LGBTQ+ Sexual Identity Grief Therapy Card Deck

Resource Description:

LGBTQ+ individuals often experience mental health concerns associated with grief in relation to developing their sexual identity. An in-depth research study conducted by the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education collected data on LGBTQ+ college student's personal experiences with grief during sexual identity development. The data revealed that most LGBTQ+ college students reported feeling ambiguous loss due to grieving personal relationships or the parts of their identity that were changed or lost during their identity development stage (Duran et al., 2023). This feeling of grief experienced by LGBTQ+ individuals can take the form of a wide range of mixed emotional responses (anxious, pressured, angry, confused, disappointed, hurt, empty, sad, lonely, invisible, lost). 

Drawing from this research, the LGBTQ+ Sexual Identity Grief Therapy Card Deck is a restorative healing tool designed for counselors to use with their LGBTQ+ clients during counseling sessions to help process emotions, structure thoughts, and facilitate discussion on experiences of grief surrounding their client's journey of coming to terms with their own sexual identity. The card deck contains a variety of interactive activity prompts and open-ended questions that invite the client to openly express their feelings or self-reflect on personal lived experiences of grief during their own sexual identity development in an engaging, lighthearted, and creative way.

Whether your LGBTQ+ client is experiencing feelings of grief from discovering their sexual identity in real-time or they are continuing to have difficulty coping with grief long after they have realized their sexual identity, this card deck is made to empower those individuals to navigate the complex landscape of grief and identity with greater self-awareness and compassion. By inviting honest expression and providing a safe space for exploration, these cards honor the multifaceted nature of LGBTQ+ grief while fostering resilience, growth, and healing. Ultimately, this tool aims to help LGBTQ+ individuals learn how to process grief embedded within their own sexual identity development journeys and find the strength from that grief in order to achieve full acceptance of themselves.

Warm Up: Exploring Grief

Deep Dive: Engaging With Grief

Moving Forward: Finding Healing Within Grief

References

Duran, A., & Thacker Darrow, N. E. (2023). LGBQ+ college students’ expressions of grief during sexual identity development: photographic insights from a qualitative study.

International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 37(7), 1884–1906. https://www-tandfonline-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/doi/full/10.1080/09518398.2023.2233950