Fishtown Wellness Center helps individuals and families create, cultivate, and sustain the life they want to live.
Sexuality and gender can be reasons some folks enter therapy. They can be struggling with depression, anxiety, grief, substance use, relationship problems, and other experiences that impact their daily lives. These issues are not specific to the LGBTQIAP population, these are human issues that many of us struggle with on a day-to-day basis.
Unfortunately, many LGBTQIAP individuals arrive in therapy with extra layers of shame, trauma, and identity issues related to the ways their sexual and gender identities have been responded to by their families, communities, and society as a whole. The professionals at Fishtown Wellness Center recognize the issues that permeate the lived experience of members of the LGBTQIAP community and incorporate an inclusive and empowering approach when working with individuals.
These various groups are included in the acronym together because their members often experience stigma and discrimination based on their gender identities or sexual orientations. The therapists at Fishtown Wellness recognize that while these identities are often lumped together under the same umbrella, there are also highly individualized and unique variables to consider and integrate when working together in therapy. This is particularly relevant for people of color who experience additional minority stress and discrimination based on the intersection of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Some of the issues faced by sexually-marginalized individuals include the following:
The professionals at Fishtown Wellness Center are all trained and affirmative when counseling on these issues and create a safe space for all clients, particularly those of marginalized identities. We believe that sexual orientation and gender identity are fluid and highly individual for each person. Some of our therapists are also self-identified members of the LGBTQIAP community and can lend personal experiences when working with sexual and gender minority issues.
Your work at Fishtown Wellness Center will not be limited to the issues that you might be facing around your gender identity or sexual orientation. Instead, your counselor will focus on offering you a safe place to explore the issues that you might be facing in all aspects of your life.
We will start by talking about your life history and the experiences that you have had with your sexual and/or gender identity. We use an intersectional framework to look at all aspects of your lived experience to work through emotions and discover a sense of self-empowerment and pride related to your identities.
Exploring your gender identity can be both exciting and challenging. At Fishtown Wellness Center, we support individuals in all aspects of gender-affirming care including exploring questions related to gender identity, coming out, social and medical transition, family & couples therapy, and more. We also recognize that queer and trans individuals often feel more comfortable with an affirming therapist. As such, we carefully pair individuals with a therapist who understand the unique intersections and experiences related to gender identity.
Whether you are experiencing challenges around your sexuality and/or gender identity, or would like to be paired with an allied therapist, our team at FWC can help support you to achieve your best self. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
