Dr. Pleak is the Director of Training & Education in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine in New York. He is co-chair of AACAP’s HIV Issues Committee and past chair and current member of the Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Issues Committee. He is also a member of the Work Group on Gender Dysphoria with the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. His private practice is primarily devoted to working with LGBTQ people of all ages and their families.    

This CCB will include a brief overview of the discussant’s work with older adolescents and young adults who are LGBTQ and the essential therapy with the families of these youth, setting the stage for the attendees to discuss their own experiences, request guidance, and ask questions regarding this clinical area. The focus can include psychiatrically unstable patients coming to terms with sexual orientation and gender identity, co-occurring Asperger’s disorder, family resistance, and finding supportive pediatricians, endocrinologists, and surgeons. The discussion will include information on resources and supportive services.