Unique couple stressors among same-sex couples in therapy: Perspectives from counsellors
- The Indian Journal of Social Work
- 83(2), Apr, 2022: p.271-290
The lack of visibility of LGB couples in traditional models of psychotherapy have prevented Same-Sex Couples (SSC) from accessing therapy. Euro-American literature on queer affirmative counselling has provided little implications for working with Indian LGB couples. This article presents the results of an exploratory study aimed to understand the psychosocial concerns brought by SSC to therapy. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted with counsellors. The findings from thematic analysis suggest that SSC access couple therapy to address Unique Couple Stressors (UCS), namely, erasure and invisibilisation of relationship, coming out as a couple, lack of queer scripts of couplehood and health inequities, apart from common interpersonal issues. The UCS, expectations of SSC from therapy, the challenges faced by counsellors and implications for clinical practice have been discussed. – Reproduced
Couple and family therapy, Same-sex couples, Queer affirmative counseling, Unique couple stressors.