ARQ2: Resources

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Useful resources:

• Internet sites
• Bibliography
• Glossary

Therapist/counsellor perceptions

“One of the hardest issues I have is trying to find recreational leisure activities in the gay community that are completely abstinent from drugs and alcohol.... So when I’m referring someone to a club or an activity, I am thinking, ‘Boy, I know this is a club that they could be potentially triggered by,’ so I sometimes will caution them about exploring it, but to at least give it a try rather than become isolated.”

“Some religious communities are affirming and you can still practice your faith. I find it’s very important to help clients find a safe space, or an organization of Jewish lesbians, or an organization of people from the Caribbean who are practicing and open or whatever the case may be.”

“Identity is very important. When you don’t have a sense of identity, it affects mental health. I think that there are two issues. One, how do being queer, realizing you are queer, coming out and sexual orientation issues affect mental health? And two, you may already have come out and then developed mental health issues, and in that case, the issue is how to access appropriate services. I definitely think that being queer is a risk factor, just like any oppression.”

“Having a trans identity means you have a mental health disorder, according to the current dsm. So, being trans is a mental health issue, and so HIV, body image, dating, the bar scene, everything in ARQ, plays a huge role in how transpeople view themselves, how they are viewed by other people, how they feel about themselves, how they feel in society.”

“For gay men, body image is very important. Eating disorders are going up in young men. Everything hinges on how they look. There is pressure to be young and attractive. For someone coming out and not perfect, there are feelings of isolation and self-esteem issues.”

“[The issues include] victimization or surviving in victim mode as a result of constant heterosexism, having to live in a heterosexist environment and the damage that’s done to the soul, the identity, the self-esteem, relationships, all of that.”

“People’s support networks are often different, and what people consider the family structure is different, as well as what kinds of ties exist between the family of origin. I think it’s a lot more common that people are cut off from their families of origin. And so that support may not be there for them.”

“I think it’s important to provide your family when you’re coming out with some kind of support or resource, whether it’s somebody that they can talk to, a book that they can read, or a video they can watch.”

Asking the Right Questions 2

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Using the manual
• Background information:
  • Part A — Client Questionnaire
  • Part B — Conversation Guide
• Counsellor competence
• Resources
• References
• Appendix

• Print Bookmark