Out On The Couch

Maintaining Hope & Self-Compassion for LGBTQIA+ Clients During Covid-19

Posted: 4-22-20 | addyson tucker, Psy.D.

By now, we are all experiencing the impact of the ubiquitous trauma and stress surrounding COVID-19 in some way. What might have started with a distal awareness of the problem quickly snapped to a reality that the world will forever be changed by this virus. You might have also noticed the varying “stages of

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How Psychotherapists Can Help LGBTQIA+ Clients Cope with COVID-19

Posted: 4-8-20 | Alison Picard

Alison Picard, MA, AMFT

All corners of our society are affected by the current global health crisis caused by COVID-19. Beyond the obvious risks of severe illness and mortality, many of our clients are managing the myriad mental health effects of financial insecurity, social isolation or co-quarantine, and general societal uncertainty.  LGBTQIA+ communities [...]

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Telepsychotherapy Protects Queer Communities From COVID-19

Posted: 3-15-20 | The Affirmative Couch

Telehealth offers psychotherapists a way to provide quality mental health services while still practicing and promoting extreme social distancing. This practice, instituted early, can help save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pueyo, 2020; Stevens, 2020). Psychotherapists who work with queer communities should be switching to telehealth in order to decrease the risk faced [...]

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Dating Violence Among LGBTQIA+ Teens

Posted: 2-29-20 | Muria Nisbett

Muria Nisbett, LCSW

As a mental health professional, you may be familiar with some of the issues faced by teens who identify as LGBTQIA+: bullying, harassment, rejection, and physical and emotional violence. One lesser known and often undiscussed issue is teen dating violence (TDV). Violence against LGBTQIA+ teens is usually categorized as a hate [...]

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Helping Clients to Negotiate Intimate Relationship Contracts

Posted: 2-24-20 | Sharaine Conner

Sharaine Conner, LMSW, IADC

It can be difficult to find guidance on writing effective relationship contracts, largely because the therapeutic community lacks consensus on the efficacy of such documents. Many clinicians believe that contracts serve the purpose of simply negotiating sexual acts and dynamics, and that by creating a contract, clients can sacrifice creativity [...]

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7 Reasons to Pursue Specialized Training to Work with Consensual Non-Monogamy

Posted: 2-19-20 | Kathy Slaughter

The popularity and public visibility of consensual non-monogamy (CNM) continues to grow. Since Buzzfeed first reported on the phenomenon back in 2015, interest in this relationship style has been expanding. A recent study by Schechinger et al. (2018) found that four to five percent  of the general population is currently engaged in an open relationship [...]

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Relationship Boundaries From a Queer Femme Therapist: Common Barriers & Helpful Tips

Posted: 1-16-20 | Briana Shewan

This is the final installment in a three-part series on boundaries. In the first article, I discussed what boundaries are and why they’re important, and in the second article, I dispelled misconceptions about boundaries. In this last piece, I will name common barriers that femmes may experience in setting boundaries, and will share [...]

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Relationship Boundaries From a Queer Femme Therapist: Misconceptions

Posted: 1-8-20 | Briana Shewan

In my previous article on boundaries, I talked about definitions and why setting boundaries can be difficult and important for femmes. In this, the second part of a three-part series on the topic, I’ll clarify misconceptions and broach avoiding confusion and shaming when it comes to discussing boundaries.

If the boundaries discussed here are [...]

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Relationship Boundaries From a Queer Femme Therapist: Definitions and Examples

Posted: 1-2-20 | Briana Shewan

It’s your right to tell someone that you love them and you want to have a relationship with them. That they get to say, do, and believe whatever they want because that’s their business. But not with you. It’s your right to tell them the harm that their actions are causing you, the way that [...]

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Helping Queer and Trans Clients Navigate Fatphobia During the Holidays

Posted: 11-27-19 | addyson tucker, Psy.D.

As we approach winter and prepare for “hibernation,” diet culture and fatphobia often kicks into high gear.  Family meals, holiday parties, and New Year’s resolutions surround us, regardless of whether we celebrate, and become fertile ground for fat shaming. The “holiday season” is already hard enough for many LGBTQIA+ folx*. It can also be an [...]

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Listening to our Transgender Clients: The Fear is Real

Posted: 11-20-19 | Jacob Rostovsky

November 20th has been known since 1999 as the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). On this date, across the world, ceremonies and vigils are held to remember transgender individuals we lost to murder and suicide in the past year. Often somber and emotionally  triggering, TDOR allows the community to gather and honor individuals whose stories [...]

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Caring for LGBTQ+ Caregivers of Older Adults

Posted: 11-13-19 | Teresa Theophano

LGBTQ+ caregivers of older adults (generally people age 60+) are a special population in need of support and affirmative care. These family members and friends provide unpaid physical and/or emotional assistance to spouses and partners, parents, friends–some of whom were former partners–siblings, and neighbors. While temporary caregiving for others, when one is recovering from surgery, [...]

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Intimate Partner Violence in the LGBTQIA+ Community

Posted: 10-30-19 | Muria Nisbett

Written by: Muria Nisbett, LCSW

Edited by: Manny Kemphues, MA. AMFT

Prevalence

As we recognize October as national domestic violence awareness month, and we hold vigil for the 24 people per minute who experience rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States (NDVH, 2019), let’s not forget the [...]

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HIV Long Term Survivors: Time to Thrive

Posted: 9-17-19 | Jacob Rostovsky

How do you learn how to live when you spent most of your young adult life thinking you were going to die? This question resonates for many of my gay male identified clients who are HIV long term survivors (HLTS). For someone to be considered an HLTS they must have survived twice the median age [...]

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Who Helps the Helpers? 8 Tips for Therapists After Client Suicide

Posted: 9-15-19 | Rachel Jones

No matter the degree earned or license held, everyone who works in the mental health field shares an important common interest: preventing suicide. Suicide prevention requires a well-rounded approach, including education on risk factors, properly assessing for safety, increasing patients’ protective factors and support, and providing support for those affected by the suicide of a [...]

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LGBT Aging: Tips for Terminology

Posted: 9-11-19 | Teresa Theophano

For about six years, I have relished my experiences as a queer social worker providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults–often defined as people ages 60+. I am committed to the idea of taking care of our own community members who rarely see their lives and needs reflected in mainstream senior [...]

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Trans Women ARE Women

Posted: 8-26-19 | Rachel Jones

By Rachel Jones, MA

NOTE: Throughout this article, I will refer to different gender identities including non-transgender women and transgender women. Every person has a gender identity, which is separate from the sex assigned at birth. Non-transgender or non-trans describes a person whose gender identity is the same as the sex assigned at birth–for example, [...]

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Treating LGBT Older Adults with TLC

Posted: 8-19-19 | Teresa Theophano

By Teresa Theophano, LCSW

National Senior Citizens Day is August 21st, and what better time to talk about how to honor and support older adults? A significant, though frequently overlooked, segment of the aging population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT): at present there are nearly 3 million LGBT adults over age 50 [...]

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How The Gay Trans Male Community Is Redefining Penis Envy

Posted: 7-22-19 | Jacob Rostovsky

By Jacob Rostovsky, MA

Keywords: Gay, Transgender, Penis

For some individuals, to be a transgender male (someone who is assigned female at birth and identifies as male) in this time is hard enough. But when you add in identifying as gay (attracted to men and identifying as male), it can make life even more difficult. [...]

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Hiding in Plain Sight: Why We Need To Pay Attention to Bi/Pan Erasure

Posted: 7-1-19 | Rachel Jones

By Rachel Jones, MA

Keywords: Bisexual, Pansexual, Queer

Anyone between a one and five on the Kinsey Scale—attracted to more than one gender—may self-identify as bisexual, bi+, pansexual, queer, gay, polysexual, fluid, biromantic, or may opt for no labels at all. These identities, sometimes referred to as non-monosexual to illustrate the attraction to more than [...]

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At the Intersection of Fat & Trans

Posted: 6-19-19 | addyson tucker, Psy.D.

I am a fat, queer, able-bodied, neurotypical, white, and cisgender femme person (note: cisgender = my gender is congruent with the gender I was socially assigned). I’m well aware of societal expectations for the way my body should look, to express my gender consistent with white womanhood, and to engage in romantic and sexual relationships [...]

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