hand, she has taken steps to incorporate those learnings into her clinical practice.

“It’s definitely become a passion in terms of recognizing that there’s a lot of people in the queer community who need resources and advocacy,” says Rachel, who is a member of the Mental Health and Addictions Program (MHAP) adult team at Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow.

“It was definitely not on the radar a whole lot when I first started, and then probably maybe 10 years ago was when I started getting interested in doing more work in the community and started seeking more of the training.”

A proud member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community herself, Rachel has seen how taking on that additional training has had a positive impact on her clients.  

And this is especially true at a particularly sensitive time for the community.  

“One of the things I’ve noticed is [the climate has changed] so much over the last few years and I just to try to help clients recognize that that’s a level of stress that nobody has to endure,” she says. “And I think that has also changed my practice a little bit, just recognizing that more.”

Rachel says this work has also opened her eyes to how diverse and beautiful the community is.  

“And I see how much a lot of the world really functions in a dichotomy, and human beings don’t function in that same dichotomy,” she says.

“The thing that makes me proud, I would say, is how much people stand up for people and recognize and support people in their community even if it’s not their struggle at the time.”

Rachel believes one of the most important lessons to take from this month is that everyone deserves to feel safe and confident in who they are.

“I think for me, one of the things about Pride is being able to be seen and heard in a safe place,” she says. “When I think about why we need Pride, it’s more about recognizing how many people still have to be hidden in order to feel safe in their homes.” 

Photo of Rachel Mason Tree, clinical therapist.