by Peter P. Ehlinger, PhD Student, Counseling Psychology, College of Education

“They’re tired of waiting for things that aren’t going to come.” — Non-cisgender student

“I drank a lot as a young teenager…I think a lot of that came from a strong sense of lack of belonging and social anxiety.” — Non-cisgender student

Students of psychology dream of being privy to the nuances of others’ lives, the experiences that shape their emotions, and the manner in which people cope with adversity. One group of people who experience extraordinary levels of discrimination, violence, and marginalization are trans and non-cisgender people, whose gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth (hereafter referred to as non-cis). Those who identify as non-cis are a diverse group with an equally diverse set of life experiences. Yet, despite well-documented chronic systemic and interpersonal violence against non-cis people, the fields of Counseling and Clinical Psychology have not uniformly taken necessary steps to understand the experiences of non-cis people, including substance use, a common sequela of stress stemming from discrimination. I was frustrated with current approaches to substance use research with non-cis people that used cissexist language, treated non-cis people as a monolithic group, and did not involve the community directly in the research process. Further, without direct input from the non-cis community, research runs the risk of further pathologizing non-cis identities. 

This project started with the intention to approach research with the ear of a therapist: to listen with presence and curiosity to the lives of the non-cis students I recruited. Knowing that community-based research necessitates a team, I assembled a panel of community stakeholders spanning the continental United States who are experts on non-cis health, including representatives from Oregon State University, a local Eugene trans health advocacy group, and a Boston-based LGBTQIA+ community health center. Approaching this research, I have been consistently aware of my identities as a white, cisgender, queer man and seeking consultation has been as informative in some cases as the research itself. Using an inductive thematic analysis approach (c.f., Braun & Clarke, 2006), I have conducted two focus groups and four individual interviews with non-cis undergraduate students and data collection is ongoing. As my current work is sorting through and analyzing the interviews to best understand the perspectives of my participants, I have noticed a multitude of experiences that highlight the challenges that non-cis people face within higher education and in the United States more generally. 

What my research seeks to highlight are emerging themes of being and feeling “othered” by society, peers, and university systems, as well as complex dynamics related to the intersection of race and gender. These interrelated identities impact the individual experiences of each of my participants and contribute, in some cases, to further marginalization through transphobia within the non-cis community. Additional stressors commonly reported by participants I interviewed include consistent misgendering, threats and incidences of physical and sexual assault, and varying use of substances to numb pain and to cope with these traumatic experiences. Participants have described seeking community; there is a desire for more inclusive spaces that emphasize the individual humanity of each person and that help educate on existing positive, strengths-based coping skills, yet the desired composition and exact intention of this space varies. Many participants seek a non-cis-only space with older non-cis mentors in which to recharge. Yet others desire a more open space in which there can be education and further integration of non-cis identities into the mainstream on campus. Understanding these nuances is yet another step in the work, and I look forward to continued collaboration and discussions with the community on the best ways forward. 

This research has the potential to inform future inclusive and affirmative intervention efforts to lessen the disproportionate negative impact of substance use within non-cis communities. Through continued community collaboration with stakeholders and students in the design of a future intervention, I hope to challenge the status quo in psychological and substance use research to be more representative of non-cis identities and learn from communities that already have a long history of strength and resilience to adversity. I hope this research will prove to be one small, important step in this long journey. 

—Peter P. Ehlinger is a PhD student and graduate teaching fellow in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, College of Education. He received a 2018-19 CSWS Graduate Student Research Grant in support of his research.