If you need support right now, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24 hours a day. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
Beyond Acceptance is our LGBTQ counseling service in Homer Glen, Illinois, part of Beyond Healing Counseling & Wellness. If you have been searching for an LGBTQ therapist, Homer Glen is where this service runs. You will find us at 14933 S. Founders Crossing, Homer Glen, IL 60491, and the number to call is 708-737-7968. We provide LGBTQ counseling for adults and adolescents, and across the practice we also offer couples counseling and groups. This page covers what the service is, where it is, and what to expect before you book. You can also read more about Beyond Acceptance, our LGBTQ counseling service.
Table of Contents
LGBTQ Therapist Homer Glen: What Affirming LGBTQ Counseling Means Here
Affirming LGBTQ counseling means a counselor treats your sexual orientation and gender identity as a given part of who you are rather than as the problem to be worked on. It is not a technique and it is not a treatment. Being LGBTQIA+ is not something counseling treats, and an affirming counselor starts from that and moves on to whatever you actually came in about.
Not having to explain yourself first: if the tiring part has been the explaining rather than the counseling, that is worth naming. The opening stretch of a new appointment can go on defining terms and working out how much to disclose before anything useful happens. Beyond Acceptance exists here as a named LGBTQ counseling service, which means the request is not landing on us for the first time.
What that looks like in an appointment is fairly ordinary. You talk about what brought you in. Your identity is part of your life, so it comes up when it is relevant and sits in the background when it is not. If what you want help with is a job, a loss, or an argument at home that has nothing to do with being LGBTQIA+, that is what the appointment is about.
Who Beyond Acceptance Works With
If you are an adult looking for your own counselor, that is what this service is for. People come to counseling for all sorts of reasons and yours does not have to be a large one.
We provide LGBTQ counseling for adolescents as well, and gender and sexual orientation are among the concerns we work with. Parents phone us too, often after a teenager has come out and they are working out who is reasonable to call.
Whatever brings you in, you decide whether your identity is the subject of the work or sits in the background, and that can change as you go.
If a conversation with family is part of what you are carrying, coming out to your family may be worth reading first.
What a First Appointment Is Like
Most of what makes a first LGBTQ counseling appointment easier is knowing which parts are yours to control.
What you decide: how much you say, and when. You are not required to disclose more than you want to, and you can tell a counselor that something is not what you want to talk about yet.
What you can ask for: a different counselor, if the fit is not right. That is a reasonable thing to ask of any practice.
What our office handles: scheduling, cost and the practical side of getting booked in. Call 708-737-7968 and we can walk you through it.
Choosing a Counselor Who Fits You
Fit matters, and you are allowed to look for it rather than take the first name you are given. Questions worth asking any practice offering LGBTQ counseling, ours included:
- Has this counselor worked with LGBTQIA+ clients before, and in what way
- What is their general approach, and what happens if it is not working for me
- Can I change counselor later without starting over
- Am I being booked with a counselor or with a counselor in training
We list our counselors in training separately from our counselors, and a counselor in training is not a licensed therapist.
You can meet the counselors before you call. That page lists 16 counselors, and each bio states that person’s own training and credentials. Across our team those include LCPC, LPC, NCC and NBCC among others. Our founder, Dr. Tracey “Kim” Snow, LCPC, NCC, CFT and EMDR Therapist, has counseled since 1997 and has taught counseling at university level since 2001.
Counseling Approaches Used at the Practice
The approaches we use in LGBTQ counseling and across the practice are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, DBT skills and EMDR. Which one a counselor uses depends on the person in front of them and what that person is working on.
EMDR is a structured therapy worked through in phases, and the professional body for EMDR practitioners states that it should be delivered by trained, licensed mental health clinicians rather than attempted alone [1].
DBT skills are taught in four areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation. DBT itself grew out of cognitive behavioral treatment, which works on the links between what you think, what you do and how you feel [2].
Worth saying plainly: none of these approaches, and no approach in counseling, is aimed at being LGBTQIA+. They are ways of working on things like a conversation you are dreading, a loss, a relationship, or the weariness that comes from being on guard for a long stretch. What you work on is yours to choose.
Visiting Us in Homer Glen or Beverly
LGBTQ counseling in Homer Glen IL
Address: 14933 S. Founders Crossing, Homer Glen, IL 60491
Phone: 708-737-7968
Counseling staff hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, and Saturday by appointment only
Office staff hours: Monday to Thursday, 9am to 6pm
Beyond Acceptance is based at our Homer Glen address. You can read more about our Homer Glen office before you visit. If you are calling to book, the office staff hours above are when someone is there to pick up.
We also have our Beverly location in Chicago at 11846 S. Western, Chicago, IL 60643.
To book, call 708-737-7968. If you would rather know more before picking up the phone, read about Beyond Acceptance, our LGBTQ counseling service.
Questions People Ask Before They Call
Who do you work with: our LGBTQ counseling is for adults and adolescents, one to one. Across the practice we also offer couples counseling and groups.
Will I have to explain what LGBTQIA+ means: you should not have to teach an affirming counselor the basics. Beyond Acceptance is a named service here, so asking for LGBTQ counseling is not an unusual request.
Can I choose who I see: you can read our counselor bios before you call, and you can ask to see someone else later if the fit is not right. That page lists 16 counselors.
How do I book: call 708-737-7968 to book LGBTQ counseling, or contact us if writing is easier than calling.
Key Takeaways
- LGBTQ counseling in Homer Glen IL: call 708-737-7968 to book or ask a question
- Beyond Acceptance is our LGBTQ counseling service at Beyond Healing Counseling & Wellness, 14933 S. Founders Crossing, Homer Glen, IL 60491
- We provide LGBTQ counseling for adults and adolescents, and across the practice we also offer couples counseling and groups
- Affirming counseling means your identity is the starting point rather than the thing being worked on
- You can read our counselor bios before you call, and you can ask to see someone else if the fit is not right
If You Need Help Now
Immediate danger: call 911.
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline [3]: call or text 988, any time, day or night.
LGBTQ+ young people [4]: The Trevor Project, 1-866-488-7386, or text START to 678-678, 24 hours a day. TTY 1-866-803-3699.
Trans and questioning callers [5]: Trans Lifeline peer support, 877-565-8860, Monday to Friday, 12pm to 8pm Central.
Struggling but not in crisis [6]: the Illinois Warm Line, 866-359-7953, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm, except holidays.
Reading a page is not the same as talking to someone. If any of this is close to home, please call one of the numbers above, or call us at 708-737-7968.
References
Counseling approaches described
[1] EMDR International Association, description of EMDR therapy and who may deliver it
[2] Linehan Institute, DBT and the four DBT skills modules
National crisis and support lines
[3] 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, national call, text and chat service
[4] The Trevor Project, crisis support for LGBTQ+ young people
[5] Trans Lifeline, peer support hotline and published hours
Illinois state support lines
[6] Illinois Department of Human Services, state warm line and helpline listings