What is LGTB affirmative psychology?
A few years ago, some sciences considered homosexuality and transsexuality as a type of mental illness, luckily times have changed and people have evolved and those who put these types of labels are a minority. However, homophobia and transphobia continue to exist which has led to the creation of new challenges on the part of psychology to try to help people in this group feel better about themselves and end the traumas caused by society.
Spain is one of the countries with the lowest homophobia and transphobia rate in Europe
This is why LGBT affirmative piscology has emerged, a work environment that focuses on the needs of non-heterosexual and non-cisgender people . Its applied aspect, affirmative therapy, aims to understand the mechanisms of the construction of LGBT identity and, from them, help people with problems arising from discrimination and the social pressure linked to it.
These are some of the objectives that LGTB affirmative psychology aims to achieve:
Treatment of sequelae for homophobia and transphobia
Unfortunately, even in countries with higher rates of acceptance of the homosexual and transsexual collective, there are currently attacks with physical or verbal violence towards these people . Many of these aggressions begin from childhood, at school and even at home and extend to adulthood through the streets or different establishments. It is undeniable that the attacks on this group continue to exist and that in many cases these attacks reach the point of causing death or leaving sequels for a lifetime.
There are affirmative therapies to understand the mechanisms of LGTB identity construction
All this can cause people who are triggered by psychological disorders such as anxiety or depression, or body dysmorphic disorder. In addition to this, the passage through these traumatic experiences can lead to these people not being satisfied with their own body, to blame themselves for what has happened and try to justify it, and even to isolate themselves and have even more doubts about their own identity . A true professional must understand what it means to go through these kinds of situations that often become continuous among the LGTB collective and that is why it is one of the goals of LGTB affirmative psychology.
Advise when deciding to be a father or mother
Motherhood and fatherhood are socially linked to very strong roles, which is why it is normal to hear in different media and citizens give their opinion about who should raise a child or how they should do it. Often, in the most conservative sectors of society, that a homosexual couple has children becomes a debate that could rather be said to be a war of homophobic insults.
Psychologists help LGBT people who feel frustrated or misunderstood
If we add to this the factor of sexual identity and gender identity and consequently the tendency of society to discriminate against minorities that fall outside the norm, as well as the existence of legal and institutional barriers, this can cause that among the LGTB collective they feel reluctant to have a child or that they feel frustrated by all the obstacles that exist to achieve it . This is why psychologists have to help these people in this process, first to realize that they can raise a child like any other cisgender and heterosexual couple and second, to accompany them to endure the anxiety caused by the having to fight to get it .
Search for space in LGTB environments
Nor should we forget that within the LGTB collective itself there are many sub-groups and that sometimes there may be discrimination between them . This can cause many people to not be able to find their site and their identity within the collective.
These therapies help you understand that you don’t have to feel ashamed.
Although really to solve this it is not enough to do psychotherapy, the truth is that affirmative psychology can help these people avoid feeling badly unnecessarily since the victims of discrimination are aware that they have nothing to feel ashamed of helping them understand that these attacks are a social problem, not a problem of how they are. In this way, one can also contribute to making this collective truly inclusive than accepting unconventional forms of sexuality and expression of gender identity.
Acceptance of one’s identity
Another purpose of LGTB affirmative psychology is that these people accept themselves as they are, that they are comfortable with their sexual identity and that they do not treat it as a taboo subject , but that they standardize it and may feel free to express them in their sexual relations, with their family, friends and even in their social networks.
