#queer therapy

To save you all the details of that appointment (and the money my appointments cost), I'll share with you what I journaled down. They are affirmations, reminders, and encouragement. I hope you can get something from it.

Please stay alive. That's the biggest form of defiance to Trump and his followers that we can do. People care about you, whether you can see it or not. <3

You've hit a general interest of mine, and while I'm not going into gender or sexuality therapies, I am interested in psych. Whatever college you decide to go to will likely have a better answer for you, so please network.

It really depends on what you want to focus on as a queer-focused professional, but you will likely need a bachelor's degree at minimum, and additionally, you will likely want to take classes in gender and sexuality studies and sex in general. Think about exactly what you would want for this career. For instance, you probably don't need a doctorate if you aren't going into psychiatry or if you aren't interested in being able to actually prescribe medication, so you might not want to choose to pursue your education or career that far. A master's in counseling and even sex therapy would likely be great for you.

Again, definitely talk to whatever college or university you're interested in and see what classes they would advise you to take, if they have those classes.

I'm definitely not an expert in this area, my degree is going towards something slightly different in the medical field. These are what I've gathered from general research into counseling and queer-specific care

Just to break this down, what you might want to look into is:

Bachelor's degree (minimum) or master's in counseling/behavioural therapy

Licensure requirements for the state and/or country you live in

Overcoming People-Pleasing: A Journey to Self-Acceptance and Boundaries 🌈💖

Hey lovely souls! 🌟

Many of us, especially in the queer community, grew up feeling the need to prove our worth to gain love and acceptance.

We can end up shaping our actions and behaviours to fit the comforts and expectations of those around us. 🌿

Here’s a guide to help break free from the chains of people-pleasing and embrace your true self...

🌷 Growing in Shadows: Being queer in a predominantly heteronormative environment can forge a path of isolation and a deep-rooted need to appease others for acceptance and belonging. These behavioural patterns, originated in our formative years, often solidify as we grow up.

🍀 The Toll of Pleasing: The relentless pursuit to meet others’ needs, even compromising our own comfort and well-being, can strain our mental health. It could be overspending on gifts, stretching our stay at gatherings, or reluctantly accepting unwanted attention.

💜 The Quest for Acceptance: At the heart of people-pleasing lies a fear of rejection and a belief that our true selves are unworthy of love. This fear often propels us to value ourselves solely based on our ability to cater to others, suppressing our needs and desires.

🔍 Seeking Healing through Therapy: Therapy can illuminate our people-pleasing tendencies and help cultivate healthy boundaries. It provides insights into our core beliefs and fosters the understanding that we are inherently lovable, regardless of others' approval or our acts of service.

🌟 Building Self-Love: Learn to build self-love. Many people-pleasers love to do things for others... but often don’t take enough attention to understand what they want. Start doing little bits of self-care and practise love for yourself. Acknowledge your achievements, no matter how small, and be gentle with yourself. Celebrate your uniqueness and remember, self-love is a journey, not a destination.

If the journey to overcome people-pleasing feels arduous and you yearn for support... We at Voda are walking this path with you. 

You can delve into the Voda app to explore therapy programmes, crafted for the LGBTQIA+ community by experienced LGBTQIA+ therapists.

Voda has many free features like queer-led meditations, daily mood check-ins, and an assortment of free self-guided therapy programmes on various LGBTQIA+ topics.

The annual is less than the price of a coffee a month, but many of our features are free! You can also try everything free and unlock it for 7 days.

You can download Voda here.

New therapist continues to be SO nice, have such good hair, and be really cute. Today they sang to me a tiny song that starts with a loud awkward sigh and ends with a loud awkward almost sarcastic sounding “YOU’RE GRREEEEAAAAAT!” in the most exhausted way possible, explaining that “we have a song at my house that goes like this.”

Also they already yielded me a gleaming piece of advice to add on to the headphones that act as my almost-constant visor of sound to block out intrusiveness when I’m out in the world, to also use the fierce love of what I do as a nurse to block out some of my anxieties as I go day to day and am nearly bowled over by the simple act of running into a stranger on the street.