Top 10 Things You Don’t Want to Have to Teach Your Therapist Learning about LGBTQ+ issues is part of counseling programs across the world now. It has been for many years. All Master’s level clinicians have multicultural training. In this training LGBTQ+ issues are certainly explored and tough. But one or two classes on LGBTQ+ issues certainly does not make one an expert on LGBT therapy issues. We have created a list of some of the issues that you don’t want to spent your time teaching your therapist about. 10. Different Letters of the Alphabet Soup It’s bad enough when your mother, who is working very hard to be accepting, asks “what’s the T in LGBT stand for again?” She is trying with all that you have been teaching her. But how much worse would it be to have to explain what the T means to your therapist. You would shut down immediately and this can seriously damage therapeutic report. 9. The Adoption Process You have decided that you want to have kids. Then you go see a couples counselor to help you and your husband handle the stress of this exciting time. But it is likely that you don’t want to have to spent time explaining the in’s and out’s of the process to your therapist. It sure would be helpful to have a therapist that has helped others through similar stresses because of the adoption process. 8. Open/Non-traditional Relationships You are working as hard as you can to improve communication with your partner and in the process you mention a recent sexual encounter with someone other than your partner. The therapist takes a left turn to infidelity and trust issues. You explain that you have a semi-open relationship and your partner knows about your hook up. But the therapist is can not recover from the thought of infidelity because of her lack of knowledge of non-traditional relationships. Another reason that an LGBT therapy is different. 7. Being Bi in a Relationship with Someone of the Opposite Sex It was hard enough to come out to your wife and still feel the commitment to your marriage. But to have to struggle to explain that just become we appear as a heterosexual couple doesn’t mean that we are to your therapist, was not what you signed up for when you came into counseling. Having an LGBT competent therapist will insure that you will not have to struggle with this nuance of your relationship. 6. Transition Explaining your transition process to your Dad can be one of the hardest experiences for a transwoman. Now imagine working with your therapist to try to discern the difference between your depression and gender dysphoria and you have to explain what the process looks like to them. This is why making sure you have LGBT therapy to work on your depression is important. 5. HRT / Gender Affirming Surgeries Having a therapist that can help you personalized your transition process is key. You can make it what ever you want it, but it is important to have a therapist that not only knows about hormone replacement therapy, top surgery, and all of the surgeries. But also knows who to refer you to in town that can help you through the process. 4. Local Club Scene Let’s be honest you don’t want to see your therapist out at the clubs. It surely dampens the mood of having a fun evening. But you do want your therapist to understand the difference between Jack,s Tap and The Big Apple. It is a waste of your therapy time to have to get into what types of activities happen in different bars. 3. Pronouns / Gender Fluidity Part of the reason to make sure that your are getting LGBT therapy from an LGBT counselor, is that you don’t have to explain your pronouns or your gender fluidity. 2. Grindr and Hook Up Apps No one enjoys explaining how GPS location apps for sexual encounters works to their therapist. It is nice to be able to reference your app’s name and all of the context of them app is already know by your therapist. This is what you get in LGBT therapy. 1. Sex Positions / Rolls Bottom. Top. Vert. These are terms that you just want your therapist to know so you don’t have to explain them.
10 list will need further explaination of any of the above issues.
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