A Love Note from Doug Sadownick
Our Founder and Outgoing Specialization Director
Antioch University's LGBT Specialization—LGBT History in the Making
More than ten years ago, we started a revolution—becoming one of the first Clinical Psychology graduate programs in the nation to include a LGBT Specialization.
MAP Chair, Joy Turek, had the idea since the 1980s; she discussed it with Matt Silverstein, Sandra Golvin, and Charlie Lang. It was a problem that we were not teaching our students how to be LGBT affirmative and our Human Sexuality class was rather heteronormative. The 2000 APA Guidelines for the treatment of LGB clients, along with Arlene Lev’s 2004 work on trans competencies, had just come out—yet, there was no graduate program teaching students how to “apply” these guidelines! The time was right to found such a program—and it made sense Antioch, with its mission of social justice, would be the place to overcome our societal resistances and forge ahead into this new frontier.
At first, I didn't want to be the Director because I was busy building my private practice, starting the Institute for Uranian Psychoanalysis, publishing books and articles, and teaching as an adjunct at Antioch. In addition, I knew I was a trouble-making, gay, radical, postmodern essentialist interested in ideas of LGBTQ soul—which was vastly different from the more extroverted schools of queer theory and a certain form of psychological postmodernism. So, I insisted we focus our program on LGBTQ identity, and ideas of existential being and becoming, while also addressing deconstruction concerns. I assumed this approach might be controversial.
Yet, we launched the program. It was exciting to build the curriculum, integrating the APA guidelines, and with the help of the larger LGBT community. We were led by the revolutionary nature of LGBTQ Liberation discourse along with an appreciation of our sacred sexuality and the spiritual wing of LGBTQ thinking not often found in psychological books…but alive and well in our literature and grassroots. We didn’t lose our connection to the golden age of feminism and Gay Liberation—and for this, I am so proud.
It was an honor to witness the growth of our students, who became fiery and activist and embraced the notion we need to change unjust power both in society as well as in the psyche! Then, we created Colors and Antioch Alive as sites where specialization students could apply these principles in actual clinical settings. Through all of this, I got to work with Cadyn, Thomas, Lauren, Theo, and Stephanie—and of course, the head of the Joyous Science, our Joy, as well as our MAP Faculty and Dr. Tex, whose support has been a major factor in our growth and success.
Now, it is my honor to hand the keys over to Dr. Theo, who has been a close colleague for a decade and is a leader in the field of affirmative studies, a scholar, an intellectual, and a huge advocate for diversity. He has also written widely on developing trans competencies. I can't think of a better person to take the LGBT Specialization into its second decade. He has a great, positive, serious, responsible, and queer and funny life force which I believe will shepherd us forward into new advances of LGBTQ affirmative learning and activism.
I will remain as core MAP faculty at 75%—focusing on completing my postdoc hours (which, by the way, includes writing a book on the history and development of the LGBT Specialization). Also, please look for my articles in the Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide.
Affirmatively and gaily yours,
Doug