LGBTQ Counseling
Are you LBGTQ and struggling to understand or express your sexual orientation or gender identity?
Are you afraid that your family or friends won’t accept you if you come out as LGBTQ?
Do you want to be able to talk to people without thinking about your gender identity or sexual orientation?
Individuals in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community face unique experiences. For starters, questioning your sexual orientation or gender identity can be a scary and confusing process. In fact, you may not fully understand yourself or feel lost and overwhelmed — that’s completely okay! On the other hand, you may have known your sexuality or gender from a very young age but are just now digging deeper into what that means for you.
You may fear or have experienced homophobia and criticism from disapproving loved ones or peers. This can easily lead to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem in members of the LGBTQ community. Your gender identity or sexual orientation may also be just one of the many things on your plate right now, but you want to know that your counselor will welcome you with open arms in a welcoming atmosphere.
LGBTQ is a Unique Experience
The truth is that there are some unique experiences you may face as a member of the LGBTQ community. You face challenges that cis-gender straight people don’t have to face. As an LGBTQ individual, you might be dealing with:
- The emotional toll of hiding your sexual orientation from people in your life
- Fear of coming out
- The confusion of first realizing that you identify differently than how other people tell you to or that you’re attracted to people society doesn’t tell you to
- Discrimination against your sexual orientation or gender identity
- Rejection from peers, friends, and family members
- Stigma associated with LGBTQ lifestyle and HIV
These experiences make you who you are. However, they are also stressful. It’s important when seeking mental health services that you have a counselor who understands what you will face as a member of the LGBTQ community.
LGBTQ is a Unique Experience
The truth is that there are some unique experiences you may face as a member of the LGBTQ community. You face challenges that cis-gender straight people don’t have to face. As an LGBTQ individual, you might be dealing with:
- The emotional toll of hiding your sexual orientation from people in your life
- Fear of coming out
- The confusion of first realizing that you identify differently than how other people tell you to or that you’re attracted to people society doesn’t tell you to
- Discrimination against your sexual orientation or gender identity
- Rejection from peers, friends, and family members
- Stigma associated with LGBTQ lifestyle and HIV
These experiences make you who you are. However, they are also stressful. It’s important when seeking mental health services that you have a counselor who understands what you will face as a member of the LGBTQ community.
Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in LGBTQ Individuals
By going through these challenges alone, you can be subjected to a significant amount of stress that can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Everyone’s experience of depression and anxiety can be a little different. However, here are a few of the signs it may be time to seek help from a mental health professional:
- Feeling depressed, low, or unmotivated
- Being overwhelmed when trying to understand or come to terms with your sexual orientation or gender identity
- Fearing rejection or ridicule by others
- Avoiding social situations, work, or school
- Excessively sleeping or not being able to sleep at night
- Feeling uncomfortable in your own body
- Out-of-control sexual behaviors
- Relationship issues
Individuals with a non-heteronormative identity face all of these added stressors on top of the stressors the general population faces. As a result, depression and suicidal thoughts affect LGBTQ youth and adults at higher rates than in heterosexual, cisgender individuals. The rate of suicide in transgender adolescents and young adults is 41%. If that transgender individual feels loved and accepted by the individuals in their household, even if they feel rejected by the rest of the world around them, that suicide rate drops to 4%.
How Can Counseling Help Me and My Situation?
It’s critically important that members of the LGBTQ community have access to highly trained, compassionate counselors who want to help. Learning positive coping skills to help to navigate the challenges life throws at you — whether they have to do with your sexual orientation or not — can help you feel more assured in all aspects of your life. By choosing a counselor who encourages you to be your true self, you are one step closer to making this a reality.
How Can Counseling Help Me and My Situation?
It’s critically important that members of the LGBTQ community have access to highly trained, compassionate counselors who want to help. Learning positive coping skills to help to navigate the challenges life throws at you — whether they have to do with your sexual orientation or not — can help you feel more assured in all aspects of your life. By choosing a counselor who encourages you to be your true self, you are one step closer to making this a reality.
Common Reasons LGBTQ Come to Counseling
The truth is that members of the LGBTQ Community come to counseling for the same reason cis-gender straight people do….to better themselves and their mental health. Everyone’s situation is unique and the skilled Tampa Bay area counselors at McNulty Counseling are able to help with a wide variety of mental health issues.
- Anxiety Treatment
- Depression Treatment
- Individual Counseling
- Inclusive Couples and Marriage Counseling
- Art Therapy
- Online Therapy Services
- Therapy in Motion
- Suicidal Thoughts
- Children
- Teens
- College Students
- Adults
- Parents
- Excessive drug or alcohol use
- Families
- Self Harm
Your LGBTQ-Friendly Counseling Centers in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota
St. Petersburg is becoming world-renowned for its LGBTQ-friendly community and we love it! Tampa and Sarasota also have strong LGBTQ communities. With acceptance and affirmation as two of our counseling center’s core values, we empower our clients in their sexual identity no matter what your identity is.
Our team is here to meet the mental health needs of LGBTQ individuals and we want you to feel safe, open, and proud about who you are. Whether you are finding it difficult to cope with or understand your sexuality or gender, undergoing bullying or criticism from peers or loved ones, or simply want to know you have a counselor who is knowledgeable about LGBTQ issues, we want to be there for you. Contact McNulty Counseling today to begin your journey to feeling better. 727-344-9867!
Your LGBTQ-Friendly Counseling Center in St. Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg is becoming world-renowned for its LGBTQ-friendly community and we love it! With acceptance and affirmation as two of our counseling center’s core values, we empower our clients in their sexual identity no matter what your identity is.
Our team is here to meet the mental health needs of LGBTQ individuals and we want you to feel safe, open, and proud about who you are. Whether you are finding it difficult to cope with or understand your sexuality or gender, undergoing bullying or criticism from peers or loved ones, or simply want to know you have a counselor who is knowledgeable about LGBTQ issues, we want to be there for you. Call McNulty Counseling today to begin your journey to feeling better. 727-344-9867!
Begin Affirming Transgender and LGBTQ Counseling in one of our Tampa Bay locations.
Clinicians Who Specialize in Working with LGBTQ+ Clients
