“I believe that telling our stories first to ourselves and then to one another and the world is a revolutionary act.”

This quote by Janet Mock illustrates the importance of sharing our narratives in order to better process, express, develop compassion for ourselves and others, and heal. Cultivating visibility through perspective-taking is especially important for marginalized groups whose stories have often been dismissed, ignored, or stigmatized. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, the expressive arts can provide an accessible and powerful pathway for exploring sexuality, gender, fluidity, and identity.

LGBTQ+ Mental Health Challenges

While approximately seven percent of US Americans identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise queer, the rate of mental health conditions for queer people is more than twice the rate than for their cisgender, heterosexual peers. In fact, more than half of LGBTQ+ individuals have experienced depression and anxiety in the last year, and one in eight young queer people have attempted suicide. These mental health conditions are often caused or exacerbated by discrimination, stigma, rejection, isolation, shame, violence, and political stressors that prevent equality, safety, and positive representation for queer folks. Stress from discrimination and stigmatization leads to increased emotional distress, substance use, and suicidality on top of other factors that may impact mental health challenges like genetics, life transitions, and adverse childhood experiences. Not only that, but those in marginalized groups are more likely to experience traumatic events and go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

Barriers to Resources for LGBTQ+ People

Access to high-quality and culturally appropriate mental health care is already scarce, but it’s even more limited for LGBTQ+ individuals, especially if they hold more than one marginalized identity.

Depending on the environment in which an individual lives, there may not only be reduced support systems for queer people, but there may also be direct and strong opposition to finding and receiving affirming resources altogether. Healthcare professionals and educators may lack awareness and knowledge surrounding LGBTQ+ issues, especially because there has been insufficient research, training, and accurate representation or visibility. In addition, queer people may also avoid seeking healthcare support due to past experiences with discrimination, homophobia, or transphobia in the field. If people do not feel safe to be visible and disclose their life experiences, they will not receive adequate, holistic care and may even delay receiving healthcare altogether. If those working within the healthcare system receive trauma-informed training and learn queer theory, they will be more likely to recognize prevalent issues affecting LGBTQ+ individuals and be able to create a safe, inclusive environment where individuals can disclose their experiences without fear of judgment or discrimination.

Expressive Arts Identity Exploration Techniques

The expressive arts lends itself to allowing space for holistic, accessible exploration of all aspects of identity and fluidity, including along the sexuality and gender spectrum.

One technique for exploring identity is to engage in mask-making that illustrates both the “inside-out self” and the “outside-in self.” This can be described as reflecting on how one might imagine others describe them versus what one would find if they were to open the individual up and see the core of the person. Utilizing words and symbolism through color, texture, material, and shape, an individual can explore their external identity they present to the outside world as well as their inner world and who they truly know themselves to be.

Working with one’s “coming out” experience might look like a person getting the opportunity to “try on” identities through enactment and movement. This can provide an outlet for stifled expression and the related health impacts and distress that encompass the experiences of repressing, denying, closeting, and masking one’s true emotional experience and identity. Cultivating a space for one to simulate “coming out” or even having the ability to re-do a past “coming out” experience can be empowering and healing for those who have spent much of their life closeted or ashamed of who they are.

Certain visual, tactile, and somatic practices can be useful for those working with the idea of fluidity and how their identity doesn’t have to be fixed. Shifting between more rigid forms of expression like colored pencils into using more fluid materials like watercolor and clay can facilitate permission for fluidity and openness. Collage-making or other similar art forms can also allow for someone to find many parts of self that resonate to create a fuller, more holistic image of how they feel and encapsulate all of who they are.

Doll-making and puppetry is another tool that allows for an individual to cultivate external representation of their identity or even play with these parts of self and practice embodying them in a way that feels safer and more accessible than jumping into actual change in their real life where they may fear consequences and rejection. The act of externalization allows people to connect with parts of themselves in a way that has minimal risk but still provides new ways of exploring and perspective-taking that otherwise might not be available to the participant.

Lastly, it is important to approach identity exploration with trauma-informed care. Cultivating a safe place can ensure individuals feel grounded while engaging in expressive arts techniques. Utilizing one’s senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste, the individual can visualize an environment that makes them feel inherently safe. The participant may even include a protective figure that cares for them as part of this visualization, thus ensuring they always have a space to return to if they experience any triggers, discomfort, or challenges while engaging in identity work.

Using the expressive arts as a vehicle for accessing all parts of identity during Pride Month and beyond can be a transformative, nurturing process. Get curious about these parts that show up within you and reflect on ways you can reconnect with them, allow space for them to exist externally, and continue to learn and grow alongside them. If you would like help in facilitating your self-discovery journey, consider reaching out to a mental health professional who is skilled in queer theory and expressive arts therapy techniques.

Key Points:

● Cultivating visibility through perspective-taking is especially important for marginalized groups whose stories have often been dismissed, ignored, or stigmatized.
● For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, the expressive arts can provide an accessible and powerful pathway for exploring sexuality, gender, fluidity, and identity.
● While approximately seven percent of US Americans identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise queer, the rate of mental health conditions for queer people is more than twice the rate than for their cisgender, heterosexual peers.
● Mental health conditions are often caused or exacerbated by discrimination, stigma, rejection, isolation, shame, violence, and political stressors that prevent equality, safety, and positive representation for queer folks.
● Queer people may avoid seeking healthcare support due to past experiences with discrimination, homophobia, or transphobia in the field due to a lack of research, training, and representation in healthcare systems.
● The expressive arts lends itself to allowing space for holistic, accessible exploration of all aspects of identity and fluidity, including along the sexuality and gender spectrum.
● The act of externalization allows people to connect with parts of themselves in a way that has minimal risk but still provides new ways of exploring and perspective-taking that otherwise might not be available to the participant.

Written by Sarah Engelskirchen-Bugler, MA, LMHC, Graduate of NWCEAI Expressive Arts Training Program