LGBTQ+ Issues therapists in Arroyo Grande, CA

Browse LGBTQ+ Issues therapists in Arroyo Grande, California. Compare credentials, specialties and therapeutic approach. Contact a therapist to learn more.

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LGBTQ+

Pedro F. Baez

Life Coach, LVN, MCC, CHC - Master Certified Coach

LGBTQ-inherent issues (dating, marriage, peer, familial, and life partnership relations, queer-gender identity, gender reassignment).

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15 Years Experience

Online in Arroyo Grande, CA

Los Angeles, California therapist: Jonathan Kruger Therapy, marriage and family therapist

LGBTQ+

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.

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13 Years Experience

Online in Arroyo Grande, CA

LGBTQ+

Micha Noble, MA

Pre-Licensed Professional, AMFT

Much of my clinical training has been with the LGBTQIA communities. I specialize in helping clients navigate coming out experiences, anxiety, depression, trauma, and bereavement. I also recognize the ways societal oppression impacts marginalized voices. In therapy, we value creating a safe, warm, trusting environment where you will develop new insight into your life and cultivate new strategies to meet your goals. You are not meant to do this alone and we would be honored to help you along your journey!

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5 Years Experience

Online in Arroyo Grande, CA

LGBTQ+

Higher Sights Counseling

Counselor/Therapist

We have a staff of psychotherapists and med prescribers that work with clients who are LGBTIA+ and many who are in the community themselves. We offer CBT, DBT, EMDR, IFS (to name a few treatment modalities) and medication in addition to many problem-solving therapies to help you learn new coping skills to improve your life.

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16 Years Experience

Online in Arroyo Grande, CA

LGBTQ+

Rose Snyder, EdM, PsyD, LLC

Psychologist, PsyD

I work with many clients in the LGBTQ+ community and have extensive experience supporting people as they explore and navigate their gender and sexual identities. I recognize that these experiences are shaped not only by our individual histories but also by the broader cultural and social context in which we live. I strive to create a therapeutic relationship where you can feel safe, understood, and accepted as you explore your identity, whether it feels well established or continues to evolve over time. My goal is to support you in developing a deeper understanding and acceptance of yourself on your own terms.

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23 Years Experience

Online in Arroyo Grande, CA