53 W Jackson Blvd. #838 Chicago, IL 60604
Mon - Fri: 9AM-8PM
Sat: 9 AM-5 PM
Sun: Closed
53 W Jackson Blvd. #838 Chicago, IL 60604
Mon - Fri: 9AM-8PM
Sat: 9 AM-5 PM
Sun: Closed
Sexual and Gender Identity Counseling in Chicago (in-person or online throughout Illinois) offers a safe, affirming place to explore your identity, relationships, and lived experience. Exploring your gender or sexual identity can be liberating, joyful, confusing, painful (or all of those things at once). It can feel both like coming home to yourself and like the self you know is falling apart.
At Gemstone Wellness, many of our therapists are queer, and all are deeply trained in LGBTQIA2S+ care. If working with a queer therapist is your preference, we’ll gladly match you with one.
Celebrate who you are. Build a life that honors it.
Reach out today for a consultation.
Living with a sexual or gender identity that falls outside society’s expected norms can be exhausting, isolating, and confusing. From a young age, you are taught through family, religion, media, and culture that straight, cisgender identity is “right” and everything else must be explained, hidden, or corrected.
The world actively teaches binaries: male/female, gay/straight, right/wrong. Politics, laws, and public discourse often weaponize these binaries to control and divide, leaving queer and trans people constantly evaluating whether it is safe to exist openly. The stress of living in this constant alert state is real, exhausting, and unrelenting – but it is not your fault.
Taking care of your mental health is not just self-care. It is both survival and resistance. Here are some common issues that our clients who are seeking sexual and gender identity therapy come to us with:
These feelings are exhausting and can be relentless. You might be asking: What does this part of me mean? Why do I feel so much pressure to know? What if I’m not sure? Is it okay if I change?
We’re telling you right now: Yes. It is okay. You are not behind. You don’t have to be sure. You are not too much. You are loved. You are becoming.
Sexual identity therapy and gender identity therapy are not the same thing, but they often go hand in hand. For many people, their sexuality and gender influence one another in meaningful ways.
ou might be exploring how identity shifts affect attraction, how coming out in one area changes the other, and how your relationships interact with both. Therapy provides space to understand these intersections without needing neat answers or fixed categories.
Sexual identity therapy offers space to explore your sexual orientation, desires, relationships, and the impact of societal conditioning on how you view yourself. It is for people who are:
• Questioning their sexual orientation
• Feeling confused, ashamed, or pressured
• Exploring fluidity in attraction
• Navigating coming out (or choosing not to)
• Healing from heteronormativity or shame
• Integrating sexuality into relationships, culture, or spirituality
Sexual identity therapy in Chicago can help you understand and validate your attraction and explore your identity without pressure or labels. Working with an experienced therapist also means that you’ll be able to work towards reducing your anxiety, shame and internal conflict. You’ll learn to navigate your relationships (romantic, platonic and familial), dating and community. Lastly, you will be able to experience your sexuality with more confidence and ease.
Gender identity therapy supports you in exploring, understanding, or affirming your gender. This work is for people who are:
• Questioning or exploring their gender
• Navigating dysphoria or body-related distress
• Considering transition (social or medical)
• Experiencing fluidity in identity or expression
• Seeking support around pronouns, name changes, or presentation
• Processing family, cultural, or systemic rejection
• Seeking a therapist who truly understands gender expansiveness
Gender identity therapy in Chicago can help you understand your gender at your own pace and reduce body dysphoria, anxiety or shame. If you want to, we can explore social or medical transition options and help you create a safety plan for coming out. You will be able to focus on building community and belonging all while developing self-compassion and your confidence.
Your identity is not just one part of you but is how all the parts of you weave together: your sexuality, your gender, your culture, your upbringing, your race, your faith, and your ability. These pieces intersect in ways that make your life experience uniquely yours.
In sessions, we’ll explore how these layers shape your life, uncover where the world has challenged or silenced you, and help you create pockets of safety, affirmation, and community where you can fully be yourself.
Queerness and gender fluidity are natural. Across the animal kingdom, fluid gender roles and same-sex pairing are common. Clownfish can change sex to meet the needs of their group, swans and penguins form lifelong same-sex partnerships, and countless other species express identity beyond rigid binaries.
Historically, many Indigenous cultures revered Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people as healers, leaders, and shamans. Trans and non-binary identities were respected in Hawaii, Polynesia, Uganda, and many other pre-colonial societies.
The erasure and pathologization of queerness is not inherent to humans; it is a product of Western colonization, religious beliefs, and societal control. Embracing queerness, gender fluidity, or identities outside the norm is a brave act of standing up to the system.
Living as your true self in today’s world means navigating systems designed to limit, marginalize, and silence. Therapy helps you honor your truth while recognizing when to protect yourself, how to cultivate safety, and how to build community even in the face of a hostile world.
Your counseling and healing journey is unique, but here’s what counseling at Gemstone Wellness may offer:
Michelle specializes in depression, anxiety, grief, trauma (PTSD), and identity exploration, with a particular focus on clients affected by religious trauma.
Jane specializes in sex therapy, anxiety and depression, grief and loss, chronic health issues, substance use disorders and complex trauma.
Stef specializes in supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community, offering therapy for grief, trauma, anxiety, ADHD, and gender/sexual identity exploration.
Alina specializes in trauma, EMDR, substance use disorders, anxiety, emotional regulation, and co-occurring issues like depression and grief.
Andrea is a licensed clinical therapist specializing in compassionate care for grief, loss, and life transitions.
Dr. Martin specializes in anxiety, trauma, grief, and identity, and loves working w/ the intersectionalities of neurodivergence.
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It’s therapy that provides a safe, affirming space to explore your sexual orientation or gender identity, process related emotions, and navigate coming out, transition, or self-acceptance.
Therapy allows you to explore your feelings without judgment, reduce anxiety or shame, and gain clarity and confidence in your identity at your own pace.
Yes. Counseling provides tools to manage anxiety and shame, and a supportive environment to process difficult emotions safely.
Absolutely. Therapy can help you develop strategies and support systems to approach coming out safely, on your own timeline.
Yes. Everything shared in sessions is confidential within legal and ethical guidelines, creating a safe space to explore your identity.
Yes. Our dedicated gender and sexual identity counselors offer telehealth appointments anywhere in Illinois, allowing access to support regardless of location.
Some approaches include DBT, CBT, narrative therapy, harm reduction, and art therapy, all adapted to provide affirming, identity-focused support.
Every journey is different. Some people notice changes quickly, while others take longer. The pace is guided by your readiness and comfort.
These are all common to co-occur with sexual and gender identity exploration challenges. Therapists can integrate support for co-occurring issues, helping you process emotions, build coping skills, and find relief while exploring your identity.
Not necessarily. Gemstone Wellness does accept insurance, including BCBS or Aetna PPO plans, and also offers self-pay options. For clients that pay out of pocket, the rate is $180, and we can provide superbills. We also have a limited number of sliding scale spots available which are offered on a case by case basis. We keep spots open specifically for the queer community.
Share what you’re looking for in therapy, what insurance you have, your availability, and whether you prefer in-person or online sessions.
We thoughtfully match you with the therapist best suited to your needs. That therapist will reach out to schedule a consultation before you begin.
During the consultation, you’ll have the chance to get to know one another, ask any questions, and make sure you feel comfortable moving forward.
Once you feel ready, you’ll schedule your first appointment and begin your healing journey with the support of a therapist who truly fits.
Your identity is valid. Sexual and gender identity therapy in Chicago (Downtown/Loop) and virtually throughout Illinois is available to help you live authentically. At Gemstone Wellness we honor your pace, your experiences, and your journey. Take the first step toward self-acceptance and confidence today.