Queer Mental Health Resources

A list of resources for suicide prevention, LGBTQ outreach, survivors of abuse and self guided therapy

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Even more CBT

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Queer Theories- CBT as medicinal history

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Ally Resources

https://www.straightforequality.org/allyresources -  Straight for Equality

https://www.glaad.org/resources/ally - GLAAD

https://www.hrc.org/explore/topic/allies- Human Rights Campaign

https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Family-Members-and-Caregivers/Taking-Care-of-Yourself - NAMI Self-care for caregivers 

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https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/cbt-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-techniques-worksheets/#cbt-tools

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LGBTQ Suicide Resources

http://www.revelandriot.com/resources/suicide-prevention/ - Revel and Riot’s list of suicide resources for queer people

http://afsp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/talking-about-suicide-and-lgbt-populations-2nd-edition.pdf - Talking About Suicide and LGBTQ Communities

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/#sm.000zs67zp1akifsvsve1rqgm91tfx - The Trevor Project Resources

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or call 800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (US)

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Intimate Partner Violence Resources

https://www.thehotline.org/ or call 800-799-7233 or 800-787-3224 (TTY) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline

https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/health/lgbtq-ipv/ FUTURES LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence Materials

http://lgbtqipv.org/ - National LGBTQ Institute on IPV

https://www.nwnetwork.org/ -  The NW Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse

https://vawnet.org/sc/rates-and-prevalence-dv-lgbtq-communities - Queer resources from Violence Against Women Network

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Resources

http://www.projectyouthaffirm.org/-  Affirm is a CBT group for LGBTQ youth

https://adaa.org/finding-help/mobile-apps - ADAA Reviewed Mental Health Apps (CBT on the go through your phonne)

https://moodsmith.com/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-cbt/ MoodSmith’s overview of CBT

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/cbt-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-techniques-worksheets/ - Comprehensive look at CBT, including the 15 cognitive distortions (aka toxic thoughts)

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Resources for Abuse Survivors

https://www.nwnetwork.org/ - The NW Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse

https://www.glaad.org/amp/queer-survivors-guide-after-sexual-violence - GLAAD:  a queer survivor's guide to intimacy after sexual violence

http://avp.org/ or call 212-714-1141 - The Anti-Violence Project

https://www.rainn.org/ or call 800-656-HOPE (4673) - RAINN 

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Why CBT - My Queer Theory

Having dealt with mental health issues for nearly my whole life and as a survivor of abuse, I have tried many strategies to deal with depression and PTSD.  I do not tolerate medication well, so I use cognitive behavioral therapy to help me manage my thoughts and emotions.  I am fortunate enough to have access to a therapist, but CBT is a tool I can use daily on my own.  

Self-care is important for anyone, and especially any activists or people in caregiver roles.  Dealing with negative thoughts or persistent negative emotions around an upsetting event is a way to manage stress before it overwhelms us.  CBT is an effective tool to identify toxic thoughts and logically reframe those thoughts until we feel relief.

I believe that openly addressing mental health issues or the necessity of self-care is way to queer the subject of mental health.  I feel that CBT is not only a tool for people who have experienced abuse or depression, but is great for allies and activists that may be internalizing negative feelings from others.  Talking about and utilizing CBT is a way to destigmatize self-care and mental health and just increase people’s tool kits for dealing with problems.

After I decided to make CBT my focus in my queer theory, I found out about AFFIRM, which is a program that gives young LGBTQ+ people lessons in CBT that “ was developed to counter the harmful and unethical ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapies which pathologize LGBTQ+ identities and coercively aim to change minority sexual orientations and/or gender identities” (https://www.pathwaysrtc.pdx.edu/pdf/Webinar_AFFIRMative-CBT-Supporting-LGBTQ-Youth-09-20-16.pdf).  I think this is a great program and I’m really happy to contribute to the conversation in my own way.

CBT is not a cure all- therapy and medication are still necessary for many people with mental health issues.  But studies show that combining multiple treatments are more effective than just using one treatment alone, and there are no real side effects for trying CBT. Queer people often face negative opinions that leads to minority stress (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2072932/).  Providing tools to deal with this in a healthy way will make stronger activists.