At Heavenly Therapeutic Services, we strongly support however you identify your sexual orientation or gender identity and if you have found that this portion of your life has caused emotional distress due to others’ confusion or social (even religious) stigma, seeking care could assist with the decreasing of stress, anxiety, or uneasiness.

Gender is part of what makes you who you are. Our gender affects the way we define ourselves and even impacts how others view us. Gender is not always so easy to define, however. For many people, gender identity is more complicated than girl/boy or woman/man. Questioning your gender can happen at any stage of life, from childhood to old age. Those dealing with gender identity issues may experience a disconnect between how they identify an what their body looks like or how they are gendered by others. This feeling is known widely as dysphoria, and many people choose to alleviate their dysphoria through hormone therapy or gender affirming surgery.

Some individuals go through life questioning their sexual identity. Many individuals realize upon reflection that their deeper identity is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. This group of persons realize their previous understanding of themselves as mistaken and based, perhaps, on fears of social rejection, lack of self-awareness, or a lack of deep self-acceptance. Even after one has realized and accepted one’s sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, it is common at first to be quite anxious and concerned about revealing that sexual orientation to others. Fears of family or social rejection are common, and in some instances, justified. Developing the courage and confidence to socially express who you are sometimes takes time and a lot of outside support. Sorting out one’s deepest self-understandings and learning to accept one’s sexual identity is a difficult process. Coming out can be a complicated and emotional undertaking or it can be something that one wishes to withhold. Either direction can be fraught with confusion. Also, navigating through new social circles and relationships can add to the challenges. 

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