Richard Brandon-Friedman

I received my MSW from the Indiana University School of Social Work in 2011 after working in community mental health for six years. I later earned my PhD from the Indiana University School of Social Work in 2019 with a dissertation focused on sexual identity development and sexual well-being. Throughout the past 15 years, my clinical work has largely focused on adolescents, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ youth and their families. More recently, I have begun working with gender-diverse adults. When working with youth and families I seek to increase their understanding of themselves and each other through an exploration of their identity development, their individual and familial growth, and how their experiences affect how they understand each other. I have been trained in trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and use a mixture of rational emotive, role, and developmental theories. In addition to my clinical practice, I am an Associate Professor within the Indiana University School of Social Work. Within this position I teach courses on clinical assessment and practice and coordinate several research projects examining the health and well-being of gender-diverse youth and their families. I previously helped with the development of the Gender Health Program at Riley at IU Health and continue to work with LGBTQ+ community organizations throughout Indiana.