{"id":20,"date":"2025-05-05T16:17:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T20:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/?page_id=20"},"modified":"2026-04-29T08:37:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:37:36","slug":"the-whole-selves-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/the-whole-selves-project\/","title":{"rendered":"The Whole Selves Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/logo_color_outline_black_text_rgb-150x150.png\" alt=\"Whole Selves Project logo with pink, white, and blue overlapping figures\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-15 alignleft\" \/>The Whole Selves Project is a <strong>community-engaged research project <\/strong>exploring how trans\/nonbinary young build supportive romantic and platonic relationships. The project is based at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/\">Boston University School of Public Health<\/a>, with input from trans\/nonbinary people across the U.S. and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of the project, we&#8217;ve&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Interviewed 30 trans\/nonbinary young adults about their romantic relationship experiences, and used what we&#8217;ve learned to develop the Identity Needs in Relationships Framework, a new way of understanding how trans\/nonbinary young adults build supportive romantic relationships in the context of interpersonal and structural marginalization. This work was part of B*SHARP, a broader mixed-methods research project funded by the Boston Children&#8217;s Hospital Aerosmith Endowment Fund (PI: Gordon).<\/li>\n<li>Interviewed six trans\/nonbinary young adults, and surveyed 300 trans\/nonbinary people of all ages, to create the Identity Needs in Relationships Scale: a series of questions that assess what kinds of identity-related support a trans\/nonbinary person is receiving from a romantic partner. This work was made possible by a seed grant from the <a href=\"https:\/\/wff.yale.edu\/\">Yale University Women Faculty Forum<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Surveyed 300 trans\/nonbinary young adults about their r<span>omantic relationship experiences, their experiences with marginalization, their mental health, and their use of alcohol\u2014checking in once per week for more than two months. This detailed dataset is helping us paint a much clearer picture of how romantic relationships may affect trans\/nonbinary young adults&#8217; health and wellbeing. This work was funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (K99AA030601; PI: Murchison).<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Worked with a community-based team of 10 participants\u2014most with both professional and lived expertise related to the project\u2014to co-design a brief online intervention that will help trans\/nonbinary young adults reflect on their experiences with alcohol use and romantic relationships. <span>This work was previously funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R00AA030601; PI: Murchison).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tools<\/h2>\n<p>We encourage community members, clinicians, and researchers to make use of the <a href=\"\/t4thealth\/transgender-nonbinary-identity-support-from-partners-scale\/\">Transgender\/Nonbinary Identity Support from Partners Scale (TISPS)<\/a>, which measures five dimensions of transgender\/nonbinary identity support in romantic relationships. <span>You don&#8217;t need to ask permission to use the TISPS; we just ask that you cite it using the information at the bottom of the questionnaire. <a href=\"\/t4thealth\/transgender-nonbinary-identity-support-from-partners-scale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail-636x491.png\" alt=\"Thumbnail image of a questionnaire with various questions and response option bubbles, linking to a PDF of the questionnaire.\" width=\"309\" height=\"238\" class=\"alignright wp-image-64 \" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail-636x491.png 636w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail-1024x791.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail-768x593.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail-1536x1187.png 1536w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail.png 1628w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/TISPS-web-thumbnail-400x308.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>We have published a<span>\u00a0paper describing the TISPS and how we developed it:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<li>Murchison, G. R., Paglisotti, E., Vives, G., Daley, M., &amp; Pachankis, J. E. (2025). Development and validation of the Transgender\/Nonbinary Identity Support from Partners Scale. <em>Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.<\/em> Advance online publication. doi: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/sgd0000868\"><span>10.1037\/sgd0000868<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>You can read the <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC12560257\/\">TISPS paper<\/a> for free online.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Other Publications<\/h2>\n<p>To date, in addition to the TISPS paper described above, we&#8217;ve published two other journal articles describing this work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In the first paper, we used in-depth interviews to develop a conceptual framework for understanding how trans\/nonbinary young adults navigate romantic relationships in the context of prejudice and structural disadvantage:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<li>Murchison, G. R., Eiduson, R., Ag\u00e9nor, M., &amp; Gordon, A. R. (2022). Tradeoffs, constraints, and strategies in transgender and nonbinary young adults\u2019 romantic relationships: The identity needs in relationships framework. <em>Journal of Social and Personal Relationships<\/em>, 40(7), 2149-2180. doi: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/02654075221142183\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>10.1177\/02654075221142183<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\">You can read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC11086993\/\">conceptual framework paper<\/a> for free, and you can also check out a <a href=\"\/t4thealth\/the-whole-selves-project\/jspr-research-brief-website-2025-05-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">research brief (PDF)<\/a> explaining some key findings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"\/t4thealth\/the-whole-selves-project\/jspr-research-brief-website-2025-05-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/WS-Research-Brief-Thumbnail-496x636.png\" alt=\"Thumbnail image of a research brief with an illustration of two trans young adults, linking to a PDF of the brief.\" width=\"184\" height=\"236\" class=\"alignright wp-image-54\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/WS-Research-Brief-Thumbnail-496x636.png 496w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/WS-Research-Brief-Thumbnail-799x1024.png 799w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/WS-Research-Brief-Thumbnail-768x984.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/WS-Research-Brief-Thumbnail.png 888w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 184px) 100vw, 184px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In the second paper, we used quantitative survey data to evaluate two potential ways that cisgenderism may put transgender\/nonbinary young adults at greater risk of controlling romantic relationships (i.e., when their partners have excessive control over decisions that should be shared or made independently, like who they spend time with). We found that economic disenfranchisement, particularly housing instability, may play an important role in this process:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Murchison, G. R., Eiduson, R., Austin, S. B., Reisner, S. L., Ag\u00e9nor, M., Chen, J. T., &amp; Gordon, A. R. Controlling partner dynamics in transgender\/nonbinary young adults\u2019 romantic relationships: Exploring the roles of cissexism-related beliefs and material-need insecurity. <em>Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity<\/em>. Advance online publication. doi: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/sgd0000730\">10.1037\/sgd0000730<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can read the <a href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/manuscript\/2024-81124-001.pdf\">controlling relationships paper<\/a> for free online.<\/p>\n<h2>Team<\/h2>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\">Our current team includes&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/gabriel-murchison\/\">Gabe Murchison, PhD, MPH<\/a>, Principal Investigator<\/li>\n<li>Aster A., Graduate Research Assistant<\/li>\n<li>Devanshi P., Postgraduate Research Assistant<\/li>\n<li>Alana B., Community Health Sciences Fellow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The illustrations and graphic design for this project were done by <a href=\"https:\/\/bohigent.com\/\">Bohigent<\/a><span>, a queer artist based in New England.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-20 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05.jpeg'><img width=\"636\" height=\"477\" src=\"\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05-636x477.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Two smiling people in black jackets sit at a table in a grassy field, under a banner with the Whole Selves Project logo.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05-636x477.jpeg 636w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Trans-Resistance-2023-06-03-05-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-149'>\n\t\t\t\tGabe and Tom tabling at Trans Resistance March in Boston, 2023\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Harvard-Trans-Conf-2024-small.png'><img width=\"636\" height=\"613\" src=\"\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Harvard-Trans-Conf-2024-small-636x613.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"A smiling person wearing a leather jacket sits behind a table decorated with the Whole Selves Project logo.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Harvard-Trans-Conf-2024-small-636x613.png 636w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Harvard-Trans-Conf-2024-small-1024x988.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Harvard-Trans-Conf-2024-small-768x741.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Harvard-Trans-Conf-2024-small.png 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-155'>\n\t\t\t\tGabe tabling at the 2024 Harvard Trans Community Celebration\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop.png'><img width=\"636\" height=\"545\" src=\"\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop-636x545.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Four smiling people stand together in front of a slideshow reading Whole Selves Project Co-Design Team Kickoff Workshop - March 8, 2025\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop-636x545.png 636w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop-1024x878.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop-768x659.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop-1536x1317.png 1536w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/files\/2025\/05\/Kickoff-Workshop-2048x1756.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-157'>\n\t\t\t\tGabe, Haja, Grayson, and Aster at the Whole Selves co-design kickoff workshop\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Whole Selves Project is a community-engaged research project exploring how trans\/nonbinary young build supportive romantic and platonic relationships. The project is based at the Boston University School of Public Health, with input from trans\/nonbinary people across the U.S. and beyond. Over the course of the project, we&#8217;ve&#8230; Interviewed 30 trans\/nonbinary young adults about their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24812,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/t4thealth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}