What does “Affirming” therapy mean?

Affirming therapy means that I support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other diverse gender and sexual identities, in my practice and in my personal life.

LGBT people face the same issues as non-LGBT folks, but the added pressures and discrimination of being LGBT.

I know that being gay, bi, transgender, or lesbian is not a mental illness, but that the way that society treats LGBT people contributes to the higher rates of mental health issues amongst the community.

I understand gay culture and gay humor. It can really add to therapy to be able to relate to your therapist on a cultural level.

Now more than ever, with LGB and particularly T people being threatened with extreme force, censorship, abuse, and death, affirming therapy is an important tool for wellness.

All therapists should be affirming therapists, but sadly, many are not.

While not the traditional sense of the term, I also like to think that my feminist approach, being trauma informed, anti-racist, and pro immigrant is another sense of the term “affirming”.

The struggles of LGBT people, women, black and brown people, immigrants, disbled people, homeless people, and mentally ill people are all intertwined.

I affirm the value of all these people and welcome learning from all such experiences. It is an honor to affirm the diversity of life experiences that I witness as a therapist.