Are you a in a lesbian couple that’s in trouble? Ready to break up? Don’t have any idea what to do? 

Two women facing away from each other I'm not in love

Our counsellor at Women Assist is experienced in seeing LGBTQ couples. We understand your challenges and will meet you with the same acceptance and non-judgement as they do all their clients. Even then they won’t see you as a type: they will work hard to understand how you see the world and how you experience your relationship.

In the first instance, relationship counselling for gay couples gives you a safe, non-judgemental and supportive environment in which to explore your relationship, its patterns and dynamics and to express how you feel. Counselling where a couple works with an un-biased counsellor opens up channels of communication between you, encourages honesty, creates greater understanding, brings a feeling of really being heard and fosters deepening intimacy.

You can also look at how your sexuality, and the ways you learnt to accept it and be gay, now influence your relationship. In same-sex relationships having the same gender can help couples have a high level of initial rapport and understanding and to connect and merge deeply with each other. Also, years hiding their sexuality or believing they must be alone, perhaps forever, can all add to the emotional intensity of at last finding someone. The early stage of the relationship can be a wonderful high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interrelated issues include:

  • The effects of internalised homophobia from your background or upbringing. This may include unacknowledged feelings of shame or ingrained messages that you are not normal.
  • The issues concerning having children via adoption or artificial insemination.
  • Getting clear about your roles in the relationship, boundaries and commitment. This may include looking at the differences between same-sex and heterosexual relationships.
  • Coming out to friends, family and at work.
  • Coping with homophobia from friends, family, or society as a whole.
  • Feelings of isolation which may surface, or the lack of a sense of community to support you

Couples usually contact us when they are at crisis point in their relationship. Although it can be challenging in the first few sessions for couples, it is a privilege to hear about their issues and struggles. We provide a comfortable environment for counselling sessions so couples can communicate with each other in a respectful manner with counsellors help and guidance. It is truly rewarding to witness them resolve their issues and smile at one another again.

What to expect in a couples counselling session

The main purpose of couples counselling is to put you and your significant other in a room with a neutral mediator to help you make sense of what’s going on. If you’re having trouble communicating with each other, then the counsellor is going to help guide you.

The couple counsellor’s responsibility is to the relationship and both of you will get equal time, attention and understanding.  No relationship is ever entirely smooth sailing. Whatever trouble your relationship is in, and no matter how severely your relationship is being affected, almost all couples can benefit from couples counselling at some time in their relationship.

Our approach to couples counselling sessions
The counsellor will see you both at the first session to hear your story together. After that you will both attend a one-on-one session with the counsellor, before we return to couples sessions. Occasionally it might be beneficial to have an individual session during the therapy, but if the counsellor sees one of you for an individual check-in, they like to balance that out by seeing the other individually also. It is very important that neither of you feels that that the counsellor is more aligned with one partner than the other.

Effective Counselling Modalities for LGBTQ Couples Counselling

Acceptance Commitment Therapy – This therapy is a unique empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, together with commitment and behaviour change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.

A.C.T focuses on 3 areas:

1. Accept your reactions and be present
2. Choose a valued direction
3. Take action

 

Emotional Focused Therapy – This therapy works to reduce hostile emotions and angry behaviours, and increase the expression of emotional vulnerability and attachment needs.

By using EFT to address their concerns, individuals may be able to come to see their emotions as valuable sources of information instead of painful or difficult states that are better suppressed than experienced.

Solution Focused Therapy – This therapy focuses on finding solutions. Actually, finding solutions begins at your first telephone contact with the therapist, when you set up the appointment.

Solution-focused therapy encourages couples to consider their goals, and what change would look like for their relationship/ marriage. Good communication is critical to developing a healthy, satisfying marriage & relationship.

All counselling sessions are 60 minutes in duration.

Couples Counselling Fees: $120.00 

Individual Session Fees: $60.00

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