Counselling for LGBTQIA+ people
I work with gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer clients navigating identity, relationships, and the effects of living in a world that hasn't and still doesn't always make space for them. I also work with their family and friends wanting to help but not sure how.
As a gay man myself, this isn't something I've only studied — I understand parts of this territory from the inside.
How I work with you
On coming out
Coming out isn't a single afternoon. There's often real fear before it happens — that pit-of-stomach worry and anxiety. And it doesn't finish once it's said out loud. You come out again at work, with new friends, with extended family, in a hundred smaller moments for years afterward. I don't treat it as a box that gets ticked once. It's ongoing, and I meet it as such.
Acceptance of yourself can also be a challenge. And that's ok.
Transitions
Working with someone transitioning starts with sitting properly with the person in front of me — following your lead, not a script. I'm not coming to this cold I have deep personal experience with the trans community and your identity isn't something for me to manage or correct, it's simply where we start.
For parents, family or friends
If someone close to you has come out, or you suspect they might be about to, you may be sitting with feelings that are hard to untangle — worry, confusion, struggling with acceptance, maybe even guilt for not being sure how you feel yet. That's allowed. Wanting support to process your own reaction isn't a betrayal of them; working through it properly, rather than pushing it down, is often what lets you show up for them well.
I work with individuals — including parents and family members — who want a calm, non-judgemental space to think this through for themselves, at their own pace, without feeling watched or rushed toward the "right" response.
Confidentiality, and nothing you say will faze me
I understand how much weight confidentiality carries around things like coming out, or that feeling of hiding who you are until you feel ready to be seen. I treat that with the utmost respect, and everything about how we communicate reflects it.
I also want to be upfront about something else: nothing you bring into the room will make me uncomfortable. Sex, sexuality, pornography, desire, shame — I don't flinch, and I won't make you feel like you need to soften or edit what you say before you say it. That's not always a given in therapy, and I think it's worth saying plainly rather than leaving you to find out.