Therapy for Gender, Sexual Identity, LGBTQ Issues

 LGBTQ Therapy

Across the world, people have been experimenting with their sexuality. It could be because of not being happy with the natural order of heterosexual relationships or because going a certain way is not always the accepted way to keep in touch with their inherent needs. Society, in general, does not feel comfortable having people of mixed sexual preferences in their midst. For women and men who are attracted to people of the same sex, they meet with ridicule from family and friends. It is wise to seek out help from an expert counselor who can help you deal with the issue if you find yourself at the crossroads. While sex is one of the primary reasons why people seek companionship, it is not the only relevance for a relationship to form the deepest roots.

Identifying sexuality

Finding an identity in the big bad world of judgment can take quite a while. People who are born with both sex organs do not know where they stand. When others find out their secret, they face ridicule and insults from every quarter. At some point in time, if they identify with a certain sex, they may opt for a change and settle for being identified as either male or female and not ‘other’. The question, therefore, arises as to whether the person may be accepted in society as she/he may not be able to have children because of the change in gender. Everyone has a deep need for love, and society should not differentiate.

Solutions for multi sexual issues

Counseling works wonders in helping a transgender deal with any problem that may come their way. Before going in for the operation, anyway, the individual has to know what it feels like to change from one gender to the next. Most people do not understand the concepts of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or asexual. Because of this lack of knowledge, people who do not fit within a certain framework are branded for life. This form of bullying, therefore, becomes quite difficult to take and the individual may even resort to harming himself/herself because of not fitting in with the rest. The point is that sometimes people are born this way; some opt to be gay just for the heck of it to prove a point. A therapy session will help one identify if she/he is really bisexual or an inherent heterosexual being.

Hormones and the rapid growth of sexual functioning

The therapist in Tampa, Brandon, FL ensures that he/she hears what the patient has to say before helping the individual. Most often people feel dejected because they do not appear to be like their family or peers. A deep sense of dejection may creep in resulting in them feeling queer. They feel alienated and removed while their hormones peak and feelings go out of sync. A good therapist helps people caught in a difficult situation, find a way out of their worries, and identify with who they are, even if they are judged. Therapy is the best form of help for people who are ostracized because they do not fit within a so-called normal framework.

Visit Collaborative Therapeutic Services in Tampa | Brandon, FL for more information about therapy for gender, sexual identity, and LGBTQ issues.

Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, locations and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Locations in Tampa & Brandon.

Reasons Why You should go to Couples Therapy

Couples Therapy

Couples therapy sounds quite scary because of its association with serious problems in relationships. However, experts have a different opinion about couples therapy as it can be useful in all stages of the relationship, including when you think everything is okay and everyone is happy. One of the major benefits of visiting a couples counselor is that it teaches you and your significant other vital communication skills. You can use these skills in something as small as where you want to go for dinner to something as big as where you want to go for a vacation. A therapist will always make your relationship stronger, regardless of where your relationship might be. Here are five reasons on why you should go to couples therapy

1. When someone cheats

Although dealing with cheating is often a delicate situation, therapists can cut through the explosive feelings and bring stability and hope in an otherwise haywire situation. You should know that affairs happen for a reason. Therapists enable you and your partner to see what was the reason behind the affair, which can be instrumental in deciding if you want to break it off or fix the relationship. Counselors will guide you through the entire process regardless of the outcome.

2. Sex isn’t great

The vast majority of the couples are uncomfortable talking about what goes on under the blankets, especially when there is a problem. A therapist will open up the conversation and provide a vocabulary that the couples can use to talk about their problems. The therapist will make the problems look normal and will also provide additional scientific context to back it up. Also, therapists will help in getting your sex life back on track.

3. You and your significant other have money problems

It’s quite stressful to manage your own money but when you add your significant other’s debt, financial problems, or budget into the mix, you have a great recipe for a recurring fight. Most of the time, people associate fear with money, due to their personal history. Without professional help, it will be challenging to navigate through this problem. Whether you and your significant other are fighting about how to split a check or any other financial matter, a counselor will help in understanding the root causes behind them.

4. You want to break it off

You should know that you can use couples therapy when you want to break it off with the significant other on good terms, which is extremely useful when you have kids. A counselor will help you and your significant other, figure out whether it is a good idea to break up and work through the problems behind this drastic decision. By doing this, you will be at peace when you break it off. Also, the counselor will help in figuring out how to share custody of kids and pets, if any.

5. You’ve reached a relationship goal

Usually, couples wait until a problem arises before reaching out to a counselor. However, discovering these problems when you reach a relationship goal such as getting married or moving in together before they crop up will save a lot of hours and heartache in therapy. Going to a counselor during the early stages of your relationship will help in developing tools to work through the relationship without therapy during the later stages of the relationship. A therapist will ensure that there is effective communication and understanding between you and your significant other.

These are the five reasons why you should go to couples therapy. Every couple has their own set of problems, which a therapist can fix effectively through counseling.

Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, locations and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Locations in Tampa & Brandon.

What is Play Therapy?

Children and Play Therapy

Children require therapy as well, especially to deal with issues that are affecting their day to day lives. A form of therapy aimed specifically at children, Play Therapy hopes to encourage the child to explore those events from their lives that are currently impacting their current circumstances. The location is usually picked by the child, for this kind of therapy and they are engaged not only through play, but through language as well, Through counselling, counselors can help the child to communicate repressed thoughts, deal with unresolved issues and undergo personal growth.

Why is the concept of ‘play’ so integral to this form of therapy? Research shows that Play is essentially important for children who have experienced prior trauma. Effects a child experiences because of trauma can be found in the nonverbal locations of the brain. These include, amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus and brain stem, at the same time the location for where people deal with issues resides in the frontal lobe of the brain. Because of this, a child suffering from trauma might not be able to indicate that they have a problem. Play Therapy utilizes physical as well as role-playing activities that have proven to be widely successful in moving these memories from the nonverbal areas to the frontal lobe area of the brain.

How Can Play Therapy Help?

A child who is suffering from adverse personal issues might result in acting out in several different ways. Parents, even if they want to, cannot help or engage with the child at this point of time. This is where Play Therapy becomes important. Specially designed to communicate with children suffering from personal issues, Play Therapy helps them to resolve those problems to become emotionally strong. Although this treatment may benefit people of all ages, it is primarily designed to engage with children under the age of twelve.

The therapy room is specially designed to create an environment where a child can feel safe and secure, and be able to release their feelings in an effort to resolve them. The therapy room is also known as a playroom, and it is filled with toys. But these just are not any toys, they are toys designed to better understand how a child is feeling, as he engages with the items around him. The interaction the child has with these toys serve to provide as symbolism for what the child is feeling. In this manner, the therapist learns about aspects of the child that the child would otherwise not have been able to express by themselves. At the beginning of Play Therapy, the children are free to play as they wish, but as time goes on – the therapist might start to introduce specific items in an effort to better gauge how the child is feeling. Play Therapy can help the child to better improving by developing their social skills, teaching them how to make positive decisions, encouraging the expression of emotions, creating new patterns of thought and behavior, and through teaching the child that it is important to express how they are feeling and communicate with others.

Play Therapy for Adults

Play therapy can also be used to treat issues faced by teenagers and adults. By adulthood, most people have lost their ability to playfully explore themselves. Play therapists are trained to help adolescents, adults, and even the elderly relearn the values of play. Playful exploration has been proven to enhance both cognitive and physical behaviors, and there is a significant amount of research from the fields of neurophysiology and molecular biology that supports play therapy as a valid therapeutic technique for those past childhood. A growing number of organizations and experts are dedicated to play research and advocacy, believing that play is important for people of all ages.

Play therapy can be used to treat (in children or adults):

• Dementia
• Grief and loss
• Posttraumatic stress (PTSD)
• Obsessions and compulsions
• Attention deficit hyperactivity
• Mood issues
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Developmental issues
• Arrested emotional development

Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, locations and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Locations in Tampa & Brandon.