Creative Hobbies as Therapy: The Benefits of Practicing Art, Writing, Dance, and Music In-Between Sessions

Art has been used in therapy to help patients interpret, express, and resolve their emotions and thoughts, according to Verywell Mind. More traditionally, therapists have used art therapy in sessions–more often with children–where they might help patients choose an artistic medium (like a drawing, painting, or collaging) and guide them through expressing themselves, usually by asking questions.

In this article, we’ll discuss the merits of practicing creative hobbies outside of session. Practicing creative hobbies outside of sessions can help you process your feelings in a way that could better support you in future therapy sessions. By regular immersion in creative hobbies, you can deepen your understanding of your emotional landscape, gaining insights that can enrich your experience with therapy.

Creative hobbies can be pivotal in therapy because they can help you explore and process your emotions as well as confront your inner struggles. Creative hobbies—including but not limited to writing, visual art, dance, and music—can serve as powerful tools for emotional healing, resilience-building, and personal growth.

“Engaging in creative hobbies can allow you to feel in control, especially when other parts of your life feel out of your control,” explains Kip clinician, Zohar Fuller. “Creating art can be a time when you are most in touch with your own needs and desires. It is a practice of self-care, a time when you can invest in creating something just for yourself.”

It can be difficult to properly articulate yourself and express your feelings in therapy. This can be particularly true for people who’ve experienced trauma, which can leave you disconnected from certain emotions (especially negative ones). Creative hobbies, though, can help you express what is too difficult to say. Additionally, if you just don’t have the words for certain feelings or experiences, creative hobbies can also help you explore those. The arts can transcend the constraints of language and help us dive into the depths of our unconscious. Whether through painting, written narrative, physical movement, or melodies of music, these forms of artistic expression offer paths to help you give voice to your innermost thoughts and feelings in a nurturing, non-judgmental environment.

Feeling your way through visual art

Creating visual art outside of therapy sessions can provide a tangible way to process and externalize your emotions. Painting, drawing, or sculpting, can help you gain clarity and perspective of your thoughts and emotions, including ones that you might not be conscious of or fully understand.

For instance, if you grapple with anxiety, sketching scenes that evoke feelings of calmness and serenity—such as a comforting beach scene—might be a visual reminder of your inner strength and resilience.

“I help patients figure out when they feel most inspired and energized to create art,” Fuller adds. “It is then helpful to schedule those times on a weekly basis, just as you would for other regular commitments.”

Reshaping narratives with creative writing

Creative writing offers a platform to explore your inner narratives, rewrite your stories, and reclaim your sense of agency. Journaling, poetry, or storytelling can help you articulate experiences in private, before opening up to someone about complex emotions. For instance, if you’re working through childhood trauma in therapy, you may find catharsis in writing a letter to your younger self, offering words of compassion and reassurance. By externalizing your thoughts and feelings through writing, you can gain clarity, insight, and a renewed sense of self-awareness.

Dancing into your feelings

Dance and movement therapy invites you to embody their emotions and reconnect with your body. Through movement exploration, you can release tension, access buried emotions, and cultivate a deeper sense of self-acceptance. The key here is spontaneity, and to combat feelings of shame, judgment, and concerns about how others see you. If you’re combating negative body image, dancing might be a fun activity to reconnect with your body in a joyful, positive way.

Harmonizing the mind with music

Music therapy harnesses the therapeutic power of sound to promote emotional well-being, relaxation, and healing. Through listening, playing, or creating music, you can access deep emotional states, process trauma, and cultivate inner harmony. If you’re interested in singing especially, there are proven somatic benefits to releasing emotions through voicework.

In the realm of therapy, the arts offer a transformative pathway for you to explore and navigate your inner emotional worlds, fostering healing, resilience, and self-discovery.

“It can be very meaningful for patients to share their creative projects with me,” Fuller adds. “Sometimes during sessions, we will discuss their artistic process and how parts of that process can be applied to other areas of their life.”

Looking for a therapist to unlock your creative potential? Book a  free discovery call today to see if Kip Therapy is right for you.

The post Creative Hobbies as Therapy: The Benefits of Practicing Art, Writing, Dance, and Music In-Between Sessions appeared first on Kip therapy.

source https://kiptherapy.com/insights/creative-hobbies-as-therapy-the-benefits-of-practicing-art-writing-dance-and-music-in-between-sessions/

The Dopamine Detox: Helpful Tool or Toxic Fad?

In recent years, the concept of dopamine detoxing has gained traction in self-help and wellness circles on social media. But are they legit or just another fad?

What is a dopamine detox?

Dopamine detoxes—also known as dopamine fasting—refers to limiting unhealthy or problematic behaviors such as internet use, gaming, shopping, emotional eating, recreational drug use, porn/masturbating, and other thrill/novelty-seeking activities. The idea is then to replace these behaviors with alternatives that are more supportive of mental health, such as journaling, meditating, taking walks outside, prioritizing fitness and other kinds of movement, and reading.

Note that “unhealthy” behaviors aren’t inherently problematic on their own, but can be problematic in exacerbating symptoms of existing mental health conditions. What is considered healthy is subjective and what someone considers healthy might look unhealthy to you. That’s why for this article we’ll be using unsupportive as a way to describe behaviors that might not support your mental health journey; likewise, we’ll be using “supportive” to describe behaviors that might support your mental health. Additionally, it’s important to mention that dopamine detoxes aren’t intended as an evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders or other kinds of addiction.

While there is merit to adopting supportive habits, detoxes’ can be merely fads without substantial medical evidence behind them. In this article, we’ll explore the myths and misconceptions surrounding dopamine detoxes. We’ll also offer alternative healing tools if dopamine detoxes aren’t right for you.

Understanding dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays a crucial role in regulating mood, motivation, and reward-seeking behaviors. It’s involved in everything from experiencing pleasure to staying focused and motivated. When it comes to detoxing or fasting from dopamine, we’re often culturally referring to removing rewarding our brains with pleasure for potentially unsupportive behaviors (i.e. doom scrolling TikTok while ignoring responsibilities).

However, the goal isn’t to necessarily stop unsupportive behaviors entirely forever and hack ourselves into supportive habits. The regulation of dopamine is far more complex than simply detoxing it from our systems. It’s important to recognize that dopamine levels fluctuate naturally throughout the day and are influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, environment, and mental health.

Let’s rewind with the original intention behind dopamine detoxing. According to Harvard University, the dopamine fast was created by California psychiatrist Dr. Cameron Sepah: 

What Sepah intended with his dopamine fast was a method, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, by which we can become less dominated by the unhealthy stimuli — the texts, the notifications, the beeps, the rings — that accompany living in a modern, technology-centric society. Instead of automatically responding to these reward-inducing cues, which provide us with an immediate but short-lived charge, we ought to allow our brains to take breaks and reset from this potentially addictive bombardment. The idea is that by allowing ourselves to feel lonely or bored, or to find pleasures in doing simpler and more natural activities, we will regain control over our lives and be better able to address compulsive behaviors that may be interfering with our happiness.

Dopamine detoxing (or fasting) can be a tool to help us get back on track with supportive habits. Maybe you’re drawn to doom scrolling on social media at night and are looking to replace that habit with something more relaxing like reading a romance novel or listening to a bedtime meditation. Dopamine detoxing falls into murky territory when we expect ourselves to live this way long-term, especially in an uptight, restrictive, and unrealistic way.

The problem with dopamine detoxes

Despite the allure of a quick fix, dopamine detoxes oversimplify the complex nature of brain chemistry and mental health. There’s a pervasive myth that detoxing dopamine can “reset” or “hack” the brain or cure mental health issues, but the scientific evidence simply doesn’t support these claims.

In fact, the idea of detoxing dopamine can perpetuate harmful misconceptions about mental health and contribute to feelings of inadequacy or failure when the promised benefits fail to materialize. At the end of the day, dopamine detoxing is merely a method. Similar to different modalities of therapy, there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution that works for everyone. Additionally, rigid protocols—especially when stopping habits without replacing them—can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, and failure if you’re unable to stop engaging in unsupportive activities on your own. It’s crucial to emphasize the importance of moderation, balance, and individualized approaches to managing dopamine levels and promoting mental well-being.

All this to say, if you find dopamine detoxing helpful and supportive of your mental health journey, that’s okay, too. Just like other mental health tools, what works for you might not work for someone else; likewise, what works for someone else might not work for you.

Alternatives to dopamine detoxes

There’s absolutely some merit to the idea behind dopamine detoxes. If you’re self-aware of engaging in unsupportive activities regularly, it’s wise to want a change. Even reading this article demonstrates your willingness to change the situation.

Instead of chasing after the elusive promise of a dopamine detox, there are alternative strategies for supporting mental health that focus on holistic well-being. Practices such as mindfulness, exercise, and social connection have been shown to promote dopamine regulation and emotional resilience. Additionally, seeking support from mental health professionals, such as therapists or counselors, can provide personalized guidance and support for managing unsupportive behaviors.

Looking for a therapist to help you understand unsupportive behaviors? Book a  free discovery call today to see if Kip Therapy is right for you!

The post The Dopamine Detox: Helpful Tool or Toxic Fad? appeared first on Kip therapy.

source https://kiptherapy.com/insights/the-dopamine-detox-helpful-tool-or-toxic-fad/

Thriving As a Highly Sensitive LGBTQ+ Person: Understanding Sensitivity As a Strength

In a culture where sensitivity is often misunderstood, being a highly sensitive person (HSP) brings a unique set of experiences and challenges. Highly sensitive people can have a heightened awareness and responsiveness to stimuli, emotions, and social dynamics, particularly as they relate to gender and sexual identity. Particularly, within the LGBTQ+ community, being highly sensitive may manifest as a deep empathy for fellow community members, coupled with a keen sensitivity to societal attitudes, discrimination, and marginalization. It may also appear as a difficulty in connecting with others, especially in settings that aren’t accommodating to your sensory needs.

Despite common misconceptions that sensitivity equates to weakness, embracing sensitivity can be a powerful strength. It allows individuals to forge deep connections, advocate for change, and contribute to the richness and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Let’s dive into the rich complexities of being an HSP within the community. 

What does it mean to be a highly sensitive LGBTQ+ person?

Being highly sensitive isn’t a mental health disorder. Instead, it’s a personality trait first used by psychologists in the 1990s to describe those with deep sensitivity to physical, emotional, and social situations as well as information around them, according to verywellmind. Common characteristics include:

• Avoiding violent movies or TV shows because they feel too intense and leave you feeling unsettled.
• Being deeply moved by beauty, either expressed in art, nature, or the human spirit, or sometimes even a good commercial.
• Being overwhelmed by sensory stimuli like noisy crowds, bright lights, or uncomfortable clothing.
• Feeling a need for downtime (not just a preference), especially when you have hectic days; needing to retreat to a dark, quiet room.
• Having a rich and complex inner life, complete with deep thoughts and strong feelings that go with them.

There’s often a misconception that being an HSP means you’re “too sensitive.” Understand this is a myth and it’s only a matter of difference of perspective. Often, critics have a misunderstanding of what it means to be a HSP, and therefore overlook all the strengths an HSP may have. Being called “too sensitive” may simply reflect another person’s difficulty with their own emotional lives, and not a reflection or testimony to your own worth or value.

It’s crucial to dispel common misconceptions about sensitivity within the LGBTQ+ community, such as the notion that sensitivity equates to weakness or fragility. Instead, being highly sensitive can be viewed as a strength that allows you to connect deeply with others, advocate for change, and contribute to the richness and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Solid strengths

The strengths of being a highly sensitive person within the LGBTQ+ community are multifaceted. Sensitivity can serve as a powerful tool for fostering empathy, allowing you to deeply understand and connect with the experiences and emotions of your peers within the community. This heightened empathy can lead to more meaningful relationships, greater support, and a stronger sense of community belonging.

Additionally, sensitivity often correlates with heightened creativity, enabling highly sensitive people to express themselves authentically through art, activism, and other forms of self-expression. Highly sensitive people often embrace their sensitivity as a strength, using their unique perspective to advocate for social change, challenge stereotypes, and inspire others within the community to embrace their own sensitivity with pride and confidence.

Potential challenges

Navigating life as a highly sensitive person within the community comes with its own set of unique potential challenges. Note that you nor every highly sensitive person is destined to experience these challenges; everyone experiences sensitivity differently, even among people who are highly sensitive.

Managing intense emotions, particularly in response to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, microaggressions, and societal pressures, can be especially daunting for highly sensitive people. Anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and stigma can exacerbate feelings of vulnerability and isolation for highly sensitive people within the community. 

Additionally, navigating social situations can be overwhelming, as crowded or loud environments may trigger sensory overload. It doesn’t help that many popular LGBTQ+ spaces, such as bars and outdoor festivals, aren’t accommodating to those with sensory needs.

Thriving as a highly sensitive LGBTQ+ person

Shifting the focus to embracing sensitivity as a valuable trait is incredibly important. Cultivating self-acceptance and self-compassion can help you conquer judgment or shame. You have reason to be as proud of your sensitivity just as you are of your LGBTQ+ identity! Embracing sensitivity can look like practicing mindfulness techniques to regulate emotions, setting boundaries to protect one’s energy, and seeking out supportive social connections that celebrate your sensitivity.

Therapy can be a valuable resource if you’re navigating and exploring your sensitivity as an LGBTQ+ person. Therapy particularly offers practical coping strategies to manage sensitivity in everyday life like mindfulness techniques, boundary-setting skills, and stress management tools. You can grow through embracing your sensitivity with the right LGBTQ+ competent therapist.

Are you looking for an LGBTQ+ therapist skilled in working with highly sensitive patients? Book a free discovery call today with Kip Therapy.

The post Thriving As a Highly Sensitive LGBTQ+ Person: Understanding Sensitivity As a Strength appeared first on Kip therapy.

source https://kiptherapy.com/insights/thriving-as-a-highly-sensitive-lgbtq-person-understanding-sensitivity-as-a-strength/

LGBTQ+ Social Connection Can Be Essential for Trauma Healing

Trauma encompasses experiences that can overwhelm and leave you feeling confused, unsafe, and unable to regulate our emotional selves. Responses to trauma have the potential to isolate you from others. However, supportive inter-community connections can be the very force needed for healing.

Whether your trauma is individual or collective, or perhaps both, you can still benefit from social connection as a form of healing. In this article, we’ll discuss trauma in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), how PTSD uniquely impacts the LGBTQ+ community, and how intercommunity connection can be a factor of your healing journey.

How trauma uniquely impacts LGBTQ+ people

A 2023 study published in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences explains that LGBTQ+ people are at a higher risk of developing PTSD compared to their cisgender and straight peers.

Trauma affects LGBTQ+ community both on an individual and collective scale. Individual people, like you, may experience a single, one-off traumatic incident like a car crash, physical assault, or natural disaster. However, since the LGBTQ+ community is very much marginalized, you may also experience collective trauma. According to a 2011 study, research conducted since the 1990s suggests that elections designed to limit the rights of the LGBTQ+ community have the potential to negatively impact LGBTQ+ people psychologically. A historical example is the AIDS epidemic. Although a social movement unified LGBTQ+ people through grassroots organizing, there was collective grief for lives lost to AIDS.

Even today, LGBTQ+ rights are being threatened within the United States. In today’s heighted political climate, there are bans against drag performances, youth gender affirming care, books by LGBTQ+ authors, trans youth participation in sports, and more. Whether you’re personally impacted by these issues on a local or state level or not, there’s still an emotional weight of knowing your community is under attack, which can result in a trauma response.

Even if our trauma is collective and experienced on a community-wide scale, it can still isolate us from each other. A common symptom of PTSD can include feelings of social isolation, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Intercommunity connection can help

Given the circumstances, it’s understandable to feel powerless over our trauma. However, there’s still hope. Seeking out supportive intercommunity connections can be considered a form of trauma healing. When we seek out a supportive community, it can help manage and potentially reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness associated with PTSD.

Green flags for supportive social connections

Trauma responses can often be a result of unhealthy relationships, such as intimate partner violence. Admittedly, it can be difficult to seek out new relationships when you’ve been burned, especially since connections within the LGBTQ+ community may include a former partner.

On your healing journey, you might find yourself redefining how you approach relationships. Rather than finding community anywhere with anyone, you might consider approaching social connection with more care and connection than in the past.

That’s why it’s important to understand what makes a supportive, healthy social connection. Here are some examples of green flags to look out for from Anneliese Singh, author of The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook:

• Supports your growth as a person
• Refrains from judgment
• Seeks to understand your experience
• Provides space to have disagreements and to reconnect
• Offers opportunities to trust one another more deeply
• Offers warmth and encouragement
• Enjoys shared similarities
• Strives to understand differences
• Provides a space of acceptance and positive regard
• Offers a point of view different from your own
• Celebrates accomplishments and triumphs
• Gives support during especially difficult times
• Provides accountability and support for self-care

You might have green flags of your own, beyond this list such as whether someone is aware of their own capacity and ability to say “yes” or “no.” As you navigate connections on your healing journey, remember what green flags do (or don’t) show up, as that can assess whether a relationship is healthy or not.

Now, there comes the question: how do you find these supportive intercommunity connections? 

How to forge supportive LGBTQ+ community connections

Supportive social connections, especially within the LGBTQ+ community, can help you on your healing journey. It helps to be intentional and seek out communities with shared values to yours. 

For instance, if you’ve recently stopped drinking alcohol and want more sober friends, you’re unlikely to make sober friends at a bar. However, if you’re close to Manhattan, there is a sober dive bar

—Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge—dedicated to fun, non-alcoholic drinks. (Note that this isn’t a designated gay bar, but many LGBTQ+ folks can be found there!)

Suggestions for finding LGBTQ+ community

Because Kip Therapy is based in New York City, some of the suggestions below are NYC-centric, which is why we also included virtual options for those outside of the area.

• Book clubs like gay_writes online book club and The Little Gay Book Club
• Political organizations like ACT UP and Black and Pink 
• Your neighborhood drag show
• Community apps like Gleam and Lex
• Events hosted at local LGBTQ+ community hubs like The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and Leslie Lohman Museum of Art
• LGBTQ+ bars like Cubby Hole, Henrietta’s, Stonewall Inn and 3 Dollar Bill which also host events like drag shows
• Professional organizations like OUT in Tech and Pride at Work

Looking for an LGBT-competent therapist? Book a  free discovery call today to see if Kip Therapy is right for you!

The post LGBTQ+ Social Connection Can Be Essential for Trauma Healing appeared first on Kip therapy.

source https://kiptherapy.com/insights/lgbtq-social-connection-can-be-essential-for-trauma-healing/

Somatic Therapy and Gender Dysphoria

How to access the soma when connecting with your body is distressing

Somatic therapy can be a strong component of trauma healing. However, those with gender dysphoria—or those who typically feel distress or discomfort around their assigned gender assigned at birth—may struggle to access their body. Likewise, they may find it difficult to identify and understand emotional sensations within their body, making somatic therapy inaccessible.

What then? Can somatic therapy still be a helpful approach for transgender, nonbinary, and other gender nonconforming people? This article will help answer that question and expand.

What is somatic therapy? 

Somatic therapy, also referred to somatic healing or somatic experiencing, focuses on how emotions show up in the body. Particularly, it can look like paying attention to how feelings provoke bodily sensations. For instance, when someone experiences anxiety, they might feel tightness in their chest. Conversely, when another person feels anxious, they might feel queasiness in their stomach.

This type of therapy recognizes that emotional experiences are not solely confined to the mind but are also stored and expressed within the body. Somatic therapy delves into the mind-body connection, acknowledging that our physical sensations, movements, and gestures are manifestations of our emotional and psychological states. For trans, nonbinary, and GNC people, somatic therapy can help process feelings related to gender identity, transition, and/or gender affirming medical care.

Somatic practices include mindfulness, breathwork, body-focused techniques, and guided movement. These practices invite you to explore your own bodily sensations in order to trace emotional imprints and release stored tensions. Ultimately, through cultivating more self-awareness of bodily sensations, you can uncover and process deep-seated emotions, traumas, and patterns.

Can somatic therapy help those with gender dysphoria? 

Somatic practices can offer a unique healing path for those with gender dysphoria. Exploring your relationship with the soma—embodying sensations, movements, and emotions—can help you learn more about your body’s physical responses to feelings. With a more in-depth understanding of how your body responses to emotions, you can also better alleviate distress and heal from trauma.

If you experience gender dysphoria, somatic therapy can help you reintegrate with your body. It can be an avenue for reestablishing an entirely new connection to your body. This can especially be helpful if your body has changed, or is changing, from undergoing gender affirming surgery and/or hormone therapy. It can also be helpful earlier in your gender transition, if you’re experimenting with different gender presentations and want to see what presentation feels authentic to you.

While somatic therapy can help manage dysphoria, exploring bodily sensations doesn’t just potentially help manage dysphoria. Rather, somatic therapy presents a bigger, expansive opportunity for self-discovery and empowerment. By fostering a deeper understanding of one’s body beyond societal constructs, you can also cultivate a stronger sense of self-acceptance and resilience of your gender.

Potential challenges to somatic therapy for those with gender dysphoria

If you experience gender dysphoria, tuning into your body might be a distressing and/or inaccessible experience. If so, trying to access your body might not be safe. Accessing your body may also be entirely inaccessible. Some people who experience gender dysphoria can be entirely tuned out from listening to their body, because it’s so distressing to live inside their body.

If gender affirming care isn’t accessible to you, you may find connecting with your body that much more difficult. In that case, we hear you. Here’s the reality: somatic therapy cannot be a substitute for gender affirming medical care. At Kip, we advocate for the recognition and accessibility of gender affirming care to those with gender dysphoria; while we don’t offer gender affirming medical care, including surgery and hormone therapy, we do provide gender affirming mental health care with a staff of transgender-competent therapists.

With that said, somatic therapy can help supplement gender affirming medical care if you have access to it. Additionally, if you’re unsure whether you’re interested in pursuing gender affirming care, somatic therapy can be an approach to help you explore that question.

Additionally, we recognize not all nonbinary and gender nonconforming people experience gender dysphoria. If this is you, we still extend our invitation of somatic therapy to you. We also acknowledge it still may be difficult to access your body for different reasons. Even for people without gender dysphoria, listening to your body’s emotional responses can be uncomfortable and distressing, but with the right support, it can be extremely rewarding and healing.

How to find a trans-competent somatic therapy provider

Not all therapists trained in somatic therapy fully grasp gender dysphoria or gender diverse identities. Gender dysphoria requires sensitivity and empathy from gender competent therapists who understand, respect, and validate diverse gender identities. Without a transgender-competent therapist, you might feel further alienated or misunderstood, hindering your ability to engage fully in the therapeutic process.

At Kip Therapy, our entire staff of therapists are gender competent. Many identify as trans and nonbinary themselves. If you’re interested in somatic therapy, book a free discovery call to be matched with a trans-competent therapist.

The post Somatic Therapy and Gender Dysphoria appeared first on Kip therapy.

source https://kiptherapy.com/insights/somatic-therapy-and-gender-dysphoria/

The Benefits of a Working with a Transgender-Competent Therapist

It can be challenging to look for a therapist as a transgender, nonbinary, or gender diverse person. Like anyone else, you’re looking for a good therapeutic fit: someone who takes your insurance plan, someone who is licensed in the state you live in, someone who practices a preferred modality like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

However, you’re also looking for a therapist who knows more than the basic gender 101. curriculum. It’s simply not enough for providers to just use the correct pronouns and names, even though many providers don’t even do the absolute bare minimum of that. Instead, transgender-competent mental health care involves offering specialized therapeutic approaches tailored to gender diverse experiences, addressing gender dysphoria, navigating transition-related issues, and managing mental health concerns like anxiety or depression that may arise due to societal stigma or discrimination. 

We’re so glad you’ve made it this far to this article. Research is an important part of your journey to finding a trans-competent therapist. Arming yourself with knowledge helps you advocate for yourself to receive the quality mental health care you deserve. In this article, we’ll discuss the history behind the challenges of finding trans-competent mental healthcare; then, we’ll discuss the many benefits of having trans-competent mental healthcare.

Challenges in finding trans-competent mental healthcare

If you’re having trouble finding a trans-competent therapist, it’s not you. Systematically, there is a history of why gender diverse people have barriers to receiving quality mental health care.

Historically, therapy hasn’t been welcoming to the entirety of the LGBTQ+ community. Conversion therapy has been weaponized to promote harmful, pseudoscientific methods to “change” a person’s sexual or gender identity. Conversion therapy, thankfully, has been rejected by mainstream medical and mental health organizations for decades. According to the  Human Rights Campaign, many states, including New York, have laws or regulations banning this harmful practice.

Additionally, transgender people face another challenging layer to therapy. Historically, the gatekeeping model of gender affirming care requires transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse people to seek mental health counseling or a psychiatric assessment before receiving gender affirming care. Although the gatekeeping model isn’t necessarily a barrier to getting mental health care, it can be uncomfortable and awkward to see a therapist who adheres to this problematic framework. Fortunately, New York is an Informed Consent state for gender affirming care, meaning a patient must be given informed consent about gender affirming care (such as hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery) prior to receiving it. The informed consent model trusts that transgender, nonbinary, and otherwise gender diverse people can make their own informed healthcare decisions.

Likewise, Kip Therapy believes in the informed consent model of gender affirming care. While our organization doesn’t offer gender affirming medical care services—like hormone therapy and gender affirming surgery—directly, our therapists believe patients when they say they are transgender, nonbinary, or gender diverse. Additionally, while we recognize this is a heavy history for patients to sit with, don’t lose hope; the payoff is  certainly worthwhile. Keep reading to learn about the benefits of transgender-competent mental healthcare. 

Benefits of working with a transgender-competent therapist

Now that we’ve dissected some complicated history, we can have a nuanced understanding of how therapy can benefit you as a transgender, nonbinary, or otherwise gender diverse person.

Tailored treatment

Trans-competent therapists have the expertise to offer specialized treatment plans that address specific challenges related to gender dysphoria, transitioning, and/or navigating societal and familial pressures. These treatment plans often include trauma-informed therapy.

Reduced stigma

A transgender-competent therapist helps shape compassionate, affirming environments to allow you to show up without fear of judgment or misunderstanding. Having a safe, therapeutic space can help validate your experiences, even if you don’t feel validated outside of therapy. 

Access to resources

Trans-competent therapists can help facilitate access to community resources, support groups, and other connections to build your support network. While these resources don’t replace therapy, they can supplement it.

Transgender empowerment

Working with a trans-competent therapist can empower you to embrace your identity, develop coping strategies, and navigate life’s challenges with confidence. If you’re undergoing medical transition, this empowerment can help guide you in connecting your new identity. 

Reduced social isolation

Through the therapist’s understanding and connections, especially at an organization like Kip Therapy, you may feel less isolated and more connected to a supportive community.

Improved health and wellness

The long-term benefits of transgender-competent mental health care cannot be overstated. Overall, the support and guidance from a transgender-competent therapist can contribute significantly to the mental health and well-being of gender diverse patients over their entire lifetime.

The post The Benefits of a Working with a Transgender-Competent Therapist appeared first on Kip therapy.

source https://kiptherapy.com/insights/the-benefits-of-a-working-with-a-transgender-competent-therapist/

Therapy is Really Queer: Rediscover Your Inner Wild

Maybe it goes something like this….You reach a tipping point, and it seems like the right time to start therapy.

Detective work is now in order. Turning to Google or Psychology Today, you do a search with the queer-y, “New York City LGBTQ+ therapist near me that accepts insurance” or something in that vein. Next, you sift through an avalanche of results (because there are SO many of us these days), trying to be mindful that this is not the same thing as swiping left, swiping right. Maybe it’s a friendly-looking photo, $$$$, or aspects of the therapist’s identity that catches your attention. You set up an appointment and meet with them – perhaps virtually in your sweats, or in person if you’re old-fashioned. Hopefully, it feels good enough, or better yet a perfect match, and you can get to work.

As if the task weren’t already formidable enough, you are NOW expected to open up to this stranger.

In fact, you aren’t asked to just open up—you feel the need to be a good patient, to tell this person things that maybe you’ve never told anyone, share emotions and thoughts that feel excruciatingly shameful, show up to sessions at times where you’d rather eat glass than talk, or face things about yourself that are not very pretty.

There’s more: you have to pay them to listen to you (therapy isn’t cheap in NYC if your insurance doesn’t cover it) AND you probably won’t know very much about them outside of their professional role.

Pretty weird, right?

This isn’t an attempt to talk you out of therapy. Seriously.

The point is that therapy, at its core (understanding that there’s a huge rainbow of therapies and some approaches might not apply here), is queer. And by queer we don’t mean weird in a bad way, but weird in a queer theory kind of way.

Queer theory questions traditional views of gender, sexuality, and identity–really anything that is deemed by society and culture as abnormal and normal. Normality has a clever way of weaving itself into the entire fabric of our existence–through institutions such as language, the family, laws, and education–and thus into our psyches from day one. In its more insidious form, the mandate of normalcy takes hold in our unconscious, making us believe that categories are real. Queer theory says “no”–categories are constructions (like binary gender), and are there to keep us in line. Queer theory and queerness (especially within the LGBTQ+ community) asks us to defy cisheteronormative demands that can make us feel like we are weird in a bad way, inviting us all to embrace our deepest authentic, spontaneous, and creative selves. Being different is great and liberating–maybe you could even say the weirder the better.

Freud was really weird. Like him or not, you can thank him (or hate him) for the general frame of therapy–talking with a relative stranger on a regular basis and revealing the most private aspects of the self as a pathway to psychological relief. But the setup of psychotherapy wasn’t Freud’s queerest idea. His radical musings about sexuality–that we are all born polymorphously perverse–was in essence an understanding of sexuality as an energy that is innately unbounded and unconcerned with rules or normality. If Freud didn’t go down the rabbit hole of heteronormativity, perhaps the mental health field wouldn’t have taken so long to realize that queers weren’t the problem–it was culture. In fact, garden variety hetero-reproductive sex and gender conformity–following all of the narrow rules that society imposed on folx–could have alternatively been viewed as the thing that was keeping us all miserable. Our gayness, kinkiness, gender expansiveness, and just plain queerness, are really signs of health, and repressing these parts of ourselves–parts that exist in all of us–is the thing that will make us unwell.

So instead of approaching therapy as a way to make ourselves “better” (i.e., normal), what if we embraced its weirdness as a necessary ingredient to helping us rediscover our wild inner child?

Thankfully, the way therapy is understood and practiced in the 21st century has been radically changing at a breakneck pace. Along with the continual unfolding of diversity within the LGBTQ+ community, more and more LGBTQ+ people are openly practicing as therapists, bringing their own queer lenses to what it means to live one’s life to the fullest. Queer therapy/therapist sees that what holds us back is not just our own inner turmoil, but the ways that our inner conflicts are informed by the ways that the environment—family, culture, society, rules, and laws–tell us that what we feel, think, want, need, and desire are wrong. In this way, queer-informed therapy–which specifically guides us at Kip Therapy–is not just for LGBTQ+ people, but for everyone. Because everyone lives in a culture that tells us that queer is bad.

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