In Search of a Caring Community

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the establishment of a support group for gay, lesbian and bisexual students at a counseling center at a suburban state college in the Northeast. A rationale for offering group therapy is examined, as well as how to manage issues of safety and homophobia and their impact on the group's development and process. Stories from group members are used to illustrate salient issues regarding the need for family support, peer socialization, and interaction with positive adult role models. For many group members, their search for a caring community led them to the Counseling Center, where their participation in this group might ideally help them adjust to being part of a socially stigmatized minority group, and help them find a community with which to identify.