Hey everyone.
I am working on my masters in clinical mental health counseling, and I want to be multiculturally sensitive, including regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
I am a straight, cisgender male, and I have only had a handful of gay and trans friends/acquaintances. Multicultural awareness is certainly part of my education, but I don't believe it is close to enough. I want to hear from communities themselves, not just textbooks.
If you feel comfortable, I would really appreciate your feedback to make me a more effective counselor working with people in your demographic.
How can I best serve you?
What have you wished a past counselor could have understood?
What really pissed you off in a therapy session?
What is the most important thing for me to try to understand?
I hope this is received well. I genuinely want to be able to effectively serve all people.
I had many therapists when I was younger. Only one of them understood what being in poverty was like. I was being treated for social anxiety and one of my treatments was to get out of my comfort zone and go out, then journal about it after and go over the journal at the next session. That's all fine and a great idea, but I literally couldn't afford to go out and do stuff. My treatment went terribly until I got a therapist that found ways for me to challenge my fears without dropping any extra money.