Online LGBT Issues therapists in California

I identify as queer and have experience in predominantly queer settings, like the Pacific Center in Berkeley where I worked a s a therapist. I work with clients on coming out, queer aging and queer relationship issues. I have completed consultation work focusing on gender issues, and work with folks at different stages of gender transitions.  

FREE consultations! Individuals in the LGBTQ community often struggle with confusion and stress when trying to process their sexual identity and the "coming out" process. I strongly believe in the power of therapy to help you manage its symptoms and work towards building brighter days ahead.  

I am a member of, and advocate for, the LGBTQIA+ community. I am proud to provide affirming therapy and I have expertise in working with the experiences of sexual and gender minority individuals, and couples using CBT, DBT, and the Unified Protocol for emotional disorders. Together we can explore the impacts of coming out, internalized stigma, minority stress, intersectionality, discriminations, difficult family-of-origin relationships, giving and receiving support, families of choice, intimacy, sex, gender/sexual fluidity, identity, transitioning, and so much more. Together we can navigate the challenges of living in an oppressingly heteronormative world in order to form a healthy and affirming queer identity. Or, we don’t explore it at all - but we remain aware that they are out there and remain mindful. I am also proud to consider and provide capacity evaluations and letters of support for my transgender clients seeking gender affirming surgery. I practice from an affirming, feminist, and anti-racist philosophy. This means that I unconditionally accept and value my clients’ gender, sexual, racial, cultural, and other identities. My practice takes into account each person’s unique experiences within contexts of social and systemic oppression, and the impact on your relationships. I practice from a place off cultural humility and allyship to black, indigenous, and other people of colour. I have expertise in treating relationships and individuals navigating the impact of minority stress and discrimination. I practice affirming therapy that explores greater awareness and understanding of the ways in which emotional experiences and responses to experiences contribute to what is going on for you and your relationships. Navigating these challenges in your life has promoted strength and resilience in coping, paving the way for creative and successful approaches for managing future challenges. I help clients see these strengths in themselves, and create harmony and balance in their lives. I bring a stance of genuine curiosity and cultural competence that includes your different identities and their intersectionality.  

Understanding your identity against the backdrop of often challenging circumstances or culture is my approach in dealing with LGBT issues. My goal is to help empower you to become the person you wish to be and explore conflicts or barriers that are restricting you from reaching your goals.  

The route to parenthood for LGBTQ+ families is layered and complex. Whether you are choosing to receive fertility treatment, have a surrogate, foster, or adopt, building a family as a queer person requires intention, resources, and targeted information. In addition to the stress and bias that comes with engaging with heteronormative medical and legal systems, you may be navigating changes to your identity and relationships. I’m here to validate your concerns and experiences, collaborate with you to develop new coping skills, and notice the joys that come with expanding your love to include children.  

I have many years of counseling experience in the LGBTQ community.  

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) issues therapy, also known as LGBT-affirmative therapy or LGBTQ+ counseling, provides LGBT community members with support and understanding tailored to their unique experiences and difficulties. LGBT-affirmative treatment seeks to create a secure and welcoming environment where clients can explore their identities, resolve concerns about their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and work toward greater self-acceptance and well-being. Therapists who provide LGBT-affirmative therapy know the potential effects of heteronormativity, cisnormativity, and other forms of prejudice on their clients. They endeavor to foster an accepting, affirming, and nonjudgmental environment of diverse gender and sexual identities. Not all therapists have specialized training or experience working with LGBT issues. If you are looking for LGBT-affirming therapy, it is recommended that you seek out therapists who advertise their expertise in this area or inquire about their experience with LGBT clients during the initial consultation. Overall, LGBT-affirmative therapy aims to assist LGBT individuals in navigating their unique challenges, developing resilience, and fostering positive mental health and well-being in a secure and affirming therapeutic environment.  

I offer a safe and affirming space for individuals of all gender identities and sexual orientation. My practice is dedicated to addressing the unique challenges and experiences faced by the LGBTQ+ community, providing culturally competent and affirming care.  

Specialize in working with the LGBTQ and trans populations  

As a part of the community myself, I have focused most of my career in supporting the LGBTQ+ community and any other marginalized individual. I have experience in both gender and sexual identities (as well as a combination of the two). Nearly 90% of my clients are within the community. I know provide sliding scale EMDR options as this amazing treatment should be accessible to all.  

It can be so hard to find affirming, safe spaces where we can explore our whole, authentic selves - where we can truly be all of us, in our largeness, our messiness, and our queerness. And especially these days, gender expansiveness can feel particularly scary. Gender trauma is real - but living inauthentically is excruciating. I work with queer and gender expansive adults who want to live their truth and explore their identities, but who might not be sure where to start. We can dig in to what may be holding you back, so that you can start to craft your truest, most beautiful life. We can investigate the internalized messages that may lead to shame or self-doubt. And we can work on replacing those messages with self-compassion, curiosity, and self-love. Together, we can help you to become your truest, most beautiful self.  

I have 18 years experience working with the West Hollywood community.  

As a gay man living in Los Angeles for over twenty years, I have experienced the challenges of cultivating and maintaining a genuine sense of self while being bombarded with body image issues, homophobia, gay shame, and the hyper-sexualized competitive nature of the gay community. As gay men, our sexual currency can sometimes become the focus of how we see and place value on ourselves. This can lead to addiction, self-loathing cycles, self-harm, anxiety, and depression. I am passionate about helping you dismantle what society, and the gay community has led you to believe about yourself. Together, we will get to the root of what makes you feel centered, authentic, and grounded. I am highly invested in creating a judgment-free space for you to feel safe to talk about anything you feel is relevant to your growth.  

Human sexuality is a core part of my practice and I focus on the ways oppressive forces impact individuals as they strive to live their satisfaction. Standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, I offer a supportive and respectful space to explore the issues impacting them as individuals, couples, or moresomes.  

I have supported hundreds of couples over the past 15+ years who are LGBT or navigating a partner coming out, and look forward to helping you get your relationship where you want it to be. Poor communication? Broken trust? Endless arguments? I look forward to hearing from you.  

I have personal and professional experience knowing and working with folx who identify as LGBTQIA2S. I strive to implement cultural competency and create a safe space for you to explore and express your authentic self and lived experience.  

Members of the LGBT community face unique and multifaceted challenges that add additional layers of complexity to the therapeutic process. It is vital that therapists working with LGBT clients have a deep understanding of these challenges in order to serve as an effective partner in the journey of self-discovery. My work with LGBT clients, as well as my own personal experience, have taught me that throughout each stage of life, LGBT persons are confronted with issues and prejudices that can be easily internalized, resulting in a profound struggle within themselves trying to maintain a healthy sense of self, self-confidence, and self-acceptance. Indeed, for many LGTB persons, these issues begin early in youth: a significant portion of the LGBT community have faced down unaccepting parents and families, bullies, and, at times, a deeply prejudiced society that teaches from birth that LGBT persons are defective and unworthy. These are messages that wound at a fundamental level and, unfortunately, can reinforce an internalized message of unworthiness and defectiveness. Left unexplored, these external attacks on the self can manifest in many ways: shame which leads to substance abuse, reckless sexual behavior, an inability to sustain long-term intimate relationships. Another unique aspect of my work with the LGBT community is the continued reverberation of the AIDS crisis that swept the community in the 80s and 90s. While we have made enormous strides in both understanding and the treatment of the HIV virus, learning of an HIV positive diagnosis remains a traumatic life event, where one’s sense of self may become gravely damaged or perhaps even destroyed. In addition, a large portion of the LGBT community directly experienced the peak of the AIDS crisis, and faced the untimely loss of beloved friends and colleagues, leading to intense bereavement, grief, and the relentless death of entire communities. The effects were and are ravaging; the trauma intense and enduring. Furthermore another challenge facing this generation of openly gay men is that they are the first entering old age openly gay and out of the closet. How to not become invisible to the community, disappear and lose all sense of oneself becomes a vital priority. There have been few role models, no one demonstrating how to age in a successful, happy, purposeful way. So with age comes the loss of physical vitality and attributes, which for many gay men has been the leading currency of their lives. How does one reinvent oneself so as to stay vital and relevant, or risk slipping into the invisibility cloak that old age often brings upon gay men and people in general? In treating the LGBT community, I strive toward creating and fulfilling a sense of completeness and wholeness within the self. Working empathically, slowly and deliberately to heal old wounds, and eradicate the innate sense of defectiveness. Always seeking to understand the sources from which that sense of defectiveness derived. With insights, understanding, processing and evaluating we then begin to reinstate a sense of enough-ness, perfection (even where there may be imperfection), wholeness, and completeness within and unto the self. It is a journey of self discovery which I have lived, understand and continually work on healing. Slowly building understanding and conviction that the LGBT person is as complete and perfect as any other differently sexually identified person. The goal is to create and improve a strong, authentic sense of self, not one that needs to be propped up by the creation of a “false self” in order to be loveable or to feel adequate and enough.  

LGBTQ folks face a tidal wave of implicit messages, conditioning, oppression, and trauma amidst growing up in a heteronormative and sometimes unsafe world. I work with clients to dis-identify from toxic cultural conditioning and move towards empowerment and self-celebration. I have much experience working with LGBTQ survivors of violence, sexual trauma, substance and alcohol abuse, family trauma, poverty and abusive relationships as these issues affect LGBTQ people at disproportionate rates compared to our heterosexual, non-trans peers.  

Although your sexual or romantic orientation or gender identity may not be a source of distress, many find that the social stigma of living as a minority is a source of stress or anxiety. When seeking therapy, finding a qualified mental health professional who has experience and familiarity with the challenges members of the LGBTQIA community often face can be critical to successful therapy outcomes. You don't need to go it alone. Drop me a line and let's discuss how can work together to give you the meaningful life you deserve.  

As part of the LGBTQIA+ community myself, I am passionate about providing a safe, open-minded, and welcoming space for people of all backgrounds and identities. I have years of experience working with teens, young and middle-aged adults as well as family members of those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. I thrive on helping others discover who they are and feel more empowered to be that person in every day life. Assisting my clients with building insight and understanding into your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is an essential part of my therapy practice, and I provide evidence-based practice tools that you can use outside of therapy as well. Click that contact button and we can schedule a free consultation call today!