Glow Counseling

LGBT Substance/Sex Addiction 

Substance and Sex Addiction in the LGBT Community

  • To boost confidence?

  • To feel socially accepted?

  • To feel sexually connected and desirable?

  • To self-sooth from distress or trauma?

  • To fit into the bar culture?

 

Gays and Lesbians are three times more likely to struggle with chemical dependency, drug abuse, or other compulsive behaviors or addictions than the general population, not because of their sexual orientation or genetics, but because of societal/cultural, and psychological factors that result from external and internalized homophobia, including:

 

  • Lack of self-acceptance.

  • Self-medication to deal with coming out and daily stressors.

  • Social acceptance and Initiation into the bar scene.

  • Overcoming internal fears about gay sex and sexuality.

  • To deal with loneliness, rejection, or loss.

  • Escape or avoid intimacy.

Characteristics of Addiction:

  • Obsession: thinking or fantasizing about using.

  • Compulsion: acting out the behavior even against self-interest.

  • Habit: continued behavior in spite of negative consequences.

  • Tolerance: it takes more substance or higher risk behavior to get the same effect.

  • Shame, rationalization, or a sense of entitlement.

 

Addiction Recovery and Intervention in My Denver, Colorado, Gay Counseling and Psychotherapy Practice:

Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender, and questioning people, may often get overwhelmed by the pressures to fit or hide in an often hostile society. As a result, many hide their true identities from themselves or others, or medicate with substance abuse or other addictions. This can be particularly difficult and painful when dealing with a wide range of human emotional, sexual, and mental health issues.

 

The process of recovery requires a supportive environment that promotes healthy behaviors and relationships, self-respect and dignity, and personal empowerment to have and make effective choices.

 

Click here for back to GLOW LGBT/Gay affirming psychotherapy HOME page.

Click here for more on LGBT couples counseling in my Denver, Colorado Gay mental health practice.

Click here for more on depression therapy in the LGBT community.

Click here for more on bisexuality counseling in my Denver, Colorado LGBT sex therapy practice.

Click here for more on LGBT domestic abuse and violence in my Denver Gay therapy practice.

Click here for FAQs about Coming Out in my Denver Gay couples counseling practice.

Click here for an article on Gay Parenting.

Click here for more on grief counseling in my Denver Gay counseling practice.

GLOW (Gays and Lesbians Out and Well) is psychotherapy and counseling with a gay-affirming focus for the Denver, Colorado, LGBT community. GLOW specializes in helping Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) persons come out and grow emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. GLOW’s gay counseling is based on the premise that sexuality, creativity, and spirituality are intertwined and dependent on the affirmation of an authentic self-identity. Our work is informed by a philosophy that seeks equality and mental health and wholeness for all people. Click here to learn more about my approach to LGBT issues.

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Moshe Rozdzial, LPC