Finding a LGBT therapist

[DiscusKeeper]

I moved to a new city in August to start medical school. I identify as a gay cisgender man and have struggled with OCD & consistent, moderate to severe depression since I was a child. I was seeing a therapist regularly, and she was great, but I still couldn't fully connect with her. There's a big difference in understanding some of what it's like to be a gay male and another to live through it (she once asked if the reason my boyfriend is significantly older than me os because I have a strained relationship with my father...).

Long story short, I'm still struggling with depression and am looking for a gay male therapist, because that is what I would feel most comfortable with. I was wondering if anyone has advice on how to go about finding one. I've reached out to a couple LGBT upperclassmen and a friend in public health to see if they're aware of any, but I'm not sure if it'll turn up any results. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

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[foreverbull]

Some cities have an LGBTQ-friendly therapist network. You'd have to do some google searching to see if one exists for your city or if there's a list of LGBTQ-affirming therapists (for example, Kansas City has the LGBT Affirming Therapists Guild, San Francisco/Bay Area has Gaylesta).

You might try your local LGBT resource center and see if they offer therapist referrals. As an LGBT therapist myself, I've had to get creative to figure out how to market my services, and offering myself as a referral source at a local LGBT resource center was one way to try to connect with the LGBT community.

If they don't have any therapist referrals, you might have to search on psychologytoday.com and filter for therapists in your area who specifically work with gay clients, and from there, go to their personal websites and see if they identify as a gay therapist. Not all therapists will out themselves on their websites unless they specialize in LGBTQ counseling and want to make it clear that they are part of the community, but it might be start if you can't find a gay therapist through word of mouth.

I wish there was more out there! You will most likely have to do some pretty thorough online searching (gay therapists + your city?, psychologytoday, etc.) and place some phone calls to find the therapist you're looking for if your local LGBT resource center doesn't have referrals to offer.

I hope you are able to find what you're looking for!

 

[DiscusKeeper]

Some cities have an LGBTQ-friendly therapist network. You'd have to do some google searching to see if one exists for your city or if there's a list of LGBTQ-affirming therapists (for example, Kansas City has the LGBT Affirming Therapists Guild, San Francisco/Bay Area has Gaylesta).

You might try your local LGBT resource center and see if they offer therapist referrals. As an LGBT therapist myself, I've had to get creative to figure out how to market my services, and offering myself as a referral source at a local LGBT resource center was one way to try to connect with the LGBT community.

If they don't have any therapist referrals, you might have to search on psychologytoday.com and filter for therapists in your area who specifically work with gay clients, and from there, go to their personal websites and see if they identify as a gay therapist. Not all therapists will out themselves on their websites unless they specialize in LGBTQ counseling and want to make it clear that they are part of the community, but it might be start if you can't find a gay therapist through word of mouth.

I wish there was more out there! You will most likely have to do some pretty thorough online searching (gay therapists + your city?, psychologytoday, etc.) and place some phone calls to find the therapist you're looking for if your local LGBT resource center doesn't have referrals to offer.

I hope you are able to find what you're looking for!

Thank you very much for the tips! I hadn't thought of a few of those options and will definitely try them