Gay friendly therapists
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But if you do, they might find it easier to get you the right support.
If you do decide to tell them, you could rehearse what you will say first with someone you trust. One of the LGBTIQ+ services listed in our useful contacts page might be able to help. This could be something recent or something that happened a long time ago
But even if your therapist does not identify as LGBT+ themselves, they may still have experience of helping people with similar problems to you. You can also search both location and specialty at the same time.
When your search results appear, use the dark blue refine search tab at the bottom of your browser to refine results further. My colleagues at Lifespan offer a variety of treatment modalities including expressive arts therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, and dream analysis.
Or you can go to your local hospital’s A&E department.
See our page on self-care for mental health problems to find more ideas.
Asking your doctor for help
Your doctor (GP) is there to help you with your mental health as well as your physical health. Each programme differs, but having a mentor can help increase your confidence.
There are lots of reasons to not want to come out as LGBT+ to your doctor when you talk to them about your mental health. The simple act of connecting patients with care is a solution to this problem. The important thing is to find an activity you enjoy to help you feel motivated. And lots of reasons you might feel anxious about what will happen if you do.
You don’t have to tell your doctor that you’re LGBT+ to get their help.
I also work from a trauma-informed approach to care.
I am Clinical Director and Co-Founder of Lifespan Counselling in Central, Hong Kong, where I offer counselling and psychotherapy to both individuals and couples and focus primarily on clients ranging from teenagers to adults. It offers a friendly, non-judgemental space to talk about how you feel.
If you’re using the internet, it’s important to look after your online wellbeing.
Try a mentoring programme
Some organisations offer mentoring schemes for LGBT+ people.
When seeking out support, ask the therapist if their practice has a focus on LGBT+ mental health. These affirmations are based upon the best practices in LGBTQ+ culturally competent care for as many members of the community as possible.
When creating their profiles, healthcare providers are able to enter detailed information about themselves including accreditations and memberships, approaches, and depth of experience with specific communities.
We encourage people seeking care to review this information and choose with discernment.
You can exercise by yourself or you could try joining an LGBT+ sports group.
Find LGBTQ+ friendly healthcare near you.
What do you need help with? This could be other people with mental health problems, or other LGBT+ people, or both.
There are lots of different ways that you can do this.
Think about your diet and sleep
Improving your diet and the quality of your sleep can help your mental health.
Try an online peer support community
For example, Mind UK’s online peer support community welcomes LGBTIQ+ people.