Umbrella Collective

Providing gender-affirming care in Boulder 

By Amanda McCracken

At the age of 25, Li Brookens (they/them) discovered a letter in their parents’ file cabinet that would shape the trajectory of their career and identity.

The 1994 letter was a summary of their childhood therapy according to the perspective of the psychoanalyst who “treated” them three times per week for three years in Denver. The initial diagnosis at the onset of therapy when Brookens was in third grade was “gender identity disorder in childhood—with depression.” The psychoanalyst summed this up by saying, “She felt bad about herself and wanted to be a boy.” He concluded his letter by reporting that Brookens, at the age of 13, had successfully developed a “solid and appropriate identity as an early adolescent girl, including appropriate interest in boys.” 

Brookens, today a licensed clinical social worker who now identifies as non-binary, says: “The letter makes me cringe today. Appropriate interest? Your relationship with other people has no necessary relationship to your sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Conversion therapy, now illegal in Colorado, was common practice when Brookens was in therapy in the ’90s. “My therapist was trying to align my gender expression with my assigned sex to prevent a fear of a future homosexuality,” Brookens says. “He conflated the two. And while there’s lots of overlap with those concepts, gender and sexuality are also distinct and unique.”

Brookens sees how the combination of being in therapy as a child and discovering this letter as a young adult was a gift. “It validated my experience of my gender identity and inspired me to be a therapist who listens deeply to each of my clients who yearn to be seen,” they say.

Understanding Gender-Affirming Care

In 2016, Brookens founded the Umbrella Collective practice to provide gender-affirming care to individuals and families in the Boulder area. Clients have ranged in age from 7 to 90. In its name, “Umbrella” refers to both the shelter an umbrella provides and the umbrella term used to describe a wide array of intersectional identities.

Gender-affirming care is a critical and growing field that provides essential support for individuals with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. And while gender-affirming care is talk therapy, not all talk therapy is gender affirming. Therapists at the Umbrella Collective have been at the forefront of this work in Boulder County, setting a precedent for inclusive, evidence-based practices. The original standards of gender-affirming care were published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) in 1979—the same decade, Brookens notes, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 

Umbrella Collective therapist Dr. Brooke Rundle (she/they), LPCC, says, “Gender-affirming care is life-affirming care. It’s medically necessary care individualized to the client to maintain or improve mental health. We’re meeting people where they’re at, believing who they say that they are and helping them be their authentic selves.” Rundle identifies as non-binary.

Freedoms Disappearing

While young people are witnessing the most rights they’ve ever had in terms of inclusion, Brookens notes that they’re also watching their rights being stripped from them. “That has a huge impact on people’s mental health. And we’re here to remind our clients that this is nothing new. We’re still valid as humans,” they say.

Despite the advances over the past several decades to include the diagnosis of gender dysphoria in insurance policies, it’s now being excluded due to our current administration’s executive orders.

Both Brookens and Rundle say now is the time to lean into conversations with their elders, those who have the institutional memory to remind them this is nothing new. “The same themes are here as they were thirty years ago, and that’s the most valuable piece that I could transmit to any therapist that works here, who then transmits it to their clients,” Brookens says.

The Umbrella Collective Ripple Effect

Therapists like Brookens and Rundle have created a ripple effect with their commitment to the work. Therapists trained at Umbrella Collective have helped expand gender affirming care throughout the local community and beyond. 

Upon graduation as a social worker in 2011, Brookens noticed that therapists rarely disclosed their identity on their websites. “Most therapists would list ‘I’m LGBTQ friendly’ or ‘I’m LGBTQ affirming.’ Rarely would someone say, ‘I’m LGBTQ knowledgeable,’” they say. “I was the first group practice in Boulder County to say, ‘I’m LGBTQ knowledgeable, and I’m one of the community.’” When Brookens got certified in gender affirming care through WPATH, they were only one of two certified therapists in Colorado. Now, there are many. 

Brookens, who has more than 50 hours of comprehensive training on gender, ensures that all Umbrella Collective therapists receive at least five hours of WPATH standards of care training, in addition to ongoing weekly group consultation and supervision with a WPATH Standards of Care version 8–certified mental health professional. 

“People who are queer and trans and find our practice want to talk about gender with people that have studied it and can provide affirming care. They want to trust that they’re going to come here and be believed to be who they are,” Brookens says.

“This is a place where you can see your identity reflected not only in the waiting room with the other clients but also the therapists who are treating you,” Rundle says. “And so that makes it such a safe space.”

How to Support

Brookens encourages readers to check in with their queer and trans friends and ask how they can support them. In addition, people can provide financial donations to local organizations advocating to protect their rights: Rocky Mountain Equality, One Colorado, transathlete.com and the Sports Equality Foundation. 

Interested in learning more? Umbrella Collective also provides DEI trainings and consultations to unpack the complex sociopolitical landscape.  

“Rights have been stripped away throughout history, and we still exist,” Rundle says. “No matter what is said or done, we’re not going to be erased.” umbrellacollective.org