Sexuality is the drive within us that makes us sexually and emotionally attracted to others.
Homosexuality was legalised in the UK in 1967 and the Civil Partnership Act providing legal recognition of same-sex relationships came into force in 2005. On 13 March 2014, legislation allowing same-sex marriages came into effect and the first same-sex marriages in the UK took place on 29 March 2014.
Despite significant shifts in social attitudes towards homosexuality, a Google search of the phrase ‘gay issues in the UK’ will reveal much debate about many issues including homosexuality and religion, gay adoption rights, bullying in schools, homophobic abuse, gay issues in the workplace and gay health insurance issues.
For gay people, some aspects of life are less straight-forward than they might be for others. While circumstances have improved for gay people in Europe, North America and other parts of the world, being gay or lesbian can bring specific challenges.
Sexuality is an important force within all of us, as is the need to be accepted and valued. Many people feel that homosexuality makes being accepted by friends, family and colleagues more difficult. Gay people often fear being rejected for their sexuality and coming out is one of the first challenges a gay person might face.
Coming out is the process of making your sexuality known to others. Coming out can mean revealing your sexuality to a handful of carefully-chosen loved ones or it can mean coming out to the whole world! There is no right or wrong way to come out. This is a personal experience, a personal choice and is different for everyone.
Some people find coming out very difficult while some gay men and women have no problem revealing their sexuality. Some people choose not to reveal their sexual preferences to others. For those who choose to come out, coming out can be a significant event in a person’s life and everyone experiences this differently.
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Many gay and lesbian people in the UK live very dynamic lives. An entire culture (of music, literature, history, art, theatre) has evolved around the gay movement. This culture contributes to the lives of many people, both gay and straight. London is often considered as one of the ‘gay capitals’ of the world.
There are, however, common concerns that gay men and women sometimes bring to counselling. Whether dealing with coming out, concerns about dating or relationships, sexual issues, family problems, depression, self-worth and self-confidence issues or issues around health and HIV, therapy can be useful.
In therapy, some gay people have described feelings of shame or loneliness and some have felt so confused by their sexual feelings that they have questioned the value of life.
Some gay men and women feel disillusioned by social networking sites while others have struggled with integrating their sexual identity into their families, careers and friendships in which they find themselves.
Over the years, our personal counselling services have helped many gay and bisexual men and women resolve personal life issues while many gay couples have turned to our couples counselling services or psychosexual therapy to address sexuality issues within their relationships.
Our locations in central London include Oxford Circus, Soho and Kensington, and we also offer online therapy.
In counselling, gay clients sometimes prefer a gay therapist feeling that a gay therapist is more likely to understand their needs. Other gay people do not make this distinction. This is a personal choice and all our therapists are non-judgemental, understanding and non-discriminatory.
Both face-to-face and online counselling appointments are available. For anyone new to therapy, we have put together a list of commonly-asked questions about therapy that might be useful.
Over the years that I’ve worked as a therapist, I’ve been asked numerous times by prospective clients, “How does counselling help?” And I’ve yet to come up with a satisfactory answer. Not because I’m in any doubt that it helps, but because the ‘how’ bit is so hard to articulate concisely…
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One of the most common worries I hear expressed by people starting counselling is that they won’t know what to talk about. Some people think their problems aren’t significant enough. Others fear they have too much to say, that they might overwhelm the therapist…
Read moreCouples counselling provides space for couples to discuss problems in their relationship and find solutions.
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Consultant Psychodynamic Psychotherapist Patricia works within a psychodynamic approach This focuses on early life experience and relationships to help you understand how they shape who you are in the present When you begin to more fully explore your emotions and attitudes you can find a deeper self–knowledge, which can also transform the way you relate to...
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One Therapy London
63-64 Margaret Street
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0333 207 9330
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