Psychotherapy with lesbian and gay clients from an adult life course perspective

R. Kertzner

A life course perspective of gay and lesbian adulthood enriches our understanding of clinical presentations and modifies our conception of psychotherapy. The author describes shifts in his psychotherapeutic orientation characterized by an increasing recognition of the importance of social, cultural, and historical forces that shape gay and lesbian mental health. Given the uncharted nature of many gay and lesbian lives across adulthood, existential questions about the meaning of life choices are often present in the consulting room. Therapists working with gay and lesbian clients embark on an empathic journey informed by treatment skills as well as our joint participation in a world of significant social change.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]