Finding Yourself Starts Here
It can feel exhausting to recognize everything you’ve been through to get to living life out in the open and can mean living with trauma.
It feels like you’re constantly fighting systemic barriers and the drive to live authentically...
No matter what techniques you try, what supports you seek, it just doesn’t seem like anyone gets the nuances.
You feel tired of the misconceptions, frustrated by the gap in knowledge, and feeling like you’re back in the past trying to explain who you are before you can get any real support.
“Why doesn’t my therapist just understand my community and identity?”
“Will I ever be able to find support from someone who genuinely understands my journey and my experiences?”
“Dating in the 2SLGBTQ+ community is so different. I wish I didn’t have to explain it all before I get some support.”
If you feel like this every day, then it can feel exhausting, frustrating, and even re-traumatizing to have to put in the additional work of educating your therapist who doesn’t specialize in working with your community. It can even delay your healing and progress. It can also feel scary and unsafe to take the risk of sharing your identity with someone who may not understand you or your unique challenges. You’re exhausted from seeking genuine understanding so that you can address the potential pain of the past or the specific challenges of the present…
You know you want to get better but aren’t sure how without the support of someone who can understand. What's at stake is important: a sense of self and identity free of the constant presence of the trauma and heteronormative expectations. As well as freedom from the anxiety and risk of shame and misconceptions that prevent you from making progress and enjoying life as your full and present self.
The truth is that if you can commit to a specialized therapist that has expertise in working with your community as well as self-identifies with it at the same time, you can get straight to work, feeling safe and accepted.
Change and acceptance is truly possible, and a 2SLGBTQ+ specific therapy can help make it happen.
Whether it’s help with subjects around PnP, PreP/PeP, transitioning, gender-affirming goals, familial challenges, homophobia, transphobia, and queer-focused dating challenges or just someone who understands the coming out journey, a 2SLGBTQ+ identifying therapist with a history of working within their own community can help to understand, normalize, and connect you to a sense of self like never before. Sometimes we just need someone who gets it without us having to explain it all so that you can get straight to learning the necessary coping tools to thrive. It is important to acknowledge that you deserve a safe and affirming space to be yourself to get the most out of therapy.
We work on acknowledging and affirming your story and identifying which coping skills are necessary to help you along in your journey to ensure that you have the skills as well as the community necessary to thrive as your genuine self.
We’re constantly trying to battle the expectations of a cis-normative and heteronormative society, the memories of our personal narratives, and the unhelpful patterns which we have learned to try and function within it all.
All of these conflicting messages and trauma can lead to unproductive coping patterns, unsafe spaces, and affect our mental wellness.
When we live within spaces of intolerance, instability, and unsafety, that creates this constant tension between hiding ourselves and living honestly and openly.
Therapy will give you the tools to tackle the challenges of your personal journey and the specific issues related to the journey of your self-identity, transition, dating life, or familial challenges.
From there we look to understand how the past affects your present, and look to build on the necessary skills to have the future you want. So you can feel in control again.
When we heal the past, we now have confidence to deal with the present. No more misunderstanding. No more discomfort. You can feel confident going through life as your genuine and authentic self again.
By bringing awareness to the systemic oppression that contributes to challenges with identity and sexuality and the related emotional challenges, we can bring awareness to the necessary triggers and identify the most appropriate interventions and skills to help you get to a place of feeling safety and comfort.
A sense of stability and acceptance comes over as we realize we’ve come to a state of feeling in control over ourselves and our identity.
Now you can enjoy each day with the understanding of the systemic and personal trauma and triggers that bring it all back.
You can wake up looking forward to embracing yourself while feeling confident that you will be able to deal with the triggers that can remind you of the past.
But we also go one step further and give you the tools so that you can build a life that affirms your 2SLGBTQ+ identity and the journey it has taken to get here.
With that, you can live life genuinely.
If you’re ready to experience that change, if you’re ready to live life authentically, then I’m ready to help you on your path.
I know it can feel difficult to reach out, but it can be the first step on the path to your healing.
I’m looking forward to walking with you to make it happen.
Click below to schedule a consultation or call me directly at 289-809-1009.
© 2023 HopeStart Therapy
