LGBTQ+ Therapy

Affirming Your Umbrella of Identities

LGBTQ+ Issues

affirming-lgbt-therapy.jpg

You may have never tried therapy before. Or you may have had the all-to-common experience of talking to a therapist who was judgmental or shaming. Finding a truly LGBTQ-affirming therapist is difficult in a southern city like Nashville.

Anxiety, fear, shame, guilt, depression, and isolation can be among common challenges of the LGBTQ+ journey. Our community is also at higher risk for suicide and many types of addictions than the general population.

If you are trans, nonbinary, or questioning your gender, these challenges may be compounded by not feeling right in your own body, others not seeing or reflecting you as the gender you are, or feeling forced to wear clothes or express your gender in ways that aren’t right.

Transgender Care, LGBTQ-Affirming Therapy, and Sex-Positivity

Healing Umbrella offers gender-affirming emotional health care meeting you wherever you are in your journey. That could be anywhere from exploring or questioning your gender to actively transitioning. We can provide mental health letters abiding by WPATH standards for gender-affirming surgeries, procedures, and Hormone Replacement Therapy.

As sex-positive therapists, we affirm and respect all experiences and expressions of gender, sexual orientation, consensual sex, and relationship styles. Yes, that includes kink/BDSM and consensual nonmonogamy. Sex and sexuality are natural, normal, important, and healthy parts of being human.

Building a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship is always the first and most important step of individual therapy. You get to decide what success looks like for you, as you are the expert of your own life. We will never We view our therapist role as bringing guidance while creating a safe and effective space for you to build the life of authenticity and joy that fits you.

Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy

Like gender and sexual diversity, our neurodiversity is another natural variation among humans. Yet society is not set up to meet the needs of people who are neurodivergent, and we find ourselves facing more significant barriers to relationships and thriving than our peers. Many LGBTQ+ individuals are also autistic, ADHD, or experience other expressions within the broad spectrum of neurodivergence.

All Healing Umbrella therapists practice from a neurodivergent-affirming framework and training, and many of us are neurodivergent ourselves. As neurodivergent-affirming therapists, we do not view mental health diagnoses as something needing to be “fixed,” but as a natural form of human diversity. We prioritize your autonomy and informed consent.

Neurodivergent-affirming therapy is an ideal space to practice and learn how to get your needs met in various environments through accommodations, community, supports, and self-advocacy.