As a member of the queer community, seeking out an LGBT therapist is hard to find in Las Vegas. If you are struggling and want to work through the problems that you are facing, make sure you connect with someone who understands your gay identity. You might be struggling with issues that keep coming up in your life no matter what you do. Maybe you are wanting a better relationship but just can’t seem to find it, or your relationship is causing you pain, and you don’t know why. Many people seek out gay counseling because their everyday life looks good from the outside, but they are not happy.
Low Self-Esteem, Lack of Self-Compassion and Inner Homophobia
Every LGBT person must work on loving themselves more. As a member of the queer community, we have been raised in a culture that assumes being straight is better than being gay. This influences every aspect of who we become as gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. You might have been marginalized or just flooded with feelings of shame as you have grown for no other reason than for who you are. You might not even be aware of your shame narratives and how they influence your life. Shame impacts how you think and feel about yourself, thus pushing you to have unrealistic body image issues, financial issues, and possible substance misuse.
Wanting A Health Relationship
You might be asking yourself, “I keep trying to be in a relationship but will I ever be happy in a relationship?” Maybe you have the same type of issues keep coming up in your relationship, or you are dealing with the pain of ending a relationship. You deserve a loving, happy, healthy relationship and it starts when you understand the reason why you keep the same patterns in relationships. You can learn what is happening underneath your behaviors, and improve your current relationship or make the changes to end an unhealthy relationship. You can learn more about LGBT Couples Counseling Here.
Anxiety & Depression
30 to 60% of queer people will deal with anxiety & depression at some point in their lives. This is a much higher rate than the straight population. This is not because you are more inclined to anxiety or depression or because of your sexual orientation; it is because of how the culture influences you. You might have a supportive family, friends, and work in an accepting environment, but our western culture is not as accepting as it should be. No matter what is causing your anxiety or depression, it is keeping you from living your best life.
Coming Out
You might have just come out or have been out for years. For many of us, we have to work on accepting ourselves and our queerness, and it takes time to do that. You might struggle with accepting your queerness and how that works with your religious beliefs or you could struggle in openly talking about or showing your relationship to your family who accepts it as long as you don’t “rub it in their face.” Coming out is a life long action that is something we all, as members of the queer community, must become comfortable with.
Other LGBT Counseling Issues
- Coming out to family members (wife, husband, children)
- Promiscuity vs. monogamy
- Open relationships
- Sexual versatility (or lack of)
- Dealing with addiction (Drugs, Alcohol, Porn, Sex)
- How to communicate about health sex with your partner
- BDSM and other fetishes
- Talking about PrEP (Truvada), other STI including HIV
- Religious Issues
How LGBT Counseling Helps
At Richer Life Counseling Las Vegas, every day we help LGBTQ people live better lives and break free from the patterns that keep them stuck. As a member of the queer community, I understand first hand how your sexual identity can impact your life. Working together we will to figure out the themes of your life problems and learn how to overcome being stuck in those problems. You will be able to improve your self-self-comparison which will then improve all of your relationship even the one with yourself. LGBT counseling is about overcoming the roadblock of life and lessen your shame, develop healthy boundaries, and develop healthy ways to live your best life.
Why You Might Be Scared Of Starting LGBT Therapy
Will you understand our problems?
As a gay male therapist working with the LGBT community, I have lived in some of these problems in my life and marriage. Being a part of the community gives me a deeper understanding of the common issues you face. You are unique, and your problems are your own yet as being apart of the community and someone who specialized in working with the LGBT community, I am confident in my ability to help you.
What if I don’t want to change the way you want me to?
Gay therapy is not about your therapist telling you what you need to do or how to solve your problems. My job as a therapist is to help you hear your own voice, and help you build a more self-compassion. Sometimes my job is to show you parts of yourself that you don’t want to look at, and sometimes to challenge some of your beliefs about yourself. You are in charge of yourself and the direction you take in therapy.
Live Your Best Life Starting Now
As a member of the LGBT community, I know that finding therapy that is gay-affirming is the most important thing you can do. If you are ready to live your best life, contact us today to start LGBT counseling. You can also check out our LGBT Blog that focuses on all thing related to the queer community.