Key Constructs
This refers to a person’s internal sense of who they are in relation to gender
What is Gender Identity?
This stage is when identity exploration becomes most visible
What is Adolescence?
This refers to the ability for identity to shift over time.
What is identity (or sexual) fluidity?
This concept explains how multiple identities overlap and interact.
What is Intersectionality?
This refers to distress related to gender identity incongruence.
What is Gender Dysphoria?
This includes attraction, behavior, and how someone labels their experiences.
What is Sexual Identity (Sexual Orientation)
This stage includes instability, autonomy development, and relationship formation.
What is Emerging Adulthood?
This term describes development as nonlinear and continuously constructed.
What is a dynamic developmental process?
Culture sets these “rules of the game” for identity
What are gender norms and expectations?
This approach supports clients in exploring identity without pressure to label.
What is Gender-Affirmative Care?
This is how gender is presented externally through appearance and behavior.
What is Gender Expression?
This stage emphasizes meaning-making and integration of identity.
What is Middle and Later Adulthood?
This concept explains the capacity for change across time due to experience.
What is Plasticity?
This determines what forms of identity expression are considered acceptable.
What is Cultural Context?
In clinical work, this should be explored before focusing on identity labels.
What is Environment/Context?
This framework explains development as a continuous interaction between person and context
What is the Relational Developmental Systems (RDS) model?
Gender identity begins to emerge during this early developmental stage
What is Toddlerhood/Early Childhood?
This is when someone identifies differently across different life stages.
What is identity evolution over time?
This concept means different paths can lead to the same outcome
What is Equifinality?
This domain includes family, peers, and sociopolitical climate
What is Context?
These three domains don’t always align perfectly across development
What are attraction, behavior, and identity label?
This concept describes development as ongoing and not fixed across the lifespan.
What is Lifelong/Dynamic Development?
This clinical mistake involves pushing a client to label themselves too early
What is Identity Foreclosure?
This concept means the same starting point can lead to different outcomes.
What is Multifinality?
This clinical goal focuses on exploration rather than labeling.
What is supporting identity development (or exploration/validation)?