Expert consensus on facilitating the coming-out process in sexual minority clients: A Delphi study

Abstract

This article presents the results of a Delphi study conducted to generate expert consensus about the best techniques for working with clients in the coming-out process. The initial expert interview phase (N = 19) generated a list of suggestions, including two therapist prerequisites, 11 suggestions for creating a welcoming environment, 15 areas of assessment, seven areas of psychoeducation, and 46 other specific techniques. During a second phase, the perceived helpfulness of these suggestions was rated by experts. The most highly rated techniques generally focused on guiding clients towards making their own coming-out decisions (e.g., “Allow the client to make his or her own decisions about how out to be, and to whom”), expressing a gay-positive attitude (e.g., “Discuss sexual minority identity as normal”), and helping clients prepare for coming-out disclosures (“Help the client to create a safety plan to address the possible negative outcomes of disclosure”).

Keywords:

• Coming out
• counseling
• internalized homonegativity
• LGBQ issues
• therapy

Disclosure

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Note

Notes

1 “Sexual minority” can encompass a number of identities—gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, pansexual, asexual, etc. These identities are differentiated from gender minority, which fall under the transgender, genderqueer, and gender-nonbinary umbrellas.