Davis Parent University Presents Rachel Pepper

 Award-winning author and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist whose specialties include working
with the LGBT community

A nationally recognized expert on gender identity development in children and teens, Rachel will discuss, along with gender terminology:

• Why and how to meet gender expansive and transgender young people where they are
• Why and how to offer understanding, love and support to gender diverse children and teens
• How to understand and process the range of parental/caregiver emotions surrounding gender creativity
• What there is to be hopeful about

Register Here.

Rachel Pepper, LMFT, is an award-winning author and nationally recognized expert on gender identity development in children and teens. Translated into German, Icelandic and soon Spanish, Rachel’s latest book, The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals Supporting Transgender and Nonbinary Children, is a groundbreaking, compassionate, and comprehensive GPS for offering understanding, love and support to gender expansive and transgender young people.

In her lecture, along with explaining gender terminology, Rachel will discuss why and how to meet gender diverse young people where they are, how to understand and process the range of parental/caregiver emotions surrounding gender creativity, and what there is to be hopeful about. The event will include a 45 minute lecture by Rachel followed by a 30 minute Q & A session and then a book signing. Please note: All audience members are expected to behave respectfully throughout this event. Any disruptive or disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated.

Rachel is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist currently practicing in the Sacramento area. She has worked for major agencies and HMOs including Kaiser Permanente. Her clinical specialties include working with the LGBT community, teens and adults with depression and anxiety, and helping clients with more serious mental health concerns, such as bipolar disorder, lead healthier, more fulfilling lives. She is currently also an adjunct professor at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto with a B.A. in Political Science and English, she obtained a Master of Journalism from Chicago’s Columbia College, with a specialty in Public Affairs Reporting. Since that time, she returned to school and received an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies with an emphasis in Community Mental Health. Ten years ago, she became licensed as a therapist, and upon moving to Sacramento four years ago, has been in private practice full time.

Rachel lives with her family and a flock of chickens on an urban farm in the Sacramento region, where she specializes in growing organic heirloom tomatoes in the summer and reading a stockpile of good books in the winter months.