Running head: COUNSELING LGBTQ CLIENTS 1
Counseling LGBTQ Clients
COUNSELING LGBTQ CLIENTS 2
Counseling LGBTQ Clients
All through history lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have been
stigmatized and even criminalized by society due to the views of religious organizations viewing
this “chosen lifestyle” as immoral. Although, many states and even our country has bestow rights
on sexual minority there are still widespread bigotry and discrimination abounding. In many
states it is legal to terminate the employment of an LGBTQ client as well as refusing service or
residency. The conscious and unconscious discrimination has caused many in the minority group
to stay in “the closet” often marrying the opposite sex and having families in order to avoid
facing their own sexuality or the stigma associated with it. Many have internalized homophobia
that causes a great level of self-loathing and distress mentally and emotionally. Seeking
counseling for sexual-minorities is also a difficult process because of the fact that over the years
the mental health community has labeled LGBTQ individuals as having a mental illness. This
fact causes many LGBT individual to be selective of their therapists in order to feel safe in
sharing their complete selves [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ].
At any part of an LGBTQ individual’s life there is usually a process of “coming out”.
This process means telling those in the individual’s life about their sexually orientation or gender
identity. The fear invoked in this process make LGBTQ individuals three times more likely than
the general population to experience depression, anxiety, and/or symptoms of Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder. LGBTQ individuals are also more likely to experience substance abuse issues
and thoughts of suicide. “For LGBTQ people aged 10–24, suicide is one of the leading causes of
death. LGBTQ youth are 4 times more likely and questioning youth are 3 times more likely to
attempt suicide, experience suicidal thoughts or engage in self-harm than straight people.
COUNSELING LGBTQ CLIENTS 3
Between 38-65% of transgender individuals experience suicidal ideation” [ CITATION Nat19 \l
1033 ].
It is imperative for counselors and therapists to help facilitate competent counseling for
LGBTQ individuals. Counselors must first recognize the challenges LGBTQ individuals face to
understand and help cope with the social barriers of homophobia. It is also imperative that
counselors recognize institutional discrimination and denial. It has been over 35 years since the
American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders yet sexual-minorities continue to lack in quality of care
[ CITATION Nat19 \l 1033 ].
While it is important to address sexuality, counselors must be careful to not assume that
all problems are due to orientation. Often the most important ideas are adjusting to homophobia
(both external and internalized) and a socially stigmatized role. Counselors must remember to
treat the problem, not the orientation. Another helpful idea is familiarizing oneself with
discriminatory policies at the both the state and federal level to help address concerns in this
area. Counselors must also practice self-awareness, uncovering their own conscious and
unconscious bias and stereotypes of LGBTQ populations [ CITATION Con03 \l 1033 ]. This can
include addressing one’s on religious beliefs. In my personal experience with discussing LGBTQ
issues within various settings, I have heard the phrase “Hate the sinner, not the sin”. It is my
personal opinion this is an utterance to mask a bias and/or homophobia in which the person is
relating that they do not hate an individual for being homosexual but that they hate the sin of
homosexuality. Once again, in my personal opinion, this is not a phrase a counselor or therapist
should utter while still billing themselves as a safe space for LGBTQ individuals.
COUNSELING LGBTQ CLIENTS 4
References
Conner, D. G. (2003). Counseling Sexual-Minority Clients. In N. A. Vacc, S. B. DeVaney, & J.
M. Brendel, Counseling Multicultural and Diverse Populations: Strategies for
Practitioners (pp. 231-251). New York: Brunner-Routledge.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2019). LGBTQ. Retrieved from National Alliance on
Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/find-support/lgbtq
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