Why is there a need for specialized treatment for the LGBTQ community?

 Entering into treatment for addiction can make a person feel very vulnerable. Attending a gay-friendly or LGBTQ-friendly inpatient drug rehabilitation center in Louisiana will give you an atmosphere of honesty and mutual respect. This will help you be open about every aspect of your identity. Having to hide your sexual orientation can impede an individual’s progress in an inpatient drug rehab center. Recovering in a setting that reinforces your self-respect, will help you be proud of who you are, reinforcing who you can become.

Most programs will say they offer an LGBTQ program but in reality, there are actually very few specific drug rehab centers that are LGBT and gay-friendly in Louisiana. Transgender people have an especially hard time finding non-biased discrimination-free treatment for their addictions. It can be harder for an LGBTQ person to overcome addiction in a setting that is not specifically set up for handling these unique challenges. It is better to enroll in an inclusive gay-friendly drug rehab center in Louisiana to ensure that your needs are handled properly. This will ensure a positive outcome in treatment. Specialized drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers for LGBTQIA+ identifying people will have more staff who are experienced in handling the complex dynamics akin to sexual expression, and sexual orientation accompanied issues. A conventional drug treatment facility in Louisiana will be unfamiliar or at the very least, uncomfortable with handling these types of challenges. 

Most treatment providers will offer a long-term program of at least 90 days to ensure that all issues are handled before leaving the treatment facility for drug addiction. People who are suffering from the grips of addiction have a better chance for long-lasting recovery in a setting that is longer than the average 28-day program for addiction. Recovery experts have long stated that the length of the program has without a doubt, a significant effect on the recovery rate of the clients.

LGBT-inclusive drug and alcohol treatment centers will often have separate housing for gay and LGBT individuals. Residential treatment programs are taxed with another particular challenge in offering housing to a person’s self-identified gender. Conventional treatment centers may force the individual to room with and as their birth gender. Forcing a transgender client to co-habitat with their birth gender can put an individual in the same situation that may have led to drug or alcohol abuse in the first place. For transgender clients, it is very important to make sure that they are given respect and a unified understanding of their identity. This will lay the groundwork for their paths to recovery. There will be separate groups that deal with the specific concerns that only LGBTQ individuals seeking help from drugs and alcohol deal with. Individual therapists who are gay, lesbian, or transgender themselves will have specialized treatment programs that include specific topics that are synonymous with the Gay and LGBTQIA+ community which include some of the topics listed below.

All of these issues and more should be handled while in treatment. 
*Discrimination handling, public discrimination
*Coming out, Peer ridicule, exclusion from social groups
*Family counseling, job loss, loss of child custody, rejection by a spiritual community
*Acceptance of self
*Violence based on sexual orientation or gender identification and how to cope

Separate group therapy sessions with only LGBTQ peers and counselors allow people to open up in a safe and non-judgmental environment. Specialized group therapy with people who share similar life experiences and challenges will help LGBTQ individuals feel they can be fully involved in the group’s healing process. Being able to fully engage in group therapy will help the individual feel comfortable about sharing their life experiences and tragedies.

Family and spousal therapy sessions have another dynamic that LGBTQIA+ inclusive drug rehabilitation centers in Louisiana are ready to handle. Addressing the complex relationships that accompany the LGBTQ community can be challenging for a conventional drug and alcohol treatment center to understand, let alone help handle. Traditional marriage counseling and family therapy usually do not work for the gay, lesbian, and transgender community. The program will not assume that you are heterosexual and will encourage you to identify with your chosen gender if you are transgender. The materials will have same-sex couples and gender-neutral checkboxes for marital status. You will be able to discuss your relationship issues and issues related to your own sexuality using the principles of gay affirmative practice. LGBTQ-friendly drug rehabs in Louisiana will encourage you to fully open up about your sexual orientation (if you are ready) and relationship dynamics. Being able, to be honest, and open in a non-judgmental setting will allow you to feel comfortable and at ease while you are in treatment for addiction issues. This helps the counselors understand your unique situation, relationship dynamics, habits, and pitfalls and will also help them in handling the underlying issues that need to be taken care of while enrolled in a Gay-Friendly inpatient treatment center for LGBTQ people in Louisiana.

Addiction rates for the LGBTQ community according to the most recent study conducted in 2016, have included sexual orientation, and sexual identity in their survey of adults. This most recent data collection has found that almost a third of the LGBTQ population (30%) is addicted to drugs or alcohol. This is among the highest number of affected people in the nation. Heterosexuals are around 10% addicted rates as of 2016.

LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Outpatient Therapy in Louisiana

Therapy and outpatient treatment for addictions is the right solution for some people suffering from addiction to drugs or alcohol. Therapists that specialize in treating LGBT and gay clients can offer many services to LGBTQ communities. Working with an outpatient program or a private therapist is often the only option for specialized treatment options in certain areas throughout the state.

Free Drug Rehabs in Louisiana that Accept LGBTQ Clients

Most free rehab programs that offer treatment programs for addiction in Louisiana will service gay, lesbian, and transgender clients. The programs that they offer, will in most cases be the same program that the general population uses in their recovery. Due to funding constraints in Louisiana, delivering a separate program is often not cost-effective for the center.

How We Can Help

Our addiction specialists are here for those seeking treatment for their addictions to drugs or alcohol in gay-friendly drug rehab. There are programs throughout the United States that offer treatment and counseling for those seeking help in their early recovery from drugs and alcohol. Addiction No More’s counselors are waiting to take your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our intake counselors can answer any questions that you might have. For help in locating a rehab center for addiction please call us today. This is a confidential and private call. We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call us any time.

Below we have listed some of the group meetings that are gay and LGBTQ friendly. We offer this list to help those who are looking for free, gay-friendly groups for their addiction and have nowhere to turn for help. Addiction No More offers these groups as a free service to the ongoing aftercare that is much needed in the LGBTQ community. This is not a complete list of LGBT and non-binary support groups in Louisiana and is subject to change as new meetings start and old ones fade away. Please give us a call or email us to have your meeting put on the list of resources for transgender individuals looking for support and addiction help. For help finding the right LGBTQ-friendly drug rehabilitation center in Louisiana call us now. Addiction No More is an Addiction Treatment Center locator service. For immediate service, please call one of our counselors 24/7.

1-800-513-5423

LGBTQ-specific Support Groups and Therapy Meetings in Louisiana

Women of Healing Waters
This is a closed women’s group meeting on Wednesdays at 10:30 am
71667 Leveson St (Enter through the side door)
Abita-Springs Louisiana 70420

Sober and Serene at 12:15
Open discussion meetings Monday through Saturday at 12:15 pm
Marigny Women
This is an open meeting on Sundays at 5:00 pm
Marigny Men
Sunday 05:00 PM (Open)
We Meet Frequently
Join them 7 days a week for LGBTQ-friendly groups at 10:00 pm
All groups are held at the Lambda Center
1430 N Rampart
New Orleans Louisiana 70116

Transgender substance abuse and support groups in Louisiana

Spectrum Support Group
This group is for transgender, gender non-conforming, or genderqueer adults. The goal of this group is to provide a safe space where members have the opportunity to share their experiences and concerns with one another. There is no cost to attend this group.
Contact Jessie Andrews for more information regarding this group at 318-497-7006
403 N 6th St suite 2
West Monroe Louisiana 71291

Baton Rouge Support meeting for people who identify as Transgender or Non-binary

This group is open to all people who self-identify as transsexual or Non-binary. This group is for everyone regardless of where they fall on the spectrum, or what stage of the transformation they are at. Family and supportive Friends are encouraged to attend open meetings.
Last Saturday of every month from 2:00-4:00 pm
Metropolitan Community Church
7747 Tom Dr
Baton Rouge Louisiana 70806
Contact: info@latransadvocates.org

LSU Support Meeting
This is a meeting for past and present students of LSU. You must go to the Student Union Help Desk to enroll in that meeting for the month. This is a closed meeting for transgender or nonbinary students who identify as masculine or feminine in all stages of transformation.
Third Friday of every month from 4:00 pm-5: 30 pm
LSU Student Union
310 LSU Student Union
Baton Rouge Louisiana 70803
Contact/Facebook Page

Lafayette Louisiana Support meetings for transgender people or those who identify as nonbinary.

Lafayette Support Meeting
This meeting is held every second Saturday of the month and is an all-inclusive meeting regardless if you identify on the masculine scale or the feminine scale of the spectrum.
Meeting Note: We usually meet in the board room off of the main entrance of the Arcadia Center for the Arts upstairs. The second floor is laid out in a circle at the top of the stairs take a right and follow it around all the way to the back. The room is a glass room and it is posted Board on the glass. If by chance we are not in that specific room please contact the front desk to see where the meeting is being held.
Arcadian center for the arts
101 west vermilion st
Lafayette Louisiana 70501
Contact: peyton@latransadvocates.org

New Orleans Kids Group
This is a closed group that meets on the 4th Saturday of each month.
New Orleans Kids Group is for ages 5-14 and set up as a playgroup for non-binary or trans kids interested in interacting with other children in a controlled non-judgmental environment.
This group meets once a month on the fourth Saturday of every month from 4:30-6:30 pm
Community Church Unitarian Universalist
6690 Fluer De Lis Dr
New Orleans Louisiana 70124
Sources
LGBT Specific Mental Health and Rehabs
LGBTQIA+ People and Substance Use
LGBT+ Behavioral Health 
Transgender Healthcare
Erik Epp – Content Author