LGBTQIA
“All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.” – Harvey Milk
At A Purposeful Path, we seek to offer genuine positive regard for whatever your persuasion may be, and unconditional support for needing to further explore your gender, sexuality, thoughts, opinions, and/or curiosities.
Psychotherapy focusing on these individual and social contexts attempts to promote greater awareness and understanding of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (GLBTQIA) issues. Special attention on this website goes to the trangender community, as Ginger Schmidt has trained extensively to work with this population. But anyone in the GLBT community can feel safe working with A Purposeful Path, for we know you need the best care and support in finding your PURPOSEFUL PATH in life!
Transgender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is a person's internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or boy or girl.) For some people, their gender identity does not fit neatly into those two choices. For transgender people, the sex they were assigned at birth and their own internal gender identity do not match.
People in the transgender community may describe themselves using one (or more) of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender, transsexual, and non-binary. Always use the term used by the person.
Trying to change a person's gender identity is no more successful than trying to change a person's sexual orientation -- it doesn't work. So most transgender people seek to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. This is called transition.
As part of the transition process, many transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to change their bodies. Some undergo surgeries as well. But not all transgender people can or will take those steps, and it's important to know that being transgender is not dependent upon medical procedures.
Transgender is an adjective and should never be used as a noun. For example, rather than saying "Max is a transgender," say "Max is a transgender person" or "Max is a transgender man." And transgender never needs an "-ed" at the end.
*Excerpt from GLAAD website: https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq
Some LGBT specific resources:
* SAGE LGBT Elder Hotline 1-888-234-SAGE (7243) is a safe place to call when you need to talk. They provide peer-to-peer support with no judgment. The hotline is open Monday-Friday, 2 PM-10 PM (MST) and Saturday, 10 AM-3 PM (MST).
*PFLAG Fort Collins and Northern Colorado: Parents, Friends and Allies United with LGBT People to Move Equality Forward. https://pflagftcollins.org
*http://glbtcolorado.org : great website for Colorado GLBT resources.
Whatever you need to explore, we are ready to help – contact us today.
Call or email to schedule a phone consultation or intake session!
970.682.8844 | Info@apurposefulpath.com