Sexual and mental health, addiction, and treatment are nuanced issues within the LGBTQ+ community. It is essential to seek treatment at a facility that understands these issues. It is crucial to ensure your treatment aligns with your wants, needs, and personal or sexual identity so that you can get the most out of your treatment experience.
Pride Institute’s LGBTQ+ sexual health program aims to educate the community about the risks and benefits of LGBTQ+ sexuality and how mental health and substance use relate to sexual health. Reach out to us today for more information about our LGBTQ+ addiction recovery programs by calling 888.408.1625 or filling out our confidential online form.
What Is an LGBTQ+ Sexual Health Program?
A sexual health program utilizes therapy and educational resources to ensure an individual understands their sexuality and how things like substance use and mental health disorders can affect it. An effective sexual health program can help you to address and heal from past sexual trauma, manage symptoms of life-long STIs, and learn how to set boundaries to protect your sexual health. If you have a history of destructive or problematic sexual behavior, you will get to the root cause of it in order to begin to heal.
Benefits of an LGBTQ+ Sexual Health Program
There are many benefits to enrolling in an LGBTQ+ sexual health program, including:
- Professional therapy and support that is sensitive to LGBTQ+ issues and challenges
- Education about sexual health, addiction, risk, and protection
- Ongoing support after treatment by setting up an aftercare plan
- Learning healthier coping mechanisms and sexual behaviors
- An understanding and validating environment in which to work through past trauma
- Learning how to avoid and manage triggers
Sexual health programs are an invaluable resource to the LGBTQ+ community, and Pride Institute aims to destigmatize the need for such programs.
What Is an LGBTQ+ Sexual Health Program?
The LGBTQ+ sexual health program at Pride Institute is rooted in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is the best evidence-based practice for treating problematic sexual behaviors and substance use. This program aims to normalize, educate, and bring attention to the interconnectedness of substance use and problematic sexual behaviors. Clients with problematic sexual behaviors will begin the process of “untangling” this connection by:
- Learning about engaging in sexual activity and being sexual without the use of drugs and alcohol
- Identifying healthy sexual behaviors to incorporate into their life
- Relieving the stigma and shame associated with past sexual experiences, sexual orientation, and trauma
- Developing a timeline of sexual behaviors and substance use
- Developing strategies to prevent triggers
- Creating safety plans to prevent the recurrence of symptoms
- Setting personal boundary plans that support recovery
- Obtaining resources for continued care after treatment.
Clients will share their experiences in a private group setting that is safe and affirming. This will help normalize their experiences and issues while gaining insight from others with similar behavior patterns. This group will focus on how substance use and sexual activity became linked and how the client can start the process of creating a healthy, sober sexual life that aligns with their values, goals, and recovery. Being around peers who understand what you are going through because they have faced similar situations is highly beneficial to the recovery process.
Eligibility and placement in the group will be based on a clinical assessment that will be done upon admission to our residential treatment center.
We Invite You to Learn More About Pride Institute’s LGBTQ+ Sexual Health Program
There is no shame in seeking help for substance use or mental and sexual health. We understand that the LGBTQ+ community faces stigma and particularly nuanced challenges regarding sexual health treatment, but Pride Institute aims to normalize the conversation within the community, making it easier for those who need help to seek it. Call 888.408.1625 or fill out our online form for more information.
