There’s no getting around it, it’s a tough year for queers. Attacks on our community are becoming pervasive and normalized, and it’s more important than ever to be intentional about taking care of ourselves. 

Here are some of the common things that therapists are hearing from their queer clients this year. 

1. “When working with queer clients in 2025 and as a queer-identified therapist myself, I’ve found myself aware of an undercurrent of anxiety. The strongest support for this anxiety that I’ve witnessed and experienced has been community. With friends, in support groups, and in sessions, I’ve found that the existence of empathetic and loving spaces to be a vital way for queer folks to feel seen, heard, and important—despite news items, legislation, and too many voices expressing the contrary.” 

   - Gabrielle Guadalupe, MHC-LP (profile)

2. “In 2025, I have seen a growing number of queer clients bringing the political into therapy, as queer rights continue to be questioned and threatened under the current administration. This often shows up in how clients relate to their own embodiment. I frequently hear clients reporting ambivalent feelings towards taking up space, noticing rounded, tense, and protective postures dominating the body, and experiencing a felt-sense of fear of being "in trouble". At the same time, I see a deep fire in these same individuals to take processing these challenges into their own hands - accessing queer-affirming care, reclaiming their experience, and moving towards a grounded, expansive, and secure sense of embodiment as an act of radical self-love and political resistance.”

- Alisha Borges, APCC (profile) 

3. “I’ve noticed a striking duality among my queer and transgender clients this year. Among many of the people I work with, there’s an impulse to protect themselves from the mounting threats of our world by hiding and isolating. And then there are others who are protecting themselves by intentionally — some for the first time — growing their queer communities. It’s the difference between letting the fear consume you and using it as a catalyst. And both are completely normal and understandable reactions to what we’re experiencing in 2025.” 

- Laura Newberry, ACSW (profile)

4. “What I’ve noticed this year is a major uptick in anxiety, which seems to present as vague, generalized anxiety. That anxiety can easily latch onto personal things like our work, our bodies, and our relationships, so I have found it important to keep the collective lens present in session… we are pretty much all anxious right now, and for good reason. Queer people tend to be very sensitive to our environments, and we seem to be feeling not only individual anxiety about what all these changes mean for us and our safety, but also the collective anxiety around us.”  

- Nick Fager, LMHC, LPCC (profile)

5. “Many of my queer clients have been very intentional about developing and maintaining community this year. Even if out of their comfort zones, folks have taken steps to connect with others in meaningful ways. I think this may be due to a common realization that navigating life in solitude is not sustainable, especially during times of deep uncertainty and fear.” 

- Amira Gregory, ACSW (profile)

6. “Between passports being withheld, the ICE raids and deportations, the attacks on trans rights, Gaza, etc., my queer clients have reported not feeling safe in the U.S. Unease, mistrust, and profound grief and sadness have been reported. Some have expressed a desire to leave the country.” 

- Dara Wells-Hajjar, LCSW (profile)

7. “For my queer clients this year especially, there has been a heavy emphasis on the importance of community. Many clients are looking not only for environments where they can show up as they are and talk about the increasingly oppressive political climate, but also environments where they feel they can experience joy. Community that has allowed for all emotions (i.e., anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness, joy, humor) has been crucial in the mental wellness of most of my queer clients.”

 -Stephanie Yandow, MHC 

If you’re queer and looking to start therapy in New York or California, we have immediate openings. Feel free to reach out to our practice at info@expansivetherapy.com.