LGBTQ AFFIRMING THERAPY

You Deserve to Live Life Authentically

It's Possible to Embrace Your Sexuality and Your Gender and Be Unapologetically You

The world doesn’t always make room for you to be who you are, to embrace your identities. Even though lesbian, gay, trans, and queer folks are becoming more visible in the media and in politics, you might still feel alone. It’s hard to understand and accept yourself when who you are doesn’t match who’s visible.

You might be thinking things like:

“what if this changes everything?”
“what is my family going to think?”
“maybe they’re right that I’m actually straight.”
“I’m making this up.”
“I’m not sure what box I fit into.”
“I just haven’t met the right person yet.”
“I’m just confused.”

The way that homophobia gets internalized in you wants to keep you trapped in these stories. It wants to keep you from being a confident and radiant you.

It's Not Your Fault

We offer LGBTQ affirming therapy and counseling for folks of all identities and experiences. We work with folks who are:

gay
lesbian
trans
queer
nonbinary
intersex
bisexual
questioning
so much more…who we are is limitless

We want you to be able to take pride in who you are. Therapy can help with that.

At the same time, we acknowledge the way our culture has shaped the story around what it means to be LGBTQ. This narrative is often limited. There are so many tropes about gender that leave you feeling alone and small, like no one understands your trans experience. Maybe you feel trapped by the gender binary. The stereotypes about being gay or lesbian don’t let you live life authentically. Bi-erasure leaves you feeling like you must be straight. We don’t want you to fit into a box. We know that sometimes closets are the safest places we can be.

We're here to offer you something different:
An affirmative approach that lets you live life authentically while also understanding the complex intersections of gender and sexuality.

We want you to be a more confident and radiant you.

Take Pride in Who You Are

When you reach out to us for LGBTQ affirming therapy we will work with you to:

Explore and name your gender journey
Understand the complexity of your sexual identity
Help you understand what transition could look like for you
Affirm and understand how you show up in and express your gender
Heal from the wounds of not being accepted for who you are
Navigate your relationships and get the support you need and deserve
Access and embody moments of gender euphoria and joy
Cultivate resilience and resource so that you can live life authentically

A Working Definition of Gender Justice

“ gender justice is a commitment to the self determination and liberation of trans and nonbinary people, moving toward building healthy, thriving communities where our needs for safety, dignity, and belonging are met.
-B Stepp

Gender Justice and Affirming Care Letters

We use an informed consent approach in our work around access to gender affirming care. We promote the idea that people of all gender presentations can access gender affirming healthcare through making informed decisions. We believe that all people deserve autonomy, the right to self-determination, and access to gender affirming healthcare without a requirement to go to therapy that pertains only to trans people. People who are transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming should not HAVE to go to therapy to get the gender affirming healthcare they want and need, and should self-determine what kind and amount of therapy is right.

If you are over the age of 18 and in need of a letter for access to gender affirming care from a Licensed Mental Health professional, we can generally complete a letter in one session. This can apply to folks under 18 as well, though there may be other parental and familial considerations to attend to. Ongoing therapy is not required.

Our 55-minute sessions are normally $160. However, we do offer reduced rates as low as 50% ($80) for GAC letters and can typically complete them in one session. This includes pdf copies of your letter and ongoing support should your letter need editing.

We are in a commitment to gender justice and reserve some low cost spots every month for letter writing. Please get in touch with us about this option! Email us directly at hello@havehearthealing.com to learn more.

If your doctor is requiring a letter from a Licensed Mental Health Professional to begin Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), please be advised that informed consent is considered best practice and there are other physicians that will not require a letter. This rule also applies to some gender-affirming surgeries, however insurance companies generally require a letter from a Licensed Mental Health Professional for surgery to be covered.

We are more than happy to write letters for access to gender affirming care with this in mind. Get in touch with us to schedule today. All of our clinicians are qualified to write letters and would love to meet with you.

For more info please see the Informed Consent for Access to Trans Health website.