Relationship Therapy Centre
2SLGBTQIA Therapy Mississauga
Affirming therapy where you can actually be supported in your authenticity.
Heal from the trauma
Repair your sense of safety – process any painful experiences including but not limited to rejection, internal or external homophobia, transphobia or judgement.
Find Your Power in Your Authenticity
Learn the tools and strategies you need to navigate the road ahead as your most authentic self – and feel supported and respected through the process.
Safety in Community
Establish stronger, safer relationships with family, friends, partners, your chosen family and the systems around you. Gain support in communication, coming out, discussing your needs, boundaries and more.
Authenticity, Inclusivity and Safety should be your right, not a societal privilege
It’s exhausting.
Wherever you fall on the gender and sexuality spectrum, 2SLGBTQIA therapy is where we foster a safer space for you to identify, process and explore your thoughts, emotions and experiences.
Relationship Therapy Centre’s affirming therapists are here to support you in living your most authentic, fulfilling life.
Wherever you are on your journey, stepping towards authenticity can bring about pain points...
There can be many challenges that 2SLGBTQIA identifying individuals face including but not limited to experiences of discrimination, prejudice and stigma. These experiences can have impacts that range on a continuum. Regardless of where they land, you deserve a space to centre yourself and be prioritzed.
Signs it may be helpful to seek therapy for 2slgbtqia:
Gender Dysphoria
Gender dysphoria can present as distress with the body they are in and/or society’s expectations of their presenting gender.
Therapy for gender dysphoria can create a space to identify thoughts of discomfort, explore what these thoughts mean for their sense of self and their life. It can provide a safer space to unpack emotions and learn coping strategies to become clearer on their best next steps.
Challenges at School
Challenges at school can always be difficult to navigate – but even more so for people identifying as 2SLGBTQIA who may be facing exclusion, discrimination, micro aggressions, bullying and more.
Schools can be environments that present with systemic barriers – creating an absence of safety and accessibility for 2SLGBTQIA individuals.
Therapy can provide a safer space to process the challenges school presents and how it impacts you. It can be an opportunity to learn about coping strategies and ways to identify and build sources of support.
Appetite Changes
Mood Swings
Frequent mood swings can indicate emotional struggles related to identity, rejection, or the stress of navigating societal expectations as a 2SLGBTQIA+ individual. Therapy provides a supportive environment to explore these feelings, understand their triggers, and build tools for emotional regulation and self-empowerment.
Somatic Symptoms
Seeking 2SLGBTQIA therapy for somatic symptoms can be extremely helpful as it can offer a safer and affriming space to better understand the ways stress and trauma can manifest in physical ways.
Whether you are experiencing headaches, stomachaches, muscle tensions or something else, therapists therapy can help. A therapist trained in and/or identifying as 2SLGBTQIA can support you in processing your experiences, understand mind-body connection better, and help to strengthen your internal and external resources.
Disassociation
Dissociation can often be a trauma response where our mind and body attempts to create separation between yourself and/or the world around you.
When working with one of our affirming therapists, we support you in trying to understand the disassociation, explore where it serves you, and where it makes things challenging. We can learn mindfulness exercises while also trying to increase your window of tolerance to help the disassociation to occur less.
Transition Challenges
Microaggressions
Both microaggressions and macroaggressions can significantly impact your sense of safety. They can lead to experiences of exclusion, unworthiness and pain.
Therapy can be a space to explore these experiences and its impacts and effects. It can be an opportunity to unpack your responses, and your preferred responses. Your therapist and you can identify tools and techniques to best manage these circumstances and create safer spaces moving forward.
Relationship Challenges
Relationship challenges can be challenging to navigate! Maybe you are figuring out how to disclose your identity to others, or navigating the impact of someone elses disclosure to you, or perhaps you are figuring out what you desire in a relationship and how to communicate this.
Relationship challenges can be overwhelming and meeting with a therapist to help you process your relationship dynamics, and identify and communicate your needs can be helpful.
Sleep Challenges
When there are experiences of stress, trauma, depression, anxiety or other challenges, sleep hygiene can be impacted.
Therapy can be a helpful resource to support 2SLGBTQIA identifying individuals in better understanding their emotional and mental health challenges and explore stressors, contributing factors and coping strategies.
Identity Confusion
Hopelessness
Therapy may be helpful if you are experiencing hopelessness. Many 2SLGBTQIA identifying individuals may experience a stage where hopelessness kicks in and makes it challenging to see a clear, fulfilling path forward.
Therapy can offer a space to unpack the hopelessness and begin to work towards a preferred outcome – developing coping strategies and establishing a support system.
Loneliness
Feelings of loneliness can be more complex for 2SLGBTQIA identifying individuals. It can be connected to experiences including but not limited to stages of being closeted, unclear about one’s identity, or having been isolated or abandoned.
Often times there can be a challenge in honouring your authentic identity while also maintaining your relationships. This misalignment can be hard to navigate alone. Therapy can provide a space to process your thoughts and feelings about your connections to others, identify your needs and fears, and gain support in fostering meaningful connections.
Self Confidence Challenges
Receiving messages from peers, family members, and other members of society that you aren’t “normal” can greatly impact your self-confidence.
Low self-confidence can impede on day to day functioning and relationships. Therapy can create a safer space to challenge inner or external critical thoughts, and help you to establish an improved sense of self.
Being Othered
Being “othered” by society’s heteronormative community can be painful, but it is not the only way an 2SLGBTQIA identifying individual may feel “othered”. Unfortunately, often times people have this experience within the queer community.
Regardless of where the experience stems from, being othered can create feelings of isolation, depression and more. By connecting with an affirming therapist, the lack of feeling a sense of belonging can be processed and worked through.
Abandonment
It can be an unbearable experience to have your family, friends and community turn their backs on you. This is a fear for many 2SLGBTQIA identifying individuals, and a painful reality for others.
Whether it be a fear or experience of abandonment, therapy can be a helpful resource to utilize. Processing the thoughts and emotions associated to the abandonment
Internalized phobia
When self-doubt, inner-criticism, shame and negative thoughts about yourself are so persistent, it can manifest as internalized phobia surrounding your identity.
Coming Out
Coming out is an extremely unique process for each 2SLGBTQIA identifying person.
Therapy can be a place to access support to process your thoughts and feelings about coming out. Your best hopes and biggest fears about coming out will be given a safer and affirming space. Through this process, you will be supported in identifying, expressing and leading with your authenticity while finding strategies to best maintain your most meaningful connections.
We offer in-person 2SLGBTQIA therapy in Mississauga and online across Ontario, Alberta, and BC.
Some 2SLGBTQIA Challenges can sound like...
- I want to live in alignment with who I am, but I’m scared I might lose family, friends, and my sense of belonging.
- I feel guilty and judged for wanting more than one partner or relationship, even if I do it ethically.
- I’m figuring out what I desire and what I am attracted to, but I feel too embarrassed to talk to anyone about it.
- Even within the community, I feel like I am always required to defend the validity of my identity.
- I'm regularly misgendered and people continue to use my deadname. It hurts they don't see me for who I am.
- I'm so scared to embrace this part of myself; I fear that people are right and something is wrong with me.
- I have trapped in a body that is not mine.
- I'm tired of hiding and neglecting these parts of me just to allow me to navigate places and people with greater safety.
- I feel entirely isolated and abandoned from my family since they learned about my identity.
- I have flashbacks of all these moments I felt threatened, attacked and alone because of my identity.
Don't just come out. Come in to your most authentic self.
Book online or contact us. Not sure who to book with? Click here to get matched with a therapist.
Relationship Therapy Centre
Why Work With Us
As humans, we have two fundamental needs; to be connected with ourselves, and to experience belonging with others.
When we shift our perspective from criticism, internally or externally, and turn to curiosity, we begin to create space for compassion, accountability, change, and growth.
At Relationship Therapy Centre:
- We have a diverse team of recognized therapists who reflect the wide range of our community in the areas we service. We offer therapy in several languages and lived BIPOC experiences.
- We are committed to providing personalized support with tools and resources tailored to your goals.
- We approach your care through a relational lens, recognizing the interconnected nature of our lives and the influence we have on one another.
- We can help you understand the origin of the challenges you face, and develop skills to address the problematic cycles that try to keep you in distress.
Therapists who offer Therapy for 2SLGBTQIA
Our Approach to 2sLGBTQIA Therapy Online & In Mississauga
How Our Affirmative Therapy Works
We Connect
We get to know your situation, your identity, your relationships and the things that are important to you.
We Collaborate
We pinpoint the gaps between where you are and where you want to be. We develop a specific plan for your needs.
We Grow
We work with you to disrupt negative thoughts and patterns to break free from what’s keeping you from living a life you love and support you in creating a safe, affirmative support system.
FAQs for 2SLGBTQIA Therapy
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I come out or share details about my identity...will you inform my parents/caregivers?
When you meet with a therapist and disclose your identities, we keep this information private and confidential. We recognize that disclosing your identity is not always safe to do so.
We will work with you to consider where and when you would like to make disclosures about your identities. Together, we can process the best hopes you may have for disclosures and the fears that might be associated with such disclosures.
If/when you are ready, we can support you in developing the skills and strategies for how to communicate your identities to people in your life. Alternatively, a plan can be created for if/when you may want loved ones in a session to open up to others in a contained/safer space.
What is the cost of therapy and length of sessions?
$160-$195 per 50 minutes. Fees range depending on the experience of the therapist. To filter through different details of our therapists you can also check out Our Team.
Please note that sessions at Relationship Therapy Centre are pro-rated for other lengths of time.
Are your therapists queer identifying?
We have queer identifying therapists on our team. If this is important to you that your therapist identifies as queer themselves, please let us know at the intake/consult level and we will get you connected!
While it is important to proceed with a therapist who you feel most comfortable with, it’s also important to note that lived experience is not necessary for affirming, meaningful therapeutic work. While some of our therapists do not identify as queer themselves, they are trained in how to maintain an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed approach that allows them to meet you where you are at, and learn about you through you, without making you responsible to educate them about the community.
Either way, we would recommend scheduling a free consultation!
How To Get Started
Take the first step toward the change you desire
Offering in-person therapy in Mississauga. Virtual therapy sessions are available in Ontario, BC, and Alberta.
Book a Free 20-Minute Consultation
Make a connection with a therapist and see if they’re a good fit for you.
Get Matched
After answering a few questions, we will match you to a therapist that aligns with your needs.
Schedule An Appointment
Call Us
905-415-2647 Ext.0
Email Us
admin@relationshiptherapycentre.com
Blogs & Resources
2SLGBTQIA Therapy Online, In Mississauga
Express Yourself Authentically.
and be received affirmatively.