The NELFT LGBTQ+ staff network has welcomed a new Vice Chair, Anne Bohl-Gorny.

Anne is a psychologist working with young people in our eating disorders service. Anne shares her perspective working with the network:

 "I am really excited to be appointed Vice Chair of the LGBTQ+ network. It’s a perfect puzzle piece complementing my clinical work as a psychologist: I try to work in an affirmative approach, and I hope to now also have an impact on a more operational and network level.

 

"I've been lucky enough to have worked (and work!) alongside amazing colleagues and have been guided by some great supervisors who encouraged me to be open about my own identity and what I bring to work. Identifying as queer, it's important to me to put this personal aspect into my NHS work. This does not always mean self-disclosure – but it trickles through into a hopefully affirmative and positive stance towards all patients and colleagues alike. Intersectionality plays a big role for me, and I try to include not only LGBTQ+ themes in this stance, but also awareness of overlapping identities. This includes affirming neurodivergence or the role of being a parent in diverse family setups, as well as characteristics I might not share myself but aim to be aware and learn about.

 

"As a white and female-presenting clinical psychologist I hold a lot of privilege myself and am not very representative of many people that I support in the community. It's important to me to include identities of any kind in our healthcare services, reflecting the communities that we serve. It can be validating and foster psychological safety for colleagues and service users alike to meet clinicians who share some of their own characteristics, visible or invisible, voice or unvoiced – this is why I like to be open about mine here in the network.

 

"I would like to attract more staff to join the network – for example, people who are questioning their identity or wondering whether they are welcome (yes, you are!). I feel that (queer, and particularly bisexual) imposter syndrome is so prevalent, and it is something I have been able to relate to in the past. I'm now much more comfortable about my identity: It's not that my understanding of myself has changed – it’s more what I bring to the outside has developed. This is thanks to those encouraging LGBTQ+ colleagues as well as our great allies trying to bring such affirming and welcoming energy to the staff network!"