ABSTRACT
Community support is an essential resource for psychological wellbeing among transgender and nonbinary communities. As the COVID-19 pandemic draws on, the role of community support in managing mental health concerns and the effects of structural inequity becomes increasingly important, yet few studies have focused on this dynamic. The present study examined how six transgender and nonbinary peer supporters understood the COVID-19 pandemic as a unique community crisis through their roles as helping professionals from a reflexive, thematic qualitative approach. The analysis resulted in 4 themes with 13 subthemes: (a) COVID pandemic as a trans-specific crisis;(b) shared membership;(c) healing role of community care;and (d) long-term impacts. Results show how transgender and nonbinary peer supporters undergo complex processes of vicarious traumatization and posttraumatic growth while engaging in peer support with community members, as well as how the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved as a crisis with unique implications for transgender and nonbinary groups. Findings provide evidence for the need to consider how post-traumatic sequelae develop in response to oppressive experiences, particularly that of gendered-racial marginalization within transgender and nonbinary communities of color, and how post-traumatic processes (i.e., responses to vicarious traumatization, post-traumatic growth) evolve among transgender and nonbinary communities. Implications on how to respond to community care and trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic within trans and nonbinary communities are provided: advocating for additional resources;building awareness around trauma processes;attending to clinical issues stemming from intersectional oppression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This study suggests that transgender and nonbinary individuals who provide emotional support for community members undergo processes of vicarious traumatization and post-traumatic growth. Additionally, the results highlight how the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved as a crisis with unique implications for transgender and nonbinary groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)