Something new.
Something different.
Something disorienting.
Something straining.
Families can sometimes only handle so much change at one time.
We want to be supportive of our family member as they figure things out, as we figure things out together. We want what’s best for our children, but it just feels like a lot.
We love our family.
But often it’s too much to handle all at once.
How are we supposed to navigate all this as a family? We don’t have the experience. There’s no manual for this!
Other families seem like they are somehow figuring this out, but they aren’t dealing with quite this much change and confusion and newness.
I just want my child to be okay, but I’m not sure we are doing it right. I feel so insufficient as a parent right now.
These are normal comments by families.
How can we support an LGBT family member?
So often I see families with an LGBT family member go through abrupt and even overwhelming changes. We want to be supportive of our LGBT family member, but we just don’t know how.
Sometimes, in fact often, it even gets to the point where there is overt tension and conflict. The stress of it can really wear down on our usual rhythms.
I want to be straight forward with you: I love LGBT people. Maybe you are lucky enough to have one in your family. Maybe you have someone in your family who is trying to figure out if they are, or even just trying to figure out how to figure it out.
Being LGBT is one of that rare kind of radical differences that don’t travel in families. Often, a struggle with something travels in families. There’s at least one parent who gets it, or another sibling. But with LGBT people, we are often the only person in our family. And that can be so difficult, for both the LGBT person and for the cisgender or straight family members who love us and want to help us but just aren’t sure how.
That’s where a counselor comes in.
One of my ultimate joys is doing the hard work with a family to become what everyone needs, to make sure the needs of everyone in the family are being met, to help family members understand and care for each other.
If you are an LGBT person and you don’t know what to do about or with your family, I’m here for you.
If you are the family member of an LGBT person you love and care about, I’m here for you.
Even if you are just not sure and need to figure out what the next steps are, those are some of the best conversations I’ve had with someone.
I’m an LGBT person, and I have a wonderful relationship with my family. And as a therapist, I am a person with experience working with families to make life more like they need it to be.
Don’t wait until that next argument. Don’t wait until you lay your head down another night wondering what to do.
Don’t sit through another meal with a sense of helplessness or gnawing tension. You don’t have to keep worrying like this. It really doesn’t have to be this way.
Send me a message today at (302) 497-5023, and we will talk about what your next steps might look like.