Out with the Family: Surviving the Holidays Being LGBTQ+

The holiday season can be a joyous season full of love and warmth, but it can also be a time of great sadness, isolation, pain, and conflict. Not only do many members of the LGBTQ+ community have various forms of religious trauma due to shame, exclusion, and harassment that can manifest around the holiday season, but we also may have to encounter either close or distant family members who may not be affirming, or even hostile towards our gender or sexual identities. Navigating these situations can be extremely stressful, traumatizing, and potentially hostile. Let’s explore some ways to make the most out of some of these potentially unsafe situations.

Gay Dating: What Are You Looking For?

Dating is a stressful, confusing, frustrating, emotional, exhilarating, anxiety inducing, traumatic… (insert almost any adjective/emotion here) experience. In the unique world of gay dating, many aspects are even more convoluted and muddied. Most gay individuals struggle to navigate the waters of the dating scene, and many find themselves so disillusioned and hopeless from the process that they give up on finding the love that they have dreamed of for so long.

Breathing Exercise of the Week!

This week’s breathing exercise is probably the one I employ most frequently in my everyday life. It’s so simple to do (it doesn’t require any facial or body manipulation), and it’s incredibly effective for the moments when I need a little “emergency calm”. If you suffer from any kind of anxiety, this breathing technique can be a great tool for you slow down your heart rate, and calm your body and mind before those stressful feelings of anxiety get out of control.

Breathing exercise of the week!

The seamless exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that keeps our bodies humming along. And even though it’s a process that is obviously incredibly crucial to our lives, it’s something we typically give very little thought to. It’s one of the hundreds of valuable processes that our bodies execute automatically, and, as such, requires very little of our conscious effort.

Blog

Heights Family Counseling

Heights Family Counseling - Houston

Heights Family Counseling - San Antonio