LGBTQIA+
I am so passionate about supporting our beautiful LGBTIQA+ community. I know how much it means to have a therapist who understands your experiences of being queer.
I believe LGBTIQA+ affirming therapy is so important because we know queer people are more likely to experience discrimination, isolation or trauma. This means we are more likely to experience anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. Having safe spaces where you can truly be yourself and getting support tailored to you becomes even more important.
Deciding to come to therapy
You might be grappling with coming out, coming to terms with new parts of your sexuality or gender identity, or dealing with shame or self-doubt about your queerness.
Other times, the reason you come to therapy has very little to do with being LGBTQIA+.
Either way, you might be struggling with anxiety or depression, feeling overwhelmed, having difficulties in your relationships, trying to make sense of past experiences, or feeling disconnected from yourself. But being queer, trans or non-binary can still be part of the context in which those experiences have happened.
You may have spent years feeling different, misunderstood or not fully accepted. You might have learned to question parts of yourself, worry about how other people will respond to you, or carry shame that has affected how you feel about yourself and your relationships.
For some queer people, family relationships be particularly difficult. For others, it might be experiences of discrimination, not feeling safe to be themselves, or worrying about how being LGBTQIA+ might affect their life and relationships.
You don't need to explain or justify yourself here
It can be difficult to know whether a therapist who describes themselves as LGBTQIA+ affirming will actually understand your experiences.
You may have wondered whether you'll need to educate them about being queer before you can even start talking about why you're there. Or whether you'll be accepted rather than simply tolerated.
As a queer person myself, I bring both professional experience and a lived understanding of some of the experiences that can come with being queer.
That doesn't mean I'll assume your experiences are the same as mine. But it does mean you don't need to spend your sessions explaining or justifying your identity before we can focus on what's actually happening for you.
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Feeling more connected to who you are
For me, therapy is about understanding you as a whole person.
That might involve making sense of difficult past experiences and how they've shaped the way you see yourself. It might mean looking at relationship patterns, understanding where shame or self-doubt has come from, or exploring what helps you feel safer and more connected to yourself and other people. Sometimes these experiences are related to being queer, sometimes they are not.
You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what you want to work on or how to explain what you're feeling.
You can start wherever you are.
My hope is that therapy helps you understand yourself more deeply, feel more confident in who you are, and build relationships and a life where you feel accepted for who you are.
Thinking about starting therapy?
If you’re thinking about starting therapy, you’re welcome to get in touch.
You can ask any questions you have, learn a little more about my approach, or book an appointment if you feel ready to get started. If you’d prefer to speak first, you can also request a free 15-minute initial conversation to briefly talk about what you’re looking for and whether I might be the right therapist for you.