Why an LGBTQ+ Therapy Group?
For many LGBTQ+ people, finding safe, affirming spaces to explore identity, relationships, and emotional wellbeing can be challenging. Even with growing social acceptance, the legacy of stigma, exclusion, and discrimination continues to affect mental health. Group therapy for LGBTQ+ individuals offers a unique, powerful opportunity for healing through shared experience, reflection, and connection.
This page introduces a new LGBTQ+ group therapy offering grounded in group analytic principles. You’ll find why group therapy can be especially beneficial for LGBTQ+ people, how the process works, and what to expect if you’re considering joining.
Why Group Therapy?
Group therapy is a form of psychological treatment where a small group meets regularly with a trained therapist to explore emotions, behaviours, and relationships. Unlike individual therapy, it provides the chance to connect with others facing similar challenges and to learn through shared experiences, feedback, and reflection.
For LGBTQ+ people, group therapy can be particularly powerful. It offers a space where identity is not only respected but deeply understood. A well-facilitated group becomes a microcosm of society, helping participants examine how they relate to others, how they manage shame, trust, and vulnerability, and how social marginalisation may shape their lives.
In groups of people with shared marginalised identities, the therapeutic potential is amplified. Alongside mutual understanding of experiences such as coming out, navigating family rejection, or facing transphobia, a shared resilience emerges. This collective resilience can foster a deeply supportive and transformative space.
Understanding Minority Stress
Minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003) explains how people from marginalised groups experience chronic stress due to stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. This additional layer of stress can contribute to higher rates of anxiety, depression, substance use, and isolation among LGBTQ+ communities.
Minority stress can show up as:
- Fear of rejection or discrimination
- Internalised homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia
- Hypervigilance or masking in social situations
- A sense of being “othered” in mainstream spaces, including healthcare
- Disconnection from community or supportive networks
LGBTQ+ group therapy provides a setting where these experiences can be named, explored, and challenged. Simply being in a space where others understand these dynamics can be a profound relief. As participants share their stories, many discover that their struggles are not personal failings but responses to systemic conditions—an insight that can be liberating and transformative.
Research by Frost and Meyer (2009) also highlights how internalised stigma affects relationship quality and emotional wellbeing. Group work helps externalise these beliefs and supports a more compassionate, empowered self-narrative.
A Group Analytic Approach
This LGBTQ+ therapy group is run from a group analytic perspective (Foulkes). Group analysis emphasises our social nature and sees the group as a matrix of meaning, where healing arises not only from the therapist but also from relationships between members.
In this framework, the group is a space to work through relational patterns, uncover unconscious dynamics, and deepen insight into the self-in-relation-to-others. The therapist acts as a conductor, maintaining a safe, reflective environment while allowing the group to evolve organically.
Because of the depth of the work, there is an assessment process before joining. This ensures the group is a good fit and that you’re ready for the kind of emotional work group therapy involves. It also gives you space to ask questions and consider whether this is the right step for you.
The group is a slow open group: it runs continuously, and new members can join over time (following assessment) as space becomes available. This approach retains depth and cohesion while allowing gradual evolution.
Fee: £10 per session, paid monthly. The low-cost structure is designed to keep the group accessible while supporting sustainability. If this fee is a barrier, please get in touch—reduced fees may be available depending on your circumstances.
A group analytic group is not just a support group (though it is supportive). It’s a place for deep psychological work, where unconscious processes become visible through interaction. It offers a rare chance to work on how you relate to others in real time, in a space that reflects wider social dynamics.
What Can Group Therapy Help With?
LGBTQ+ group therapy can support a wide range of emotional and relational challenges, including:
- Low self-esteem or internalised shame
- Anxiety or depression
- Relationship or intimacy difficulties
- Isolation or disconnection from community
- Experiences of discrimination or exclusion
- Processing gender or sexual identity
- Life transitions (coming out, family conflict, breakups, etc.)
- Coping with trauma or chronic stress
The group is not only a space to talk about problems but also to cultivate hope, resilience, and connection. It’s a place to rehearse new ways of relating, receive feedback, be witnessed—and witness others—fostering a strong sense of belonging and affirmation.
Over time, the group becomes a holding environment where members build capacity to sit with discomfort, engage in meaningful reflection, and take emotional risks—core ingredients of personal transformation.
Case Study (Fictionalised)
Alex, a 29-year-old non-binary person, joined after struggling with isolation and social anxiety. Despite having affirming friends, they often felt like an outsider and feared judgment.
Initially quiet, Alex resonated with others’ stories and noticed parallels between their silence in the group and patterns in personal relationships. As confidence grew, Alex shared more about experiences of bullying, family rejection, and pressure to conform.
Supportive feedback helped Alex challenge internalised shame. Over time, they trusted more, took up space, and became a source of insight for newer members—rediscovering their voice through the group process.
What to Expect
The group meets online weekly for 90 minutes. Sessions are unstructured—there’s no set agenda. Members are encouraged to speak about what feels most present or pressing.
As a slow open group, new members join following assessment and when space becomes available. Diversity across the LGBTQ+ spectrum is welcomed and celebrated, with an active commitment to inclusion and anti-oppressive practice.
The therapist maintains boundaries and safety while facilitating emotional and relational processes. Over time, members co-create a culture of trust, reflection, and mutual care.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve ever felt alone in your experience or unsure where you belong, LGBTQ+ group therapy may offer something different—not just a place to talk, but a place to be seen, to connect, and to grow in community.
This group offers deep reflection, shared insight, and genuine connection. It’s not about fixing what’s broken, but discovering what’s possible when you’re no longer alone.
If you’re interested in joining the LGBTQ+ therapy group or want to know more about the assessment process, please get in touch. We can explore whether this is the right step for you.
References
- Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697.
- Foulkes, S. H. (1986). Group Analytic Psychotherapy: Method and Principles. Karnac.
- Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2020). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (6th ed.). Basic Books.
- Frost, D. M., & Meyer, I. H. (2009). Internalized homophobia and relationship quality among lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56(1), 97–109.
- Dalal, F. (2001). Race, Colour and the Processes of Racialization: New Perspectives from Group Analysis, Psychoanalysis, and Sociology. Brunner-Routledge.
- Garland, C. (2010). The Groups Book: Psychoanalytic Group Therapy: Principles and Practice. Karnac Books.
