WELCOME
LGBT people become parents in a variety of ways, including adoption, foster parenting, donor insemination, surrogacy, and from previous heterosexual relationships. LGBT families are creating new ways to live together.
CONCERNS
- Challenging Definitions of Egalitarianism
- Gender of children
- Race and social class
- Biological relatedness
- Negotiating identities and social positions
- Abusive lesbian relationships
- Monogamy and open relationships
- Affairs and betrayals
- The problems arise from dry and alcoholism
- The problems come from independence and interdependency
- Communication
- Understanding what arguments are trying to achieve
- Issues concerning intimacy and sex and learning the differences between them
- Building skills that can help you stay together over a lifetime.
SYMPTOMS
1. Depression - The LGBT family members, especially the children, day by day, coping with negative thoughts and cultural stigmas. They are the persons who easier to get the stronger of bullying, teasing, despising, physical violence than their heterosexual friends.
- Feelings of sadness
- Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism, uncontrollable worry
- Withdrawal from social activities
- Irritability, anger
- Restlessness
- Loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable
- Fatigue and decreased energy
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Changes in sleeping habits
- Change in appetite
- Changes in sexual behavior or sex drive
- Thoughts of suicide, or preoccupation with death
- Physical aches or pains, including headaches and cramps
2. Anxiety - The young LGBT are sensible to the perspectives of social unacceptability, harmful ideas. They also suffer social anxiety, shame, and depression.
- Racing or pounding heart
- Trembling
- Sweaty palms
- Feelings of terror
- Chest pains or heaviness in the chest
- Dizziness and lightheadedness
- Fear of dying
- Fear of going crazy
- Fear of losing control
- Feeling unable to catch one’s breath
- Tingling in the hands, feet, legs, or arms
3. Stress - The heavy pressures on LGBT are discrimination, home separation, racism.
EMOTIONALLY FOCUSED THERAPY
The LGBT parents and children are coping with many waves of anger, fear, loss of trust and the risk of breaking, EFT will help them to deal with these problems. The difference with LGBTQ+ clients is that most have more attachment trauma IF their families and friends were not, or are not, supportive of their sexual orientation. Some LGBTQ+ clients have more shame if they were raised being told that engaging in same-sex relationships was “bad” or “wrong”. If this has occurred, the EFT model will help heal these negative beliefs and emotions through exploring the history, validating the partners, and creating corrective experiences so that new beliefs and emotions will be created. Moreover, the present time “here and now” is concentrated that couples can transform. It happens in three steps:
The LGBT parents and children are coping with many waves of anger, fear, loss of trust and the risk of breaking, EFT will help them to deal with these problems. The difference with LGBTQ+ clients is that most have more attachment trauma IF their families and friends were not, or are not, supportive of their sexual orientation. Some LGBTQ+ clients have more shame if they were raised being told that engaging in same-sex relationships was “bad” or “wrong”. If this has occurred, the EFT model will help heal these negative beliefs and emotions through exploring the history, validating the partners, and creating corrective experiences so that new beliefs and emotions will be created. Moreover, the present time “here and now” is concentrated that couples can transform. It happens in three steps:
- De-escalate the couple’s ore family member’s negative cycle of interactions, and help them see and understand what is happening in their relationship.
- Restrict the interactions in terms of helping the clients discuss their fears in the relationship. The clients understand more each other and become more open to each other.
- Consolidate the history in terms of helping clients to recognize how they were in negative patterns and pointing out that they could come out and change those patterns and will keep changing in the future.
STRUCTURAL FAMILY THERAPY
Through the sessions, the clients are encouraged to look at family relationships, behaviors, then they can evaluate the structure of the family. The LGBT family members need to make their relationships stronger because they don’t have blood relationships. Focusing on family relationships, behaviors, and patterns as they are exhibited within the therapy session in order to evaluate the structure of the family. Employing activities such as role-play in session, therapists also examine subsystems within the family structure, such as parental or sibling subsystems.
There are 3 stages of therapy:
Through the sessions, the clients are encouraged to look at family relationships, behaviors, then they can evaluate the structure of the family. The LGBT family members need to make their relationships stronger because they don’t have blood relationships. Focusing on family relationships, behaviors, and patterns as they are exhibited within the therapy session in order to evaluate the structure of the family. Employing activities such as role-play in session, therapists also examine subsystems within the family structure, such as parental or sibling subsystems.
There are 3 stages of therapy:
- Join the family and accommodate to its members’ styles (build an alliance).
- Map the family structure, boundaries, and hierarchy (evaluate and assess)
- Intervene to transform the structure to diminish symptoms (address the problems they identified in the assessment)
GOALS
- Identification - Clients will find their positions and stands in family and society so that they are confident to take care of their lives.
- Acceptance - Clients can keep pace with society and be accepted by the community.
- Equality - There is no longer the feeling and thoughts of being discriminated and marginalized.