LGBTQ Issues

Being queer, I have some insight into the dynamics in queer relationships and have worked with lots of LGBTQ individuals and couples. Historically, therapists don't disclose things like this about ourselves, but I think it is important that LGBTQ clients can find a counselor and know they won't have to explain or defend their sexuality or relationships.

I have extensive experience providing clinical services to children, teens, couples/relationships, and families who identify as LGBTQ+ or queer. Additionally, I trained under an AASECT certified sex therapist for two years and can advocate for the transgender/gender diverse community in the form of formal documentation for seeking gender-affirming medical interventions (e.g., hormone therapy and surgical interventions).

I identify as a queer non-binary person and member of the LGBTQ+ community. I have experience working with fellow community members on sense of identity, relational concerns, life transitions and everyday stressors.

Regardless of where you are on your personal journey. You may be fully out and proud or questioning and feeling scared. Perhaps somewhere in between. Feel heard, validated, and understood by a professional from the queer community. Gender and Sexual Identification Oppression, Marginalization Discrimination, Social Rejection Abandonment Contemplating Coming Out or Coming Out Relationships, sex, Commitment Life Transitions and Milestone Changes Gender Transition Self-harm, self-hate Trauma

As the 'B' in the LGBTQIA+ community, I bring my full self into the therapy space to meet others who live in the world and must face the many cultural challenges our community routinely faces. While I don't believe a therapist has to be gay to help a client, by having a therapist who identifies as LGBT+ can often bring an added measure of comfort to clients who are seeking to live more authentically.

I’m a member of the LGBTQIA+ family and an enthusiastic participant in my local activist groups. We still live in a world where many children grow up in cultures and institutions that shame and revile anything outside prescribed heteronormativity. With no safe outlet for exploration or self-expression, queer youth can become separated from these vibrant and integral parts of their own identities. I want to help queer folks see, celebrate, and delight in the entire rainbow of being human.

I have published peer-reviewed research on the intersection of queer identity, mental health, and religiosity (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110475). Additionally, I built an LGBTQ+ mental health clinic from the ground up and ran it for multiple years. I have worked thousands of hours with hundreds of LGBTQ+ patients, especially those from high-demand religion/cult religious, cultural, or family backgrounds.

I work with you to understand and develop a positive identity around gender or sexuality in a world that doesn't always accept you. I’m well versed in the social challenges, complex identity questions, and marginalization that can accompany queer lived experiences. I can help you work through questions around gender and sexuality, find ways to navigate interpersonal relationships with people who struggle to understand your identity, and build self-worth in the face of oppression.

Having safe, accessible, and reliable healthcare for the LGBTQ and especially the trans community is something I value greatly. I have experience with providing documentation for gender affirming surgery (be sure to check with your insurance company on these requirements, I am not doctoral level).

I am experienced in helping others explore, accept, and thrive with their unique identities. I’ve had the honor of writing many referral letters for clients interested in hormone treatment and other gender-affirming care. I also help clients work to create and maintain healthy boundaries in relationships with others who are not accepting.

Using a deeply empathetic, feminist/social justice orientation, we will explore themes of identity wounding, societal/community rejection, safety and survival, and internalized bias. I have a plethora of resources to share and am committed to being a trusted witness.

I incorporate an intersectional understanding in my work with LGBTQ+ clients, as I understand that our community holds many different identities and life experiences. Within this diversity there are common themes that we as queer people deal with, including the prejudices of an at-times hostile society. My therapeutic approach is to understand my clients' experience and feelings, centering them in a grounded and safe space.

I work through an LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent affirming lens. We often get told there is something “wrong” with us or that our identities are something to be “fixed”. I’m here to say: fuck that. We deserve to see our identities as something to be accepted and celebrated. We live in a world where neuroqueer folks are marginalized, leading us to really struggle with self-acceptance and love. I help by guiding you to a place where it feels safe to be seen, where you know you’ll be held and comforted.

Just like any other group, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) community faces mental health issues and unique challenges. However, LGBTQ individuals are almost 3 times more likely than others to experience a mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety. Additionally, more than half of individuals who identify as transgender experience depression or anxiety. Young people are even more at risk. If you are a member of the LGBTQ community and are facing

I have professional training and life experience around navigating queerness and queer spaces, both as a political identity and as it relates to gender, sexual, and interpersonal identities. I have experience working with people navigating nonmonogamy and polyamory, and I practice nonmonogamy in my own life. I work to make spaces affirming to queerness of all kinds, including those related to kink and sex work/trade.

I have been working with LGBTQIA+ clients since the beginning of my Master’s program. Lived experience is also relevant to my clinical work. Providing drop-in services at the local LGBTQ+ Center, inclusive therapy in community mental health, leading LGBTQIA+ specific group therapy within hospitals, training other professionals, and continuing at the outpatient level has given me the experience needed to work with you.