Therapy should be a space where you feel fundamentally understood and safe. For LGBTQIA+ folks, this has unfortunately not been a guarantee when they seek therapy. It can be hard to suss out if a therapist is “safe” to talk to about sexuality, gender, and belonging. We try to look for signifiers, signs, look for the words on their website(s) to see if we will be understood.

1. It shouldn’t be this way to begin with and

2. You deserve to know where your therapist stands before therapy begins

Coming out, processing your sexuality or gender identity, unpacking the internalized messaging you’ve received from people and systems is important work. It has felt important to my clients who are gay, queer, bisexual, questioning, trans/nonbinary - to connect with a therapist who has an understanding of them and ideally a similar lived experience. I am a not trans or nonbinary and so I educate myself, learn from my clients to support them.