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Discover how starting LGBTQIA+ counseling can support your own journey toward a happier, more fulfilling life.
34 therapists available in Philadelphia
I believe in creating a compassionate, stigma‑free space where clients feel truly seen, listened to , supported, and empowered to ...
About
I believe in creating a compassionate, stigma‑free space where clients feel truly seen, listened to , supported, and empowered to heal.
I am a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) with 8 years of experience in behavioral health. I work with individuals navigating anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, dementia, and life transitions. I strive to create a compassionate, stigma-free environment where clients feel heard, respected, and supported as they work toward symptom relief, clarity, and emotional balance.
I earned my master’s degree in nursing from Walden University. My approach is collaborative and strengths-based, blending evidence-based treatment with empathy and practical tools. I emphasize medication management, coping strategies, and skill-building to support meaningful progress and improved daily functioning.
I believe every person deserves to feel seen, valued, and supported in their healing journey. I work alongside clients to build resilience, foster insight, and create sustainable change. If you are ready to take the next step toward healing and growth, I welcome the opportunity to support you.
Education and training
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As someone who has struggled with my own mental health, my approach is always to meet everyone exactly where they are to serve as ...
As someone who has struggled with my own mental health, my approach is always to meet everyone exactly where they are to serve as their GPS to help guide them along on their own personal journey.
I am a licensed professional counselor (LPC) with 7 years of experience supporting individuals through personal, emotional, and life-transition challenges. I work with clients navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism spectrum concerns, and adjustment to life-altering medical diagnoses or transplants. My background includes work in enhanced outpatient settings and individual therapy, treating a wide range of diagnoses and clinical presentations. I believe therapy is a collaborative journey, and I strive to create a supportive space where clients feel understood, empowered, and guided toward meaningful change.
I earned my master’s in clinical mental health counseling from California University of Pennsylvania. My approach is client-centered and tailored to each individual’s unique needs, strengths, and goals.
Taking the first step toward therapy and inviting someone into your personal thoughts and experiences can feel overwhelming. I understand how important it is to find a therapist who feels like the right fit. If you are seeking compassionate guidance and a collaborative therapeutic relationship, I would be honored to support you on your journey forward.
I understand the pressure to keep going even when things are really heavy. I want to support you in working through life's challen...
I understand the pressure to keep going even when things are really heavy. I want to support you in working through life's challenges so that your life can feel as fulfilled as possible.
I am a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with 14 years of experience in the mental health field. I specialize in working with individuals navigating substance use, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns. I have experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings and take a collaborative, client-centered approach to therapy.
I earned my Master of Social Work from Widener University. My approach is integrative and systemic, helping clients understand how life systems impact emotional well-being. I incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy to identify automatic and distorted thinking patterns and support meaningful change.
I understand how difficult it can be to ask for help, and I view that step as a sign of strength. I strive to create a warm, nonjudgmental space where you can show up as you are. Together, we can challenge negative self-talk, build insight, and help you move forward with clarity and confidence
As a gay man who has had unique cultural and identity experiences of my own, I understand the importance of validating and explori...
As a gay man who has had unique cultural and identity experiences of my own, I understand the importance of validating and exploring one's experiences with personal context in mind.
I am a licensed associate professional counselor (LAPC) with 2 years of experience providing counseling to adults navigating identity, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. I value self-exploration, collaboration, and trust in our therapeutic relationship; it is important to me that you feel affirmed and supported. If you are looking for a cheerleader on your path to your best self, that is the space I aim to create with you!
I earned my master’s degree in counseling psychology from Temple University. My work is grounded in a person-centered, gender-affirming, and culturally informed framework. I draw from dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and narrative therapy, to name a few.
Seeking support can feel difficult, but it can also be deeply rewarding. I strive to create a gentle, collaborative environment where you feel heard. Together, we will move at a pace that feels right for you, supporting your ability to reconnect with yourself and take an active role in rewriting the story of your life.
As a writer and counselor, and a person who has undergone a variety of struggles in multiple and diverse areas, helping others to ...
As a writer and counselor, and a person who has undergone a variety of struggles in multiple and diverse areas, helping others to find guidance, through their encounters and interactions, embracing the uniqueness of the narrative, and emphasizing the meanings that people construct through experience, I support insight and understanding through personal stories. Stories can often heal and replenish emotional and mental wellness, as well as being empowering, inspiring, and restorative. 'The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.' - Marcel Proust.
Within the last 12 years, Nicole Dunn, MA, LPC, NCC provided support in the field of counseling to nurture and empower the potential for beneficial progress, enriching life, both individually and within relationships. Nicole is motivated in her efforts towards using skill-building approaches, as well as passionate about using a systemic focus, providing understanding of people both individually, as well as within their relationships with others, and within other systems and communities, helping others towards positive growth and adjustment, mentally, emotionally, behaviorally, and physically. Nicole has worked with individuals, children and adults, and families, in Butler, Mercer, Venango, and Allegheny counties for many years, inspired by the concept that individuals relate to a context, one that is shaped and reshaped in social situations, influencing how people see themselves and their roles in relation to the larger world, as well as how they interpret and interact with that world. Nicole has focused on utilizing approaches that help with anxiety, mood disorders, depression, trauma, stress management, and relational conflict, among other areas, seeing individuals as capable of building change, empowered by collaboration within the therapeutic relationship, nurturing and unlocking the potential towards progress and success. Nicole is originally from New Orleans and has lived in Pennsylvania since 2000. Nicole is currently working on a Master of Writing degree at SUNH, and also seeks to bridge the understanding and processing of internal experience associated with movement through the outside world, whether related to stress, trauma, anger, or anxiety, through the power and release of writing.
Historically, Nicole has completed her service through Americorps, helping diverse populations in various settings, as well as working in behavioral health settings with children, adolescents, teenagers, and their families, focusing on the myriad of developmental stages of life. Nicole has also worked, through behavioral programs, with children diagnosed with autism and also through PARC, with individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. Nicole has earned her Master of Counseling degree at SRU, through a CACREP-accredited program, proceeding to completion of the requirements for acquiring PA licensure in professional counseling, as well as earning certification in both multisystemic and family-based therapies. Nicole specializes in individual therapy, working with children, adolescents, teenagers, and adults, as well as providing family therapy. Her areas of expertise and eclectic foci include narrative and solution-focused therapies and postmodern social constructivist therapies, structural and strategic family therapies, as well as multisystemic therapy, REBT, behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness, and dialectical behavioral therapy, among other approaches. Nicole collaborates with individuals, couples, parents, and families, encouraging viewpoints through wider, multiple lenses when considering issues, and nurturing others toward envisioning holistic healing and change.
Nicole is committed to empowering clients with the tools, training, and knowledge to foster optimal growth in the journey forward. Through the use of eclectic and evidence-based strategies, she is able to effectively help her clients with a variety of skills, facing and addressing struggles and challenges, towards developing and solidifying confidence and resilience.
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My go-to approach for LGBTQ+ counseling is collaborative therapy and trauma focused therapy. I prefer this because building the therapeutic relationship is essential and allows to build trust in the therapy room. Additionally, it allows clients to focus on their goals and to enhance their sense of themselves through empowerment. I utilize trauma-focused counseling as well, due to the trauma impact many individuals in the LGBTQ+ community experience and the context of being in a minority group. My personal experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community allows some insight into the resilience of our community.
I teach the following tools in LGBTQ+ counseling:
I know a client is making meaningful progress in LGBTQ+ counseling when there is trust in the therapeutic relationship and the goals set up initially are beginning to be achieved. I always like to preface that progress is not linear and will be an ongoing tool during treatment to challenge negative perceptions of self.
Clients can supplement their time in LGBTQ+ counseling by seeking out resources in their local LGBTQ+ community, joining queer spaces that are affirming and supportive, research history of the LGBTQ+ movement and daily journaling to reflect.
To prepare for their first LGBTQ+ counseling session, an individual can notice their struggles, goals, and timeline of symptoms. An individual can also remember that they can ask the therapist questions about their therapeutic style and explore/advocate for their needs in a clinician. Additionally, they can create a safe space in their home that helps build routine and privacy for online therapy.
LGBTQIA+ counseling is a type of queer affirmative counseling dedicated to assisting individuals and couples in navigating the intricate intersections of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and mental health, with a primary goal of fostering well-being, self-acceptance, and affirming a client’s life experiences as a queer individual. Although not all LGBTQ+ individuals seek specialized counseling, a substantial number discover vital support and empathy within these inclusive and affirming therapeutic settings.
Thriveworks LGBTQ+ counseling in Philadelphia, PA typically begins with an initial assessment to understand your specific needs. LGBTQ+ counselors aim to create a safe, inclusive, and affirming environment for anyone within the LGBTQ+ community by encouraging self-acceptance and offering an understanding of your identity and experiences. LGBTQ+ therapy addresses issues like coming out, discrimination, mental health challenges, and gender transition, and provides support for LGBTQ+ relationships.
LGBTQ+ counseling is incredibly important because it can help queer individuals accept their identity, learn self-love, and give them important tools for facing the challenges of being a queer person in today’s society, among many other benefits. LGBTQ+-affirming therapists can understand the unique perspective and experiences of queer individuals as they help them process past trauma, address family conflicts, treat issues with anxiety, and more.
Thriveworks LGBTQ+ counseling in Philadelphia, PA is conducted both in person and online by video. We encourage you to choose the option that works best for you.
The number of sessions for LGBTQ+ counseling depends on the specific needs and goals of the individual. It could encompass a relatively limited series of sessions or extend into a longer counseling plan. The precise quantity and duration of sessions typically emerge through collaborative discussion with the counselor, taking into account the client’s progress and their therapeutic objectives.
A bedrock of emotional healthy is freedom to be oneself. That means acknowledging likes and dislikes. That means being honest about strengths and weaknesses. It also means being true to one’s gender and sexuality. People who identify at LGBTQ face particular challenges as they seek emotional health and freedom. That is one of the many reasons Thriveworks Philadelphia offers LGBTQ competent therapy. We know that our LGBTQ clients face unique challenges, and we are ready to help them as they fight against repression and fight for freedom. If this resonates with you and you think you could benefit from counseling, reach out to Thriveworks Philadelphia today to schedule your first appointment.
Many untrue and unfair stigmas still plague many in the LGBTQ community, and these stigmas exact a psychological and emotional price. What is the real-world impact of that toll? Consider these grievous realities:
As sobering as these realities are, they only tell half the story. The LGBTQ also faces a dual-stigma: those who often need mental health care the most may have the hardest time finding a competent therapist. The American Psychological Association officially defined homosexuality as a pathology up until 1973. Even though the definition has changed, many therapists are not informed or accepting of the care LGBTQ clients need.
What does it look like for mental health professionals to offer LGBTQ competent care? How can individuals ensure their therapist will respect their gender and sexual orientation? Here are a few tips for choosing a therapist.
Do you want to work with a mental health professional who offers LGBTQ competent care? If you are ready to start counseling, the professionals at Thriveworks Philadelphia are ready to meet with you. When you contact our office, a scheduling specialist will answer your call and help you make an appointment. You may have your first appointment within the week of your first call. We also offer evening and weekend sessions, and we accept many different insurance plans.
Life is hard. Scheduling therapy should not be. Let’s work together. Call Thriveworks Philadelphia today.
Includes individual, couples, child/ teen, & family therapy
Includes reducing symptoms with medication & management
Thriveworks Philadelphia Counseling and Life Coaching is located near the intersection of Walnut Street and S 15th Street, off I-676. It is right by Rittenhouse Square, 15/16th & Locust St subway station, and Philadelphia City Hall. The office is in a historic, high-rise stone building with a gold eagle over the front doors; enter through the main lobby to access Suite 202 or Suite 208.
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