LGBTQ+ & Men’s Therapy

Many men and LGBTQ+ people grow up feeling that they have to hide parts of themselves in order to feel accepted, safe, lovable, or “enough”.

Perhaps you learned to disconnect from your emotions, avoid vulnerability, or cope alone because showing weakness never felt safe. Maybe you’ve spent years trying to fit in, seeking validation from other people, or constantly comparing yourself and feeling as though you somehow fall short.

If you’re LGBTQ+, like me, you’ve grown up hearing messaged about how it’s wrong, dirty, disgusting, sinful, or you’ve just been treated differently because other people sensed you were different. And while we may not believe them, the constant exposure to these messages and cues means we start absorbing them in to our subconscious. And they then turn in to toxic shame (eg internalised homo- or trans-phobia).

You may struggle with shame, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, people-pleasing, perfectionism, intimacy, or feeling disconnected from yourself and others. Or perhaps you feel emotionally shut down altogether.

Many men also grow up receiving messages that vulnerability, emotional openness, or asking for help are signs of weakness. Online spaces such as the “manosphere” can sometimes appear to offer certainty, belonging, or answers to painful feelings, while often reinforcing shame, isolation, rigid ideas about masculinity, and disconnection from intimacy and vulnerability.

For some people, drugs, alcohol, hook-ups, chemsex, porn, work, gym culture, or constant distraction can become ways of coping with painful feelings, rejection, emptiness, or not feeling comfortable in your own skin.

Therapy can offer a space where you don’t need to perform, hide, or pretend to have it all together.

A space where you can begin to better understand yourself, your relationships, your coping mechanisms, and the ways your past may still be shaping your present.

My approach is warm, relational, non-judgemental, and collaborative. Alongside professional training and experience, I also bring lived experience of being a man, of recovery, queer identity, and navigating aspects of shame and marginalisation within LGBTQ+ communities.

Together, we can begin exploring what it might mean to move beyond survival and towards a greater sense of self-acceptance, connection, authenticity, and emotional freedom.