LGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy in Arkansas
You deserve a space to be you, openly and confidently.
Sometimes dealing with a big life change means you're exploring your gender identity or sexuality. Or maybe you are confident in who you are but are now struggling with coming out, expressing yourself, or navigating those elements of transition that you decide are right for you.
Or maybe it's none of that and you just want a therapist who you know not only accepts and affirms you, but celebrates and understands you. You want a therapist who holds you in that special shared queer space as you navigate challenges of social anxiety, lost relationships, new directions in life, or grief. You want to be able to talk to someone without worrying about how they'll respond or stopping to explain what a certain term means. You want someone who gets it from their own experience as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
There are many layers to who you are.
Therapists, even affirming ones, can sometimes make the mistake of thinking that your gender or sexuality is going to be the focus of counseling. But you are so much more than that, even if that is something very important to you. Either way, it's still one layer of how you experience the world that interfaces with other parts of you such as your race, ethnicity, spirituality, economic status, physical ability, and more.
So, even if it's not related to why you want counseling, it's always nice to know you're with a safe person as you work on something like anxiety, a career change, or loss of a loved one.
But it's also nice to have a counselor who does understand that those other layers affect you if you are wanting support in exploring or embracing your authentic gender or sexuality. For example:
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A person who is younger may have to deal with matters of financial dependence on family. Or they may be struggling with feelings of isolation after going away to college in addition to coming out.
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A person who is older may have more financial independence but may be struggling with self-doubt after living for 30, 40, 50 years or more in the gender role they thought they had to live out.
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A person who experiences financial stress may worry a lot about losing their job if they come out.
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A person from an oppressive spiritual community may have to work through religious trauma as well as matters related to gender or sexuality.
Embracing your authentic self.
It also helps when you know your therapist doesn't just talk the talk, but has walked the walk. Each person's journey is unique and each person experiences themselves, their gender, and their attractions in their own ways. But it always feels good when you're with someone who doesn't just extend you understanding, but gets you. Someone who knows what it's like to not be straight or cisgender.
As a pansexual, nonbinary person who has had their own journey - and is still on it, I want to support you in yours.
Queer folks often understand that there are many diverse ways of showing up in the world and navigating our relationships with ourselves and others that are healthy despite what society holds to be "normal." You can trust our space together will be:
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Sex-positive
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Kink-positive/kink-aware
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Supportive of open and poly relationships
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Supportive of asexual and aromantic identities
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Body positive
LGBTQ+ Counseling in Northwest Arkansas - and Beyond!
Thanks to telehealth counseling (counseling by video), you can access counseling for LGBTQ+ issues no matter where you are in Arkansas. This may be important because you live in a small area without local mental health resources. Small communities also often mean close contact with people that are responsible for our sensitive information. You might be worried about being outed in your community before you're ready if you went to a local therapist or pastor.
Whether you live in Fayetteville, Little Rock, Memphis, Pine Bluff, or Dumas, telehealth counseling allows you to see a therapist no matter where you are in the state of Arkansas from the convenience and privacy of your own home using a computer or cell phone. I've even seen clients attend sessions while sitting in their car! (Parked - not driving, of course!)
This provides an extra layer of privacy if you're exploring your sexuality or gender identity before even coming out to friends and family.
Let's connect!
You are my people. You are my passion. You are one of the reasons I started MoonPath Counseling. I want you to find the support you need and the therapist that's right for you.
Click the link below to contact me with questions, to schedule a free 20-minute consultation, or to schedule a session.
Regarding letters for gender-affirming care
While I am presently working toward a structure that will allow me to offer letters for gender-affirming care, I do not offer them at present but will hopefully do so soon. However, I am connected with folks who will offer letters after a single session for residents of Arkansas. Therapists cannot write letters for folks who are in states where they are not licensed.