Working with Transgender Individuals: The Rising Need for Trans-Cultural Competency and Trauma-Informed Care for Therapists, Holistic Providers, Mental Health Agencies and Health Care Facilities

with Dr. Rizi Timane LCSW, DSW

Due to the complex intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, and religion, it is essential that health care, mental health, and holistic partitioning practitioners develop cultural competency and integrate trauma-informed concepts into their work with culturally diverse and transgender clients.

(he/him)

Dr. Rizi Timane, LCSW, DSW

Dr. Rizi Timane LCSW, DSW, is an entertainer, a licensed psychotherapist, and a certified Trans- sensitivity and Diversity Trainer who advocates for transgender rights. In June 2018, he spoke at the United Nations Global Entrepreneur Summit on the need for greater trans awareness and trans workplace advocacy. Dr. Rizi is the recipient of the 2019 Transgender Visibility Award, which was presented to him in a televised event at City Hall by Congressman Mitch O’Farrell and the City of Los Angeles Transgender Advisory Council.

Presently in private practice at Rizi Timane Psychotherapy and Consulting, Dr. Rizi has previously worked within the trans community in various affirming roles since 2007. His prior work includes being a trans minister, an affirming LGBTQIA2S+ psychotherapist at the L.A. LGBT Center, and prior service as the Associate Director of the nation’s largest Transgender Health Program overseeing about 6000 trans patients and 15 all-transgender staff at St. John’s Well Child and Family Clinic in Downtown Los Angeles.

In working with the trans community, Dr. Rizi has encountered many trans youth and adults who desire gender confirmation surgery but cannot afford it. As a response to this truly heartbreaking situation, he established an annual transgender surgery grant that provides financial support to them so they can undergo gender confirmation surgery if they desire it but can’t afford it. Since its inception in 2012, the grant has been exclusively funded from a portion of Rizi’s personal income, including from portions of his memoir, private therapy practice, acting gigs, various prior employments, speaking engagements, and music sales.

Whether he is advocating on behalf of trans people, training others on trans sensitivity and diversity, or simply entertaining, Rizi’s message to the LGBTQI community is twofold: “First, be your authentic self—it’s the only way to inner peace and happiness. Second, if you are in search of a relationship with God, Source, the Universe, or whatever you call the power that creates worlds, a spiritual path to unconditional love and acceptance does exist for you, free from condemnation and negative judgement.”