Hello Subscriber First Name, Happy Pride Month!

This month we celebrate the creativity, beauty and resilience of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, their families, caregivers and friends. And of course a huge shout-out to you! As devoted, hardworking mental health professionals providing care to 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, their families and caregivers, you have an incredibly important job. We are immensely proud to be your colleagues and to assist you in the critical work you do to support youth.

In this newsletter you will find:

• AFFIRM Caregiver on the CEBC Programs website!

• 2026 Pride Month Zoomathon.

• AFFIRM Caregiver Training next week.

• INQYR conference registration now open!

• Clinical Corner: Pride Month and the Power of Queer & Trans Joy.

• AFFIRM Pro training in July.

• New country added to our map of AFFIRM around the world!

We are so excited to share that our AFFIRM Caregiver intervention has been added to the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) program website! What an honour to be included here. We are grateful and excited for this recognition and the opportunity to share AFFIRM Caregiver with new practitioners.

Here’s a Pride Month event that you won’t want to miss! The Visible and Unstoppable Pride Zoomathon will be a curated lineup of voices, stories, and resources to uplift LGBTQIA2S+ youth and families across the country. Whether you're a youth with a story, a parent with experience to share, a leader, or part of an affirming organization, this event is for you! This event is about visible, unstoppable support and community connection. LGBTQIA2S+ youth and adults aren't going anywhere. Let’s celebrate this together!

AFFIRM Caregiver Training ~ only a few spots left!

June 16, 17 & 18, 2026.

11am - 4:30pm EST

Affirming caregivers make a critical difference in the well-being of the young people in their care.

If you are working with clients who are caregivers for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, our 3-day, professional online training will prepare you to deliver an affirmative, caregiving intervention for parents and caregivers that is rooted in compassionate parenting practices. There are only a few spots left.

Continuing Education Credits are available! (U.S. only)

Only 114 days to go before INQYR’s much anticipated conference. Early Bird Registration is now open! If your organization is looking to support this important work, partnership and sponsorship opportunities are also available. Book your spot at this exciting event today!

When clinicians think about LGBTQ+ mental health, we often focus on minority stress, discrimination, and trauma. Those conversations are important—but Pride Month offers a reminder that affirmative practice is also about helping clients identify and expand experiences of joy, connection, authenticity and belonging!

Clinical tip: Explore what helps LGBTQ+ clients feel most like themselves

For example, your nonbinary teen adolescent mentions spending hours watching videos created by trans folx online. A therapist could simply note the interest and move on; but an affirmative therapist would get curious:

• What do you enjoy most about those videos?

• How do you feel when you watch them?

• How do they change how you imagine yourself and your own future?

The young person may be seeing possibilities for themselves that they have never seen before. Often, these affirmative clinical conversations uncover something deeper than entertainment. They uncover hope.

A Tip for Caregivers: One of the most affirming things caregivers can do is show genuine enthusiasm for something their youth loves.

Imagine a teen spends hours building a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Consider helping caregivers learn to view it as more than "just a game,"—encourage them to take the time to lean in and express genuine interest and curiosity.

• Tell me about your character.

• What's happening in your campaign right now?

• What makes this world exciting for you?

When a caregiver responds with authentic curiosity and excitement, the interaction becomes about much more than D&D. It communicates:

"I enjoy who you are."

"What matters to you matters to me."

"I want to know your world."

For LGBTQ+ youth, these moments of shared joy can become powerful experiences of affirmation, connection, and belonging.

This Pride Month, consider helping clients and families explore the people, activities, communities, and experiences that help them feel most authentic, connected, hopeful, and fully themselves. The answers may reveal some of the most important pathways to healing.