LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy in Delaware, Pennsylvania, & Maryland
It hurts to feel misunderstood, ostracized, or just plain invalidated because of who you are.
As a queer or trans person, your experience of these invalidations might be very obvious and very direct. AND very painful.
Or, they might seem smaller (but just as painful) and cause you to question your experience or even try to convince yourself it “isn’t a big deal.” Maybe it’s:
A family member who keep introducing your partner as “your friend” instead of acknowledging your relationship
Teachers or coworkers who misgendered you, then over-apologized, leaving you feeling like you have to reassure them
Friends who said “I support you,” and then disappeared or got really weird when you tried to talk to them about the things that mattered
Navigating these every-day microaggressions can be exhausting. Never being certain where you can be your full self - or what you risk by doing so - means your nervous system is on alert all the time.
It’s a lot to carry, and it’s okay to feel overwhelmed.
As a queer person myself, I know that the while who we are isn’t the problem, that is certainly the picture the world likes to paint, and it causes a lot of pressure, confusion, and anger to live within that frame.
Many of my clients feel pressured to stay small, to be constantly on guard for their safety, or even to quasi-apologize for who they are. These things are real - and exhausting.
If you’ve been feeling like this, I want you to know that you’re not broken for feeling anxious or disconnected. You mind and body have simply been doing what they can to try to keep you safe - even if those tactics don’t feel very good anymore.
In therapy… we can work together to uncover the coping techniques you’ve been using (consciously and unconsciously) to keep yourself safe, and start evaluating if they’re working for you or not.
Together, we can work on:
untangling family dynamics, and sorting through which relationships you’d like to keep in your life
exploring your gender identity or sexuality more deeply
navigating coming out (or coming out again)
and grieving the spaces and people who can’t meet you where you are anymore
You won’t have to over-explain yourself or teach me why it’s complicated. You just get to show up exactly as you are - messy, uncertain, still-in-progress, and be met with a real human ready to talk and hold space for real life shit.
And there’s not rush. We’ll take it all at your pace.
As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, therapy can help you…
Let go of the shame or guilt about who you are, and stop people-pleasing just to keep the peace
Set boundaries that protect your well being so you can feel more in control of your own life and who you allow into it
Embrace your gender identity, sexuality, or both, on your own terms, without the pressure to fit into a “box” created by someone else
Build trust in yourself, so you can feel start to feel more sure and confident in who you are, even when others don’t get it
I support LGBTQIA+ folks through…
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Individual Therapy
We’ll explore your fears, identities, relationships, and anything else relevant to your unique experience, to help you gain clarity about what you want and need to feel most yourself.
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Relationship Therapy
We’ll explore challenges your queer relationship faces in the outside world, and ways that you and your partner(s) can work in better harmony together to create a supportive foundation.
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Online Therapy
We can do the same work from the comfort of your own home - all you need is privacy and a good WIFI connection, and we can work on whatever feels most central to your needs & identities.
You deserve a life lived in full color, not a boxed-in-half-true version of what could be.
Therapy can help you create that life for yourself - one small step at a time.
Frequently asked questions about LGBTQ therapy
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As a queer therapist, I bring both lived experience and clinical education to our work together, which I believe gives my clients a lot to work with. I’m committed to providing a space where you will never be asked to justify who you are, and where you will never be judged. Period.
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Absolutely. Many people come to therapy feeling isolated, whether it’s from their family, their community, or even themselves. In therapy, we’ll work on building trust within yourself first (yeah, I know that might seem really hard right now) so that you have a solid foundation from which to go out and connect with others.
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Therapy is a space to explore those questions in a safer space. Whether you're questioning, exploring, or need support as you navigate your identity, we can work together to help you understand yourself more fully, at your own pace. There’s never any pressure to align with certain (or any!) labels or groups - this is all about what feels right to you.
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First of all, I am so sorry that you’ve had that experience. I wish that wasn’t a reality for so many of my clients.
While I can’t promise we will be a perfect fit, I can promise you that I take a really proactive approach to making sure you never feel judged by me. I operate from client-centered approach, which means you are always in control. I welcome feedback - both positive and negative. If something isn’t working, I truly want to talk about it so we can figure out how to adjust together.
Please feel free to review my general FAQ page here as well for additional answers to common questions about therapy overall.
