COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH
At the Gender Health Center, counseling services focus on Queer-informed Narrative therapy. This modality of therapy utilizes the power of peoples’ personal stories. Community members are encouraged, through a respectful and cooperative relationship, to address the issues in their lives that exist amidst social, political, and cultural contexts.
We keep our mental health services as accessible as possible by using a sliding-scale and not turning anyone away for lack of funds. Our individual, relational, and family counseling services are open to all ages. We do not accept insurance.
To be placed on the counseling waitlist, please click the link above to fill out our waitlist form (in the pink box). Alternatively, you can call our front desk at (916) 455-2391.
Our mental health services are now available virtually and in-person!
NARRATIVE THERAPY
Narrative Therapy is a modality of therapy that operates with the foundational understanding that the person is separate from the problem. From there, narrative therapists co-facilitate relationships between the person and the problem. The first documented formal narrative therapy occurred in the 1980s, where practices like reflecting teams and re-membering practices were used in relation to work with Maori communities in New Zealand.
Narrative therapy is unique in that it lends itself to bridging the gap between micro- and macro-level frameworks. Narrative therapy deconstructs the stories that we have written for ourselves. It is a form of community-led counseling and encourages people to rely on their own skill sets to navigate the issues that exist in their everyday lives. It holds the belief that a person’s identity is formed by our experiences or narratives. Because the issue is seen as a separate entity from the person, a therapist can help a client externalize sensitive issues, and position them in the context of the world around them. This objectification dissipates resistance and defenses and allows a client to address this entity in a more productive manner.
The Gender Health Center is one of the only places in the country that provides intensive training and exposure to narrative therapy, values, and ethics.
To learn more about narrative therapy, we suggest these reads.
Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends
https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Means-Therapeutic-Michael-White/dp/0393700984
What is narrative therapy?: An easy-to-read introduction
https://www.amazon.com/What-narrative-therapy-easy-read/dp/0957792905
If Problems Talked: Narrative Therapy in Action (The Guilford Family Therapy Series)
https://www.amazon.com/If-Problems-Talked-Narrative-Guilford/dp/1572301295
