About us
You are looking for a counsellor who is not going to make you do the explaining. Who is not going to be politely curious about your identity or your relationship structure. Who is not going to treat being LGBTQIA+ as the problem, or as separate from the problem, or as something the therapy has to carefully accommodate.
You are looking for someone who already knows.
What affirming therapy means here
Affirming, as we use the word, is not a marketing claim. It is a practice. It means our therapists work from an understanding that LGBTQIA+ identities and relationships are not pathologies to be managed but valid forms of human life that deserve the same depth of clinical engagement as any other. It means you can bring all of yourself into the room — your identity, your relationships, your community, your history — without having to translate.
It also means that when the work needs to engage with the specifics of LGBTQIA+ experience, our therapists can do that competently. Coming out — at any age. Navigating a family or workplace that has not caught up. The particular weight of minority stress, internalised stigma, or the experience of having been pathologised by services that were supposed to help. Relationship questions that traditional couples therapy historically handled poorly — same-sex relationships, polyamorous and non-monogamous arrangements, kink-aware practice, gender-diverse partnerships. The intersection between LGBTQIA+ identity and neurodivergence, which is more common than is sometimes recognised.
We work with all of this, and we work with it without making it the only thing in the room. Sometimes the work has very little to do with being LGBTQIA+. Sometimes it has everything to do with it. The point is that you do not have to decide in advance which one it will be.
What we do not do
We do not practise conversion therapy in any form. We do not offer therapy that aims to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. We are committed signatories — in spirit and in practice — to the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy. Where a client is questioning their identity, we offer a safe and non-directive space for exploration. We never push toward a particular outcome.
Online sessions, designed for safety
The majority of our work is conducted online, which for many LGBTQIA+ clients matters significantly. You can have sessions from a space that already feels safe. You do not have to travel through a town or workplace where being seen entering a therapist's office might carry implications you would rather avoid. You can have sessions on your terms, in your space, with your privacy intact. Face-to-face sessions are available in some locations — please ask.
Who you would be working with
Hope Therapy is a team of more than 90 qualified counsellors and therapists. Our LGBTQIA+ affirming practice is led by therapists with specific training and lived experience in this area, and includes practitioners who themselves identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Every therapist is a registered member of a UK professional body. We are an NCPS Organisational Member.
You will be matched to a therapist whose training, identity, and approach fit what you are looking for. If having an LGBTQIA+ therapist matters to you, please ask — we will match accordingly.
How starting works
A free 15-minute consultation is the most useful first step. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing. You can use it to ask anything — about the therapist, about the approach, about how we handle confidentiality, about anything that would make you feel safer about beginning. There are no questions that are too small to ask.
A note on what we don't offer
We do not provide crisis support and do not work with people who are actively at risk of harming themselves. If that is where you are right now, please contact the Samaritans (116 123, free, 24 hours), Switchboard LGBT+ helpline (0800 0119 100), your GP, or 999 in an emergency.
One honest thing
Being seen properly, by someone who already understands the basic shape of your life, is not a small thing. For many LGBTQIA+ clients, the experience of working with a genuinely affirming therapist is the first time they have been able to do therapy without spending part of the work explaining or defending who they are. That is what we are here to offer.
Training, qualifications & experience
Our mental health and wellbeing support includes private clients looking for personal counselling (One to One, Couples & Families) through to Large County Councils, Charities and Companies where the organisation may be arranging or funding sessions, possibly through an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) arrangement.
We have access to counsellors covering a large number of areas throughout England, so you may well be able to see us face-to-face wherever you are. However, we all offer Skype, Zoom and telephone support, so wherever you are, we will be able to work with you. People work with us from literally all areas of the country and, in some cases, from abroad.
Member organisations *
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations. In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Areas of counselling we deal with
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Rates are variable depending on requirements. Please enquire to find out more.
When we work
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We are able to offer flexible hours - please ask to find out more.
