Westchester LGBTQ Affirming Therapy
LGBTQ Affirming Therapy
Do you live outside of the heteronormative-cisgender box?
Have you been to other LGBTQ-friendly counselors who had no idea what you were talking about? Are you tired of having to explain? Tired of looking for an LGBTQ+ competent therapist who will truly understand your issues?
Could you use a safe space to process your feelings and assess your goals?
Are you seeking transition and need support for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)? Do you suffer from anxiety and depression, or gender dysphoria/transition related issues?
Or maybe you’re seeking relationship counseling from someone who understands where you’re coming from?
If you can relate to any of the above, then you’ve come to the right place.
No judgments. No biases. Just a strong support system with open ears.
Stigma, in any form, is an impediment to the well-being of those who experience it. Given the stressors that LGBT groups must confront, such as homophobia, prejudice, coming out, and discrimination, finding a therapist who is openly LGBT-friendly or who specializes in LGBT issues is crucial to your personal growth.
Sometimes feeling all the stress of the world, can manifest into symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, Stress and even Trauma. We want to make sure you are receiving support in all areas of your life, while also addressing any and all symptoms of Anxiety or Depression that you are experiencing with LGBTQ affirming therapy in Westchester, NY.
Our Approach To Therapy
We want to make sure you feel safe with us. We are trauma-informed therapists who are here to help. In our therapy sessions we will explore your life leading up to this point as well as current situations and stressors. There can be so much value in looking at both. If you would prefer to stick with current stressors, that's okay too! Therapy sessions are your chance to explore and work on what you want to work on. Sometimes we need to address what is right in front of us, before we are ready to dig into our past or even our traumas.
Trauma-informed care is the approach and knowledge base that the individual you are working with is likely to have experienced some form of trauma in their life. It recognizes the symptoms of trauma and acknowledges the role it might play in someone’s life.
Trauma can make us feel disconnected from ourselves and our own bodies. It can manifest into symptoms like anxiety and depression. We can play things over in our head, overthink, and often feel like we are in a downward spiral.
A member of the LGBTQ community is more likely to have a history of trauma, have experienced micro-traumas and micro-aggressions, institutional discrimination, harassment and the denial or delay of necessary medical care. We are gay-friendly therapists that are trauma-informed and here to help.
As gay friendly therapists, we want you to feel heard and understood. We provide Person Centered Therapy which allows you to guide your therapy. We will provide insight and perspective, and coping skills when you are open to them.
We will also incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy when appropriate. Both of these therapeutic techniques are helpful when treating Anxiety and Depression. They can be woven into your talk therapy sessions. You will leave your session with your LGBTQ friendly therapist with the toolbox of coping skills that you need to take on the world. We want you to feel empowered to live your happiest life and advocate for yourself when you need to. You can read more about Westchester Anxiety Therapy here (insert) and Westchester Depression Therapy here (insert link).
LGBTQ Family Therapy
Has your child or loved one recently come out to you and you don’t know the right things to say? You want to be supportive but you feel like you are walking on eggshells during a really sensitive time? Maybe you see just how brave that person is and how hard it was for them to talk about their feelings about gender identity and sexuality?
You might want to talk over your own feelings with a therapist or talk together in a family session about how you might be supportive. You might want a better understanding of using your loved one’s pronouns. This might be all new territory for you, and that’s okay. As LGBTQ Affirming Therapists in Westchester, we are here to help you.
Our Approach To LGBTQ Family Therapy
LGBTQ Family Therapy can be utilized in two ways. This can look like supportive therapy for a family member or loved one of someone in the LGBTQ community. It is important for loved ones to have a Gay Friendly therapist for psycho-education purposes as well as support.
We can also facilitate Family Therapy sessions. This would include at least the client and LGBTQ family member, and can also be the entire family. We will structure these sessions around current stressors and topics that need to be discussed. An important component of Family Therapy is setting ground rules. This underlines the basic rules of respect that will be followed in a Family Therapy session.
FAQs
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We are all Allies. We support the LGBTQ community through our psychoeducation and advocacy. Read even more about each of our therapists here (link to about page)
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Absolutely! We do everything we can to support you throughout this journey. We understand and respect the importance of the correct use of pronouns.
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We can help by asking questions about current stressors. Most people have some “straw that broke the camel’s back” that finally got them to take the steps to receive therapy. We are so proud of you! Your LGBTQ friendly therapist in Westchester will help to guide you to the root of what is causing you to feel stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, depressed…or anything else you are feeling.
When you feel ready, we can also delve into any past situations that might be causing negative symptoms. We pride ourselves on being flexible and meeting the client where they are at.