LGBTQ Counselling

The acronym LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer which refers to a great number of individuals who have different sexual orientation. Basically, these people are not heterosexuals and represent their own sexual orientation. Now two more sexual orientation has been added to it and it makes LGBTQIA/ LGBTQ+ where I stand for Intersex and A stands for Asexual.

Every year in the month of June, the LGBTQ+ community celebrates the Pride Month. Various events are organized worldwide to appreciate and acknowledge the minority group of LGBTQ+ people. It is a special way of recognition of the importance and influence that LGBTQ+ people have on the society. But still after all these efforts they face several challenges worldwide and suffer from mental health issues. It is not just a celebration but an opportunity to raise awareness about problems being faced by the LGBTQ+ community.

Most of the times, people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, asexual or any other sexual orientation may not be suffering from any mental health issue like stress or depression but they still need counselling as they may find themselves facing social stigma related to their sexual orientation and that may cause stress or depression or any other issue.

Also, their reason for going for counselling could be anything like sexual issue, identity issue, gender issue or mental health issue but still finding a counsellor who doesn’t have biasness or any problem with LGBTQ+ community is really difficult. Sometimes, they take counselling from such counsellors and end up with unsuccessful outcomes.

In proper terms, mental help given to LGBTQ+ community is known as Affirmative Therapy that helps in embracing a positive view of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, asexual or any other sexual orientation and addresses the negative impact that the LGBTQ+ clients have on themselves. The main of the LGBTQ+ Counselling is to treat Gender Dysphoria (mentioned in DSM-5) which is a condition in which people experience significant distress when they have different sexual orientation than what they were assigned at birth. This impairs their social, personal or professional functioning.

Why LGBTQ+ Community needs Counselling?

Trevor Project did a survey and found out that 45% of the youth who comes under LGBTQ+ community committed suicide in the year 2022 and another study conducted in 2019 showed that 86% of LGBTQ+ youth experienced bulling or assault or harassment at school. This number is alarming and signifies that LGBTQ+ community really need counselling as their issues are a lot but no one understands them and not even includes them in society. They don’t get treated equally in our society by other people and due to this exclusion they suffer from stress, depression, anxiety and many other mental health issues.

30-60% of people in LGBTQ+ community are estimated to have experienced anxiety or depression at some point of their life which makes the need of having LGBTQ+ Counselling even important. Sometimes, people in LGBTQ+ community face rejection and unfair treatment when they open out about their sexual orientation. This number according to a research is 40% which is alarming and shocking.

They also talk with counsellor about topics like money, low self-esteem, mood swings, health problems, daily stressors and sexual issues. The most common thing that they experience is social rejection which many people can’t face and commit suicide and that’s the reason why suicide rates are so high among LGBTQ+ community.

At the same time, they also face verbal bullying, physical bullying and sexual harassment either at their own home or in public space. The rate of self-harm is also high in LGBTQ+ community which generally happens due to discrimination that they face in their society. They face new challenges everyday related to homophobia, heterosexism and transphobia.

What happens in LGBTQ+ Counselling?

LGBTQ+ Counsellors are specialized and well trained to deal with such clients with care and sensitivity. They are well educated about gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations. They help the clients to navigate through their negative experiences, traumas and mental health issues. Also, LGBTQ+ Counselling is really effective for people who are confused and wants to explore their gender identity or sexual orientation. This Counselling is much more effective and also appreciated as it is filled with supportiveness and empathy rather than conversion therapy which is harmful and ineffective.

LGBTQ+ Counselling is basically for people who are in minority group of LGBTQ+ and are suffering society exclusion. This counselling works with clients and helps them achieve their mental health goals and increase their self-esteem while uplifting their gender identities. Also, this helps people who have a different sexual orientation and struggling with it to deal with it properly. This approach acknowledges and teaches how to deal with negative aspects of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, heterosexism, racism, misogyny, discrimination, etc.

Various Psychological associations like American Psychological Association (APA) and Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) recognizes LGBTQ+ Counselling as an effective treatment for LGBTQ+ clients and their families as well. It also includes marriage and family counselling as LGBTQ+ counselling is also given to couples and families of the clients. LGBTQ+ counselling helps in embracing a positive view of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrates the diversity of the minority group. It has a major role in encouraging the LGBTQ+ clients to develop a positive identity and to provide support while discovering themselves.

The clients learn how to navigate the biasness and discrimination in the society without getting influenced from it. A well-educated and informed LGBTQ+ Counsellor will support the client with all the possible resources available. It also works on including values and changing negative beliefs of the marginalized groups in the society. The main aim of the LGBTQ+ counselling is to promote the psychological health of such people with increasing awareness, learning to assert one’s opinions, and live a good quality of life.

LGBTQ+ counselling helps the LGBTQ+ clients regarding following problems:

• Feeling of fear about coming out with true gender identity

• Feelings of shame

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Denial

• Confusion about gender identity or sexual orientation

• Trauma

• Family issues

• Discrimination and harassment

While teaching clients how to manage these problems, they are given constant support, care and guidance from the counsellor in the counselling session. They are provided with all the required knowledge, skills, resources and expertise so that they become able to cope with any challenge that they might face in their marginalized community. It is not necessary that only LGBTQ+ counselling will be given to the LGBTQ+ clients, sometimes, other approaches may also be used to achieve better results.

The counsellor will work with the clients for some time and then determine the best and effective treatment approach for the client to be used in the counselling session. For example, approach of CBT has been effective at treating mental health issue like depression or anxiety and other sexual health risky behaviors among adolescents in the LGBTQ+ community. CBT approach is used when dealing with LGBTQ+ clients who report:

• Self harm tendencies

• Suicidal feelings

• Depression

• Low self-esteem

• Social Anxiety

• Eating problems

• Drug abuse or alcohol addiction

CBT approach is used by the counsellor as it helps in addressing the thoughts and feelings raised due to emotional and psychological difficulties. It will help in clearing out the thinking and understanding one’s own true sexual orientation. It is also effective in reducing negative feelings and increasing positive emotions related to one’s own sexual orientation. This helps the clients in fully accepting who they are and loving it with full heart.

This approach is proven to cultivate self-love, self-worth and self-esteem. This approach is widely used when LGBTQ+ clients are observed to engage in illogical and irrational thought patterns. Various mental strategies are used by the counsellor in the counselling session to correct these thought patterns and convert them to logical and rational thought patterns.

Case study example

1. Anamika, 30, decides to take therapy for anxiety issues caused due to the discrimination faced because of different sexual orientation. She is feeling attracted towards women for quite some time now but her family is forcing her to marry a boy. She is having various thoughts in her mind regarding her interest and sexual orientation and is getting confused. Then, she approaches her counsellor regarding this situation and explores her sexual orientation in an accepting manner with full support from the counsellor.

Then, she undergoes talk therapy with the counsellor and after some time discovers that she really is a lesbian and will try to open up about this in front of her family and make them understand about this situation- Anxiety over the confusion of sexual orientation.

2. Raj, 37, decided to take therapy upon the recommendation of doctor when the decision of transition from male to female with gender confirmation surgery and a name change was finalized. She was experiencing significant distress while trying to live as a man when in reality she is a woman. In counselling, her personal history, her coping mechanisms and her expectations were discussed.

She also shared her experiences when she felt sad anger, guilty, fear, disgusting, jealous because of her gender identity. They even discussed complications and experience after the gender confirmation surgery. Then, the counsellor reported back the feedback of raj to her doctor about the confirmation of the surgery as raj is fully aware of everything and she is ready- Gender Transition.

Tips for clients taking LGBTQ+ Counselling

• Seek a Counsellor who has specialization or training in LGBTQ+ concerns.

• Find someone you would be comfortable to talk to.

• Make a list of questions that you will ask in the first session.

• If you don’t feel good with a counsellor, then look for someone else.

• Find a supporting group online or offline that you can join.

• Frequently visit any LGBTQ+ community health center for valuable resources.

• Read about current issues or laws regarding LGTBQ+ community and always be aware of what is happening in your society.

Professionals providing LGBTQ+ Counselling at Medavas

This Counselling should be given by those counsellors who are sensitive towards the concept of having different sexual orientation and are aware about what problems are being faced by such people in our society. And professionals/counsellors at our website – Medavas are trained, experienced, knowledgeable, empathetic and supportive. They are more than able to provide counselling to people who come under the LGBTQ+ community. So, if you feel like you need support, guidance or even professional mental help then don’t hesitate to contact our counsellors. 

You just have to book your appointment with them on our website which is an easy process indeed. Everything like date, time, mode of session and language will be decide by you, so, don’t wait anymore and get yourself some help from our professionals.