“The Difference that Makes a Difference”: What Matters to Lesbians and Gay Men in Psychotherapy

SUMMARY

Lesbians and gay men are more likely to use psychotherapy services than are heterosexual men and women, yet little is known of the aspects of psychotherapy that lesbians and gay men find helpful. A postal survey with a community sample of lesbians and gay men in the UK who had used counselling or psychotherapy services examined this issue. Content analysis of the responses that lesbians and gay men (n = 365) gave to a series of open-ended questions on what was helpful or unhelpful in psychotherapy revealed that issues related to sexual identity were important in addition to generic qualities of the therapeutic relationship. Lesbians and gay men also listed friends, family of choice, and family of origin, and complementary or “alternative” therapies as important sources of support aside from psychotherapy. This study has implications for counselling and psychotherapy training, for counsellors and psychotherapists working with lesbians and gay men, and for lesbians and gay men who use psychotherapy.

KEYWORDS:

• Coming out
• counselling
• families of choice
• families of origin
• gay
• homosexual
• lesbian
• psychotherapy