​If you are going through a very stressful time in your life and are searching for a therapist with whom you are able to share your story in order to get help, you may also worry about fear of rejection or misunderstanding, or having to hide aspects of yourself from your therapist. This is a real concern for most lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and queer identified individuals and couples. When looking for a therapist it is extremely difficult to determine if that person truly understands the nuances of growing up LGBTQ+ identified and the current daily issues that this community tends to encounter.

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Depending on your location, there may be a limited number of psychotherapists practicing LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy; however, very few specialize in work with LGBTQ+ clients, and even fewer identify as part of the community. I offer all LGBTQ+ clients in the Denton and DFW area the unique opportunity to know before we meet that I am someone from their own community with a licensed, trained, studied, and personal understanding of their development and current issues.

By taking an affirmative and sex-positive approach to LGBTQ+ identities and experiences, I will never pathologize your experience. In other words, I will not view your identity or experience as abnormal or in need of change. This is essential to understand, especially given that the medical community initially pathologized sexual orientation as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). There continues to be mental health provides that provide 'conversion therapy' despite this being very dangerous to LGBTQ+ individuals and unethical. However, there are now 17 states that ban conversion therapy as of May 2019! 

• As of May 25, 2019, the World Health Organization has officially removed being Transgender as a mental illness. The World Health Organization now describes being transgender as "gender incongruence." This is a step in the right direction and will hopefully continue to de-stigmatize transgender identities/experiences. Similarly, despite the new edition of the DSM removing the diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder, there is now an alternative diagnostic formulation of Gender Dysphoria. This new diagnosis essentially suggests that you may be depressed, rather than disordered, because your internal experience and your current anatomy do not align. Although this is a step in the right direction, ultimately removing  any mental health diagnoses related to gender identity from the DSM altogether is ideal. Although Gender Dysphoria continues to be considered a mental disorder, I can ensure you that I do not view gender identity in this manner. Rather, I view gender identity/expression on a continuum, rather than on the socially constructed binary. As an LGBTQ+ individual, you may be experiencing various issues that are similar to heterosexual or cis-gender individuals. Sometimes, presenting concerns or issues are directly related to sexual orientation or gender identity issues, which would then lead to this being the center of our work in therapy. Understanding context is important, and being located in Texas has a real-world impact on prejudice, oppression, discrimination, and availability of resources. At other times identities may be separate from an individual's distress and may be less central in therapy. Determining this importance and context specific to you will be a mutual exploration that will involve open transparency when determining our therapeutic goals. 

• Gender Diversity and/or Trans* are umbrella terms that refers to all of the identities within the gender identity spectrum. These identities include, but are not limited to, genderqueer, bigender, gender fluid, genderless, MtF, FtM, Two Spirit, non-binary, androgynous, and masculine of center (MOC). 

  • Understanding Gender

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• ​As discussed above, affirming psychotherapy is essential to find for gender diversity individuals when seeking a therapist in order to ensure safety and trust. An affirming therapist allows for exploration of your gender identity, as well as determining a comfortable gender role and expression that fits for you. Additionally, I will focus on ensuring  resiliency is instilled related to your identity despite prejudice and discrimination that may occur outside of therapy. 

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• The journey for each person is different, as some may decide to partially or fully transition with gender confirming surgeries, including Hormone Replacement Therapies (HRT). The extent to which your gender identity is aligned with your gender expression varies, as this is not always necessary or desired. If transition is decided upon, psychotherapy can be beneficial in assisting with decision-making processes, providing support through the process, and focus on coping with physical, psychological, and social adjustments.

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• There have been recent positive advances in both the medical and psychological fields regarding standards of care and informed consent to treatment.  The WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) Standards of Care, 7th Edition (2011), makes some very important strides in the right direction (toward giving you the power and control to make your own healthcare decisions). It is very important to be aware of this document and to review it in detail.  

  • Standards Of Care