MUSIC offers short-term individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapies, as well as couple and family psychotherapy to individuals with sexual orientation issues. Because it isn’t always clear what kind of psychotherapy would be most helpful, we offer an initial consultation to assess your situation and help determine which psychotherapy is right for you.
Initial consultation:
On the day of the assessment, you will be asked to fill out a confidential questionnaire before meeting with a member of our team for your consultation. The purpose of this initial meeting is to understand the difficulties that have led you to seek help. At the end of the assessment, we will discuss the different therapeutic modalities that would address your needs. Sometimes, people require additional services outside those offered at MUSIC. Should this happen, we can refer you to other hospital and community services that are sensitive to the needs of our population. It is not uncommon for MUSIC to work collaboratively with other services if the patient desires it.
Short-term individual psychotherapy:
At the end of your assessment, you may be offered short-term individual psychotherapy with a member of our team. The number can vary from a few sessions up to a maximum of 12 sessions depending on the issue being addressed. Not all issues are suitable for short-term work. Due to limited resources, MUSIC does not offer long-term individual psychotherapy but we can refer you to private psychologists in the community who are sensitive to the needs of our population. Many issues that are addressed in long-term individual psychotherapy can also be addressed in interpersonal group psychotherapy, which is available at MUSIC.
Couple and family therapy:
We offer couple and family therapy to a diverse array of family constellations. All families negotiate conflict on a regular basis. Sometimes a new situation arises that leads the couple or family to get stuck in the conflict. In these situations, almost everyone feels that their viewpoint is not being heard. At MUSIC, we can provide a comfortable environment where every member of the couple or family can be heard, and a skilled therapist to help the couple or family work through their impasse.
Group therapy:
Demystifying Homosexuality (DH) workshop
Homophobia is the collection of negative attitudes, beliefs and behaviours towards lesbians, gays and bisexuals. It spans the spectrum from anti-gay jokes and slurs, to discrimination and anti-gay violence. Even now, we are all exposed to this anti-gay sentiment from a very young age and from a variety of sources, so it is easy to start internalizing homophobia (i.e. believing it for yourself) without even realizing it. Internalized homophobia can lead to low self-esteem, self-imposed limits on aspirations, inhibited relationships, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and even suicidality.
Our DH Workshop is geared towards people who do not consider themselves 100% straight and who are unhappy about any homosexual thoughts, feelings or behaviours they may have. Often, a lot of the unhappiness is caused by automatic negative thoughts that we can have about homosexuality. The DH workshop is set up to identify and test these automatic thoughts to see how they affect our feelings and behaviours. By offering another reading of situations and considering alternative thoughts, the group members can challenge themselves to see the same situations differently. We use various methods to present commonly held beliefs about homosexuality – the presentation of “vignettes”, current events, even TV shows. In this way, group participants can share their thoughts and feelings related to the presented material, without needing to disclose their personal stories. Another benefit of working in a group is the opportunity to discover different coping strategies that have not previously been considered.
This 6-session workshop is held weekly and runs for 120 minutes each. It can be in either English or French depending on enrolment.
Interpersonal group psychotherapy:
This psychotherapy group is a unique opportunity for LGBT people who are interested in looking at the ways they relate to others and changing the behaviours they feel aren’t working for them. As you get to know other group members and allow them to know you, feelings and patterns of relating will emerge. Because each person is different, you will have the chance to experience different relationships with each group member. The group therapists are your guide to understanding what is occurring inside and around you. As the group members share their lives, they learn to receive from others, learn to think differently about others, and learn to behave differently toward others. Through your interactions in group, you will learn to improve your own relational style so that your relationships outside of group are more fulfilling.
Our interpersonal psychotherapy groups run 95 minutes and meet once a week from October to June, with the possibility of rejoining a group the following year, for a maximum of 3 years. Our groups are generally comprised of 7 to 9 members who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexuality. Each group has two therapists that work in an insight-oriented approach. We have a Men’s group, a Women’s group, and a Mixed Group available in English and French, depending on the enrolment at the start of each psychotherapy year.
