Group Services

Something we’re excited about in the Gender Affirming Program (GAP) is the opportunity for trans and queer people of all ages to participate in therapy groups, working side-by-side with people who share your identities and may have unique perspectives on your experiences. Affirming community is a powerful resilience factor for LGBTQIA+ people, who experience more mental health problems, discrimination, and stress from social and political sources than cisgender and heterosexual people. In GAP, you can work on building supportive, trusting bonds with members of your community while receiving evidence-based mental health care in one of our therapy groups.

Reach out for more information about which groups are currently running or to get started today!

How to join: You don’t need an SLBMI therapist to join one of our groups. For current SLBMI clients, ask your therapist to put in a referral to join the group. For non-SLBMI clients, call our intake department at 314-289-9411, fill out a new patient form, or email [email protected].

For individuals who do not currently have a therapist, a full mental health evaluation with one of our group leaders will be required before starting, and we may request you begin individual therapy in order to participate in group. Group therapy adds something new, different, and valuable to your treatment plan, but does not take the place of individual therapy for acute clinical problems or high-risk issues.

Cost: Cost varies per group, and many insurance plans cover group therapy with a co-pay. We accept most major insurance companies and are happy to check your insurance benefits for group eligibility.

Queer & Trans Resilience Group

Resilience Group covers a wide range of mental health topics for adults who identify as LGBTQIA+. Each meeting includes a discussion topic, a therapy skill, and community support. People can drop into group whenever they are interested in topics, or attend each meeting. Sample topics include: Anxiety 101, First Aid for Depression, Healthy Relationship Communication, Authentic Gender Expression, Self-Compassion, Working with Shame, & Outness in the Workplace.

Teen Resilience Group

Teens with LGBTQIA+ identities experience more mental health symptoms, more loneliness, and more rejection in their communities than teens without queer and trans identities. Resilience Group is a place to be in community with people who share your experiences and learn how to give and receive affirmation. It’s a place to develop your strengths and coping skills to go out into a world that isn’t always welcoming and not just survive, but thrive.

Teen Resilience Group covers a wide range of mental health topics for high school-aged teens who identify as LGBTQIA+. Each meeting includes a discussion topic, a therapy skill, and community support. People can drop into group whenever they are interested in topics, or attend each meeting. Sample topics include: Anxiety 101, First Aid for Depression, Understanding Emotions, Assertiveness and Boundaries, Crisis Survival Skills, Pros & Cons of Identity Labels, Coming Out, & Gender Spectrums.

LGBTQIA+ Services

Gender identity refers to a person’s innermost concept of themselves as male, female, both or neither, or any other gender. It can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth. Sexual orientation refers to the inherent emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people. Both exist on a spectrum and may fluctuate throughout the lifespan, requiring personal discovery and experience to understand. Although gender and sexuality are separate, unrelated dimensions of the self, the experiences of stigma and discrimination often overlap in gender and sexual minorities.

GAP therapists have unique experience and training working with transgender and non-binary people, as well as people with sexual orientations across the spectrum. Many of our therapy groups are designed to serve both trans and queer people, and we provide individual therapy to many LGBQIA+ identified people in the St Louis area. If you are looking for a therapist who is familiar with the challenges and celebrations in queer lives, GAP can help.

Community Resources

• Trans Lifeline – translifeline.org, 877-565-8860
• The Trevor Project Crisis Line – thetrevorproject.org, 866-488-7386
• St Louis Queer Support Helpline – 314-380-7774
• SAGE Missouri LGBT Elder Hotline – 888-234-7243
• Get started updating your MO identity documents – transequality.org/documents/state/missouri
• St Louis Queer Support Helpline Book of Local Resources – thesqsh.org/resources.html
• St Louis Metro Trans Umbrella Group (includes food, name change, and clothes swap resources) – stlmetrotrans.com
• St Louis Pride Center – pridestl.org
• The Spot (free counseling and sexual health resources for youth) – thespot.wustl.edu
• SLU Family Clinic for Queer and Trans Youth – slu.edu/medicine/family-medicine/cecter-counseing-family-therapy/lgbtq-family-clinic.php
• Washington University Transgender Center – physicians.wustl.edu/specialties/lgbtq-health/washington-university-transgender-center/
• St Louis Children’s Transgender Center – stlouischildrens.org/conditions-treatments/transgender-center
• National Center for Trans Equality – transequality.org
• Transparent for families of trans folks – transparentusa.org
• LGBT National Health Center – glbthotline.org