The Importance of Queer Affirming Therapy through the Lens of a Queer Therapist in Denver
By Lindsey Gallop (she/her), MA, LPCC, Denver LGBTQ+ Therapist
I know how incredible it is to work with a therapist who not only gives space for identity development, but celebrates it as an element of the growth and healing process. The following blog highlights the importance of queer-affirming therapy. I have experience exploring my bi identity in the therapy space, and I hope that in sharing a piece of my story I can highlight the power and importance of queer-affirming therapy.
Exploring my own Queer Identity in Therapy
Growing up as a bi, cisgender female, it was simpler to know I liked boys. I watched princesses fall in love only with princes, no one talked about gay people at school, and I didn’t know bisexuality existed until after middle school. With all that constant heteronormativity, and knowing that exploring relationships with men felt right to me, I thought I was straight.
When I was 22, I decided to go back to therapy. Although my identity wasn’t the initial area of focus for the work, it quickly became one of my biggest areas of exploration. In the judgment-free space, I could explore my feelings about women and move toward understanding my attraction. I had the space to make sense of feelings I was having, and importantly, someone to help normalize them and meet them with acceptance.
My therapist was the first person I told I was bi. After a session where we processed some previous interactions, hopes, and feelings, I woke up the next day knowing and feeling secure in myself and my identity. By validating me and allowing me to explore my identity, my therapist proved to be someone I could trust. She provided a space of affirmation and care as I explored my identity further. She explored areas of oppression and hardship within the LGBTQ+ community and acknowledged the stigmas this community faces. She also never acted as though my identity was the source of my distress or like she was an expert on my lived experience. She never expected me to teach her about what a bi identity is, but gave space to explore what this identity means to me in my life. I felt safe to share.
Therapy with her is where I learned to appreciate myself as I am. A container of safety was created in the room for me to explore myself in a way that did not pathologize my identity, but celebrated it.
Now that I’ve shared a lens into my experience and the healing that took place with my queer-affirming therapist, I hope to shed light on some of the overall reasons why LGBTQ affirming therapy is so important.
Why it’s Essential for Therapists to be Queer-Affirming
Many queer folks do not find the affirming care they deserve. There is an increased need for mental health care among queer populations partially due to experiences of victimization and negative peer relationships for LGBTQ+ youth and adults, which exponentially increase the risk of mental health struggles.
Even with disparate rates of mental illness and suicide within the LGBTQ+ community, many therapists are poorly equipped to work with LGBTQIA+ people. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), LGBTQ+ people often report having to hide their sexual orientation from those in the mental health system for fear of being ridiculed or rejected. Researchers have documented therapists’ continued lack of competency and training around working with LGBTQ+ people.
More progress needs to be made, and in the meantime, the mental health field has the propensity to continue causing harm and compounding oppressive systems. All of this leads me to state that, in sum, finding a queer therapist or a queer affirming therapist is crucial for clients’ safety. At a minimum, members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to find spaces where they feel safe and accepted. Therapists can - and should - be a space of solace and comfort, free from external systems of oppression.
What Queer-Affirming Therapy in Denver, CO Can Look Like
I can speak to my own experience, values, and presence as a queer-affirming therapist in Denver. First and foremost, I always aim to show up in a way that is genuine and creates a space to build safety with my clients from the get-go. I ask my clients about their identities and share my own, with the statement that I will never act like I know the client's lived experience, and that there may also be parts I can truly empathize with and hope they don’t have to feel alone in.
It’s important for me to find ways to celebrate my client’s identities and explore ways that we can be advocates amidst the oppression they may have experienced.
A mistake that therapists can fall into is assuming that the identity is the cause of the distress. This is something that I strive to avoid. I recognize that for some clients their identity is not the focal point of the work. You deserve to be met exactly where you are and for your therapist to let you guide the focus of your sessions.
LGBTQ Therapy in Denver, Colorado
CZ Therapy Group is a team of queer and queer-affirming therapists in Denver, CO, specializing in LGBTQ individual therapy and LGBTQ couples therapy. Whether you’re looking to process experiences related to your queerness or something else entirely, our team aims to hold space with queer clients that is entirely affirming and rooted in anti-oppressive values. Reach out to our Denver LGBTQ+ affirming therapists to schedule a consult call and see if we feel like a good fit!
Get Started with Queer-Affirming Therapy in CO
1. Reach out to schedule a free 20-minute consult call.
2. Connect with the CZTG therapist of your choice via a phone consult.
3. Begin your process of exploration, healing, and growth.
Other CZTG Offerings
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About the Writer
Lindsey Gallop (she/her) is a trauma therapist who specializes in working with adults and teens who have experienced both long-term and single incident traumas, including childhood abuse/neglect, medical trauma, and sexual trauma. Lindsey sits with her clients in a way that embraces the messiness of the human experience and creates a safe enough container to be able to access and process through even the deepest held pain and trauma.
Reach out to Lindsey for a free consult if you’re curious about working with her!