LGBTQIA+ Affirmative THERAPY Center

Individual Therapy

The Center focuses on providing a safe and welcoming space and LGBTQ-affirmative psychotherapy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, non-binary, two-spirit, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual individuals. Therapists are trained on current affirmative therapy practices for gender and sexual minorities of diverse backgrounds and are knowledgeable about the sociopolitical and intersectional challenges impacting the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Unlike most community mental health clinics where clients are required to utilize insurance panels, AMCS does not limit the number of sessions. At AMCS, we have the flexibility to provide open-ended and longer-term treatment for our clients on a sliding scale basis. Our LGBTQ+ clients have sought treatment for depression, anxiety, trauma, coming out issues, gender dysphoria, family conflicts, romantic relationships, sexual health and intimacy, body image issues, career identity, grief and loss, and more. 

GROUP Therapy

Join the Center’s LGBTQ+ Process Group

Navigating healthy relationships with self and others

Tuesdays, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Virtual via Zoom – $15/ Session

Taylor Yates (she/they) x140 / tyates@amcshelps.com

Adriana Hymovitz (she/her) Ext. 180 / ahymovitz@amcshelps.com

  • Open to all lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, non-binary, two-spirit, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual adults

  • Offers a safe space to discuss and examine relationships—whether they be romantic, professional, platonic, family-oriented, or other.

  • Collective exploration of the unique concerns and questions faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals traversing interpersonal relations

Couples/Polycules Therapy

We offer therapy for LGBTQ couples and polycules who are struggling with romantic relationship concerns including communication skills, healthy boundaries, conflict resolution, sexual intimacy, parenting, coming out issues, gender transition, and other challenges impacting relationship intimacy and satisfaction. Partners may be gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, non-binary, two-spirt, queer, intersex, or asexual. The relationship may be a similar-gender or different-gender relationship or a mixed-orientation relationship, thus we also work with "straight-passing" relationships where one or more partners are LGBTQ-identified. Our psychotherapists are trained in LGBTQ-affirmative therapy and are knowledgeable regarding polyamory and ethical non-monogamy practices. Please inquire today by calling our front office and asking to see a therapist in our LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy Center.

PRIDE FEST

Every year, Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS) celebrates diversity and inclusion at its annual LGBTQ Pride Fest – a free community event aimed at reducing stigma around mental health and raising awareness of low-cost or free mental health services in Los Angeles.

Check out our 2024 event HERE

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MORE ABOUT THE AMCS Affirmative THERAPY Center

Airport Marina Counseling Service is proud to have one of the few LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy Centers in Los Angeles. The center specializes in psychotherapy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender folks and welcome all cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

The center, launched in 2018, makes AMCS the only clinic in the area specializing in services specifically geared toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) population.

Study after study shows LGBT Americans suffer from mental health disorders at rates far exceeding heterosexual people — depression strikes gay men at six times the rate of straight men; nearly half of transgender people encounter symptoms of anxiety and depression; lesbians and bisexual women also deal with higher rates of mental health struggles than their straight sisters, with bisexual women faring even worse than lesbians. LGB youth are four times more likely, and questioning youth three times more likely, to attempt suicide as their straight peers; 41 percent of transgender people have attempted to end their lives.

It is important for the center to be a safe, welcoming place for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identify, so AMCS therapists do their best to make that connection. They treat the whole person, not just their sexual orientation or gender.

Mimi Hoang, Ph.D. (she/her)

LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy Center Program Coordinator

Dr. Hoang is a nationally-recognized psychologist, educator, author, and grassroots activist specializing in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQ+) and Asian Pacific Islander (API) communities. Since the 1990s, she has co-founded three organizations in Los Angeles for bisexual, pansexual, fluid, and other nonmonosexual (AKA "bi+") individuals, authored multiple publications, and earned a seat at the landmark 2013 White House Bisexual Community Roundtable. In addition, Dr. Mimi is the owner of Living in Color Therapy and is the creator of the one-of-a-kind "Bi on Life" self-empowerment series.

OUR PARTNERS

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY

LOS ANGELES

AMCS partners with Antioch University, which launched one of the nation’s first graduate psychology specializations devoted to affirmative psychology for LGBTQIA+ individuals over 10 years ago. Antioch is helping to provide student trainees to AMCS and working with the clinic to make sure its paperwork, intake methodology and public spaces are all affirmative, focusing on client comfort in working toward authenticity and self-acceptance regarding sexual orientation.