523 Western Avenue
Suite 2A
Albany, New York 12203
518-438-2222 (phone)
518-438-7777 (fax)
info@choicesconsulting.com

Education

• M.S.W., 1986--S.U.N.Y. at Albany, School of Social Welfare, Albany, NY.
• B.A. in Sociology, minor in Women's Studies, 1979, S.U.N.Y. at Binghamton, NY.
• A.S. in Social Science, minor in Minority Studies, 1977, Herkimer County Community College, Herkimer, NY.

Credentials

• Licensed Certified Social Worker [L.C.S.W.], l986 (C), 1997(R), 2005 (LCSW) State of New York (R-034680).
• Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor [C.A.S.A.C], 1988, NYS.
• Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor [C.A.D.C.], 2008, NYS

Awards

• Unsung Hero Award from the University at Albany, Lavender Graduation, 2010.
• Community Service Award, Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council, 2010.
• Transgender Emergence won The American Psychological Association, Division 44, as Distinguished Book of the Year, 2006
• Transgender Emergence chosen by The Society for Sex Therapy and Research as Book of Special Merit, 2006.
• Positive Difference Award, The Office of Learning Disabled Students Services Department of Student Life, University at Albany, 2003.
• Individual Development Award through The State of New York/United University Professions Professional Development Committee, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010

Professional Experience

• CHOICES COUNSELING AND CONSULTING, Founder and Clinical Director, Albany, New York (1986 to present).
• UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Part-Time Lecturer, Albany, New York (1988 to present).
• THE TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR GENDER, RELATIONSHIPS, IDENTITY, AND SEXUALITY [TIGRIS], Founder, and Clinical Director, Albany, New York (2010-present).
• EMPIRE COLLEGE, Distance Learning: Adjunct Faculty (2008 to present).
• CAPITAL DISTRICT GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL, Clinical Field Supervisor, Albany, New York (2007-present).
• RAINBOW ACCESS INITIATIVE [RAI], Albany, New York: Founder & Project Manager (2000-2004), Lead Trainer and Consultant (2000- 2008).
• VERMONT COLLEGE OF THE UNION INSTITUTE AND UNIVERSITY, Distance Learning: Adjunct Faculty (1998 to 2007).

Memberships & Appointments

• Chair, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity [SOGI] Project Planning Committee, University at Albany, School of Social Welfare (2009-present).
• Program Chair, American Family Therapy Academy, 2011, Sex, Gender and Cyberspace: Expanding the Vision of Family Therapy, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Member, LGBTQI Concerns Advisory Committee, University at Albany, (2009-present).
• Member, Advisory Committee, A Longitudinal Study of Transgender/Gender-Variant Youth and Their Families, Department of Family Studies and Social Work, Miami University, (2009-present).
• Member, Dissertation Committee, Karen Scarpella, Understanding the Experience of Male-to-Female Transsexuals in a Therapeutic Relationship, University of Denver (2008-2010).
• Member, Dissertation Committee, Jordon Downing, Transgender Identity Construction: Intersections of Gender and Sexuality, Clark University, Worchester, MA, (2008-present).
• Member, Editorial Board, International Journal of Transgenderism (2007-present).
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of glbt Family Studies (2006-present).
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Lesbian Studies (2009-present).
• Member, National Association of Social Workers [N.A.S.W.] (1986- present).
• Member, World Professional Association of Trans-Health (WPATH) (2000-present).
• Member (Associate), Division 44, American Psychological Association [APA] (2002-present)
• Member, American Family Therapy Academy [AFTA] (2006-present).
• Member, Advisory Board, Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project (2000-present).
• Member, National Advisory Council, Sexual Orientation and Gender Institute, Center on Halsted, (2007-2009).
• Member, Medical Advisory Board, Intersex Society of North America (2006-2008).
• Board Member, Family Pride Coalition (2003-2006).
• Chair, National Association of Social Workers [N.A.S.W.], New York State Chapter, Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee (1986-1994).
• Contributing Editor, In the Family Magazine Board, (2004-2005).

Publications

Books:

• Transgender Emergence: Counseling Gender-Variant People and their Families. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2004.
• The Complete Lesbian and Gay Parenting Guide. NY: Berkley/Penguin Press, 2004.

Book Chapters: Professional (selected)

• Kleinplatz, P.J., Moser, C., & Lev, A. I (2011). Sex and Gender Identity Disorders In G. Stricker & Tom Widiger, (Eds.), Clinical Psychology, (Vol. 8) In I. Weiner (Ed.) Handbook of Psychology (2nd Edition). Hoboken: Wiley (in press).
• Lev, Arlene Istar (in press). Sexual Issues for Transgender and Transsexual People. In Morrow, S.L. & Fassinger, R.E. (Eds.) Sex in the Margins: Erotic Lives of Sexual Minority People. (Contemporary Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Psychology). American Psychological Association Press.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2007). Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: The need for education in servicing victims of trauma. Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence, (Ed.) Nicky Ali Jackson, Ph.D. New York: Routledge.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2006). Transgender Communities: Developing Identity through Connection In Bieschke, K., Perez, R. & DeBord, K. (Eds.). Handbook of counseling and psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients (2nd Edition.). American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., 147-175.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2006). Transgender Emergence within Families. Sexual orientation and gender identity in social work practice. Morrow, D.F, & Messinger, L. (Eds.) New York: Columbia University Press, 263-283.

Journal Articles and other Publications: (selected)

• Lev, A., Winters, K., Alie, L., Ansara, Y., Deutsch, M., Dickey, L., Ehrbar, R., Ehrensaft, D., Green, J., Meier, S., Richmond, K., Samons, S., Susset, F., (2010). “Response to Proposed DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria,” Professionals Concerned With Gender Diagnoses in the DSM, http://professionals.gidreform.org.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2010). How queer – the development of gender identity and sexual orientation in LGBTQ-headed families. Family Process, 49 (2), 268-290.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2010). A Review of “Gay and lesbian parents and their children: Research on the family life cycle; Who's your daddy? And other writings on queer parenting; Becoming parent: Lesbians, gay men, and family.” Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 6, 341–348.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2009). The Ten Tasks of the Mental Health Provider: Recommendations for Revision of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's Standards of Care. International Journal of Transgenderism, 11 (2), 74-99.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2008). More than Surface Tension: Femmes in Families. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 12(2–3).
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2006). Intersexuality in the Family: An unacknowledged Trauma. The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, (Eds. Vernon A. Rosario & Jack Drescher), 10(1), 27-56.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2006). Gay Dads: Choosing Surrogacy. The British Psychological Society Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, 7 (1), 72-76.
• Lev, Arlene Istar (2005). Disordering Gender Identity: Gender Identity Disorder in the DSM-IV-TR. The Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 17 (3/4), 2005.

Keynotes and All Day Trainings (selected)

• Workshop, Ackerman Institute Annual Spring Conference, Gender Variance in Families: A Family Systems Approach, New York City, May 15, 2009.
• Full Day Training, Northeast Parent and Child Society, Clinician’s Training Day, Structural Family Therapy, Schenectady, New York, October 31, 2008.
• Keynote Speaker, Dimensions X the conference: A Decade of Caring for Queer Youth, Working with Families of LGBTQIQ Youth, San Francisco, California, September 26, 20008.
• Plenary Speaker, American Family Therapy Academy, Family Therapy’s Forgotten Bonds, Transgender Emergence, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 19, 2008.
• Keynote Speaker, Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health, Supporting Partners of Trans People, Toronto, Canada, June 27, 2008.
• Lunch and Learn Speaker, Series presented by the Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project, Same-Sex Parenting: Kingston, NY, April 25; Ithaca, NY, May 2; Utica, NY, May 16; Rochester, NY, November 16; and Albany, NY, December 7, 2008.
• All Day Training , Human Rights Campaign “All Children—All Families,” Transgender Families for Adoption Specialists, Washington, D.C., July 13, 2008.
• Speaker, Department of Social Work at Monmouth University, Inaugural Greta Singer Lecture in Clinical Social Work, Contemporary Clinical Practice with People who are Transgendered, West Long Beach, New Jersey, April 11, 2008.
• Trainer, The New England Gender Conference: For Therapists and Healthcare Providers, Advanced Clinical Issues, Couple and Family Issues, Northampton, Massachusetts, February, 2, 2007.
• Keynote Speaker, Pink Therapy, 2nd Biennial Conference, London, U.K., Intimate Affairs: Sexual Minorities and Relationships, Transgender Emergence: Transgender, Transsexual, and Gender-Nonconforming issues through a Family Systems Lens, June 16, 2006.
• Grand Rounds, Palmetto Memorial Hospital, Gender-Variant Children and Youth, Columbia, South Carolina, April 27, 2007.

Workshops, Presentations, and Conferences (selected)

• Workshop, Gay and Lesbian Affirmative Psychotherapy, Transgender Symposium, Advanced Clinical Cases, New York City, February, 20, 2010.
• Workshop, Power of Social Work Conference, Transgender Emergence in Families: A Social Work Perspective, Albany, New York, March 12, 2010.
• Panel Presentation, Aging into Feminism, Lesbians in the 70’s and 80’s & LGBTQ’s in the 21^st Century: Voices Back Then/Voices Right Now, Wheelock College, Brookline, MA, March, 20, 2010.
• Workshop, Family Week, Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Just Love Pink: How Our Families “Do” Gender, Provincetown, MA, August 5, 2010.
• Organizer, Videos at Noon, LGBT Video Series, University at Albany, Spring, 2010.
• Workshop, VISIONS, Inc., Becoming a Trans Ally: A Workshop with Arlene Lev, Boston, Massachusetts, November 7, 2009.
• Workshop, In Our Own Voices, Conversation across boundaries: Building cultural competence and fostering respect for racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities across organizational and institutional divides. Albany, New York, October, 15, 2009.
• Workshop, Pride and Joy Family Weekend Parenting Gender-Variant Children, Utica, NY, April 25, 2009.
• Workshop, Pride and Joy Family Weekend Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Just Love Pink: How Our Families “Do”Gender, Utica, NY, April 25, 2009.
• Workshop, St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender (LBGT) Substance Abuse Training, Albany, New York, March 20, 2009.
• Organizer, Rainbow Access Initiative, The Transgender Research Forum with Mona Mason, March 12, 2009.
• Workshop, Mental Health Consumer Forum, AIDS Council of NENY, Albany, New York, February 26, 2009.
• Workshop, National Multicultural Conference, Gender Identity Disorder, New Orleans, Louisiana, January, 15, 2009.
• Organizer, Videos at Noon, LGBT Video Series, University at Albany, Spring, 2009.
• Workshop, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Developing an Ethical Standard of Care for Children, Youth and Families, Chicago, Illinois, September 8, 2007.
• Workshop, Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting, Gender-Variant Youth: The Role of the Healthcare Provider Caring for Adolescents, Toronto Canada, May 6, 2007.
• Workshop, American Family Therapy Academy Annual Conference, Vancouver, B.C., Transgender Youth, June 21, 2007.
• Workshop, International Foundation for Gender Education, Moving Beyond Gatekeeping and Medical Model, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 12, 2007.
• Workshop, Philadelphia Mazzoni Center Trans-health Conference, Provider’s Day, Trans-Positive Family Therapy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April, 5, 2007.
• Workshop. Gender Identity Project, Lesbian and Gay Community Center New York City, Trans-Families: A Guide for Building Healthy Families, March 17, 2007.
• Lecture, Syracuse University LGBT Resource, Working with Gender-Variant Youth and Their Families, Syracuse, New York, October 27, 2006.
• Training, Fenway Community Health, Transgender Emergence, Boston, Massachusetts, October 24, 2006.
• Workshop, NYS Affirmative Action Advisory Council, Civil Rights in the 21^st Century, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Saratoga Springs, New York, September 20, 2006.
• Workshop, Pink Therapy, 2nd Biennial Conference, Intimate Affairs: Sexual Minorities and Relationships, LGBT Families: Moving beyond "we have a right to exist,” London, U.K., June 16, 2006.
• Workshop, Transgender Umbrella: Clinical Skills for Empowering Transgender and Gender Queer Clients, Couple and Family Therapy, Mesa, Arizona, June 3, 2006.
• Lecture, Sunshine Club, Family and Gender Issues, Hadley, Massachusetts, May 20, 2006.
• Workshop, Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting Transgender Children and Youth – The Role of the Pediatrician, San Francisco, California, April 29, 2006.
• Workshop, Gender-Variant People and their Families, Therapy Issues in Working with Gender-Variant & Ambiguous Sexed Clients & Family, Topeka, Kansas, April 21, 2006.
• Workshop, NASW Massachusetts, Symposium 2006, Marlboro, Massachusetts, LGBT Families and Social Work: A New Frontier, April 6, 2006.
• Workshop, NASW-NYS, The Power of Social Work, LGBT Families and Social Work: A New Frontier, Albany, New York, March 24, 2006.
• Lecture, TransNYC, CUNY Graduate Center, TransSexuality: Myths and Truths about Transgender Embodiment and Eroticism, New York City, Oct. 20, 2005
• Workshop, National Association of Social Workers Annual Conference, , Clinical Practice with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People, Suffern, NY March 11, 2005.
• Workshop, True Colors, Inc, Sexual Minority Youth, Central Connecticut State University, TransYouth, New Britain, Connecticut, March 18, 2005.
• Lecture, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, Transgender Emergence, Albany, New York, March 31, 2005.
• Public Talk, Voices Library Lecture Series, Hudson Valley Community College Transgender Emergence, Troy, New York, September, 8, 2005.
• Workshops, Human Development & Family Studies Program, and Division of Student & Campus Life, University of Vermont, Clinical Issues working with Transgender Youth: Developmental Issues, Burlington Vermont November, 7, 2005.
• Workshop, Lesbian and Gay Family Conference, "Out" in the World, Advocating for Our Families at School and in Our Communities, and Talking to Our Children About our Families, Binghamton, New York, November, 11-12, 2005.
• Workshop, Transgender 2004, the 18^th Annual IFGE Conference, PA, Transitioning within Families, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 3, 2004.
• Workshop, University of Connecticut, Rainbow Center, Transgender Emergence, Storrs, Connecticut, April 21, 2004.
• Workshop, Transgender 2003, International Foundation for Gender Education Conference and The RSI Transperson Symposium, Disordering Gender Identity, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 22, 2003.
• Panel Presentation, The Multicultural Family Institute, 12^th Annual Culture Conference “Crossing Cultural Borders: Transformation and Healing,” University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Gender Crossings , New Brunswick New Jersey, May 23, 2003.
• Workshop, Albany Law School Clinic, HIV/AIDS Conference, Transgender Health Care and Legal Issues, Albany, New York, July 10, 2003.
• Workshop, Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, BiAnnual Conference, Revisiting the Standards of Care, Ghent, Belgium, September 11, 2003.

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