What is LGBTQ+-Affirming Therapy Anyway?
Kate Jamison, MHC
The biggest predictor of successful therapy is the relationship between the individual and their therapist. One of the most beautiful parts of the therapeutic relationship is feeling safe enough to be truly seen as you process your experiences and explore your inner world.
Being queer in our day-to-day lives often involves a baseline level of discomfort being in predominantly cisgender, heteronormative spaces. There can be relief in realizing you are in a space with other LGBTQ+ folks and committed allies who are knowledgeable about your lived experience.
As a queer person, I have navigated the medical and mental health spaces finding varying levels of affirming or even safe providers, and I’ve heard similar experiences from my community and clients. The lack of knowledge and genuinely affirming care can be especially harmful to transgender, gender-expansive, and BIPOC folks entering the therapy space.
LGBTQ+-affirming therapy varies depending on your therapist, which is one of the most exciting and expansive things about more queer folks entering these spaces!
In my office, it looks like:
Sexuality and/or gender identity exploration.
Encouragement to share at your own pace, using the words that feel the best to you. Different terms and labels feel different to everyone, and some people don’t like to use labels at all!
No assumptions!
I will ask you to elaborate on what words and terms mean to you and what your experiences have been like as an LGBTQ+ person.
Pronouns.
We will both share the pronouns that feel most comfortable for us, and may experiment with some you don’t typically use outside this space to see how they feel.
Affirming of Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy.
Relationship structures and dynamics of all kinds are safe to explore or share in this space!
Queer Culture.
If you share queer cannon music or media you like, I’ve probably seen it and am excited to talk with you about it! Representation is so important and I love to hear what it’s meant to you. (And I will never turn down an opportunity to talk about Chappell Roan.)
Intersectionality.
Race, cultural background, religion, neurodiversity, socioeconomic status, and how these overlap to create your lived experience are just the beginning of the identities we will sift through together!
Understanding and validation.
This is a safe and informed place to process experiences of familial or community rejection or discrimination you may have faced. The unfortunate truth is that there is still so much harmful misinformation being shared against the LGBTQ+ community, especially trans and gender-expansive folks. I hold a lot of space for any pain you may hold around these experiences and aim to help you cultivate self-compassion.
Resources!
My background in social services has given me so many resources for our community, including legal aid, affirming medical providers, step-by-step processes on changing legal names or gender markers, and offering letters for gender-affirming care.
My authentic self.
And finally, a warm space with a queer, genderfluid therapist who drinks iced oat lattes in the middle of winter and whose rainbow and astrology tattoos will be visible in the warmer months!
Every person in the LGBTQ+ community deserves a safe and knowledgeable space to explore their inner world. I would be honored to be that therapist for you, or connect you to other affirming providers and resources.