The Brief

Sometimes, finding the right therapist can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

You can spend hours and money in sessions going over the same questions about your life just to feel like you and this person don’t quite mesh.

If you’re in the LGBTQ+ community, having a therapist that gets it (whatever that ‘it’ means to you) can make a big difference in your experience. You could have things to figure out that are tied to or influenced by your sexuality and gender. This is a guide to aid you in finding an LGBTQ-affirming therapist.

How and why do I start therapy?

Everyone’s situation will be different, but in general, therapy can be helpful when there’s something about your feelings or experiences that you’re having trouble navigating.

“We get a lot of people seeking help at the center because they are questioning gender and they want to talk that out,” said Kel Mathews, director of mental health at the LGBTQ Center Orange County.

But seeing an affirming therapist doesn’t just have to be about gender or sexuality. She says the center sees people who are experiencing depression, anxiety or are parents of children who just came out. The big idea to remember is that whatever you’re coming to therapy for, getting help and applying it will require effort on your part.

“There's no magic wand,” Mathews said. “Your expectations shouldn't be that you're coming into therapy for the therapist to fix you.”

Forming connections in therapy is like starting a new relationship. There are things the counselor wants to know about you, and there are some things you’ll want to know about your counselor. Mary Andres, a professor of clinical education at USC, who specializes in LGBTQ+ treatment, says it’s a good idea to think about what you’re seeking help for. Is it to help you solve something that’s a secret? Is it for substance abuse? You can ask questions about their professional experience.

“So maybe I have very specific questions about [a] history of sexual trauma,” Andres said. “You might say, do you have a history of working with trauma? They still don't have to talk about it yet. They're just trying to establish the credentials of the person.”

How much does the therapist’s identity matter?

Whether you’re transgender, bisexual or otherwise part of the LGBTQ+ community, finding a therapist who shares your identity could be a factor for you.

Mathews often interviews students who are looking to do their counseling hours at the LGBTQ+ center. She’s intentional about finding LGBTQ+ counselors because there are clients who will only want to see a trans person, for example, but that doesn’t always line up.

“My interview process is very much focused on, even if you’re not a part of the community, I want to make sure that you are affirming,” she said.

So if shared identity isn’t important to you, that’s OK! There are plenty of counselors, like ones at the center, who are staunch allies of LGBTQ+ people and are trained in how to affirm the community through therapy.

Andres describes this nuance through the use of pronouns. For example, someone who uses they/them may have a desire to find a therapist who does too. In that scenario, shared identity is helpful because the person doesn’t want to explain themselves or worry about misgendering.

“Representation matters in every kind of field, and that’s helpful,” Andres said. “If it’s not somebody who knows what they're doing, pronouns don't mean anything.”

Affirming is a factor to keep in mind alongside your other needs, Andres says, because this goes beyond acceptance and tolerance. It should mean that the therapist sees that “our world is better because there's queer people in it.”

What the licenses mean

There are multiple paths to becoming a counselor. The alphabet soup that follows a person’s name can give you a glimpse into their licensing and training.

Mathews says the most common licenses you’ll see in California are: licensed professional clinical counselors (LPCCs), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs) and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs).

There isn’t much of a difference between LPCCs and LMFTs, Mathews says, so don’t let the “marriage and family” part keep you away if that doesn’t immediately resonate with you. LMFTs commonly work with individual issues that aren’t related to marriage and family. Therapists may also have both licenses to make operating in different states easier.

The main difference, Mathews says, is about when someone starts working in counseling. For the LPCC and LMFT licenses, students start while they’re in school. But for LCSW licensees, Mathews says their university programs don’t require in-school counseling experience. Instead, the focus is on social work duties, like finding resources and reuniting families, and the counseling work is post-grad. Regardless, everyone must have completed a minimum of 3,000 supervised hours and pass exams in order to be licensed in California.

Other license acronyms you may see include:

• Licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs)
• Psychologists (PhDs or PsyDs)
• Psychiatrists (MDs or DOs)

Where to look

If money is tight, look for therapists that offer their services pro-bono or on a sliding scale. There may be a limited number of sessions for that, depending on the place.

There are plenty of private practices and other resources that will offer help tailored for LGBTQ+ people but may not advertise it as much. Check out our mental health resource guide to find more.

Going to community-supported centers can be helpful because these are often more affordable. These will likely have a sliding-scale option. Some places that offer mental health services (e.g. group therapy, one-on-one, telehealth, etc.) include:

• Los Angeles LGBT Center
• LGBTQ Center OC (You can get matched with a therapist or group program by filling out a form)
• Airport Marina Counseling Service’s LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy Center
• Antioch University’s Counseling Center (which offers LGBTQ+ services)
• Pelican Cove Counseling Center

But if you google “LGBTQ+ therapists near me,” no less than millions of results will be at your fingertips. You’ll want to weed through the results to find a site that’s both trusted and can get you what you’re looking for. Keep in mind that some directories are populated by therapists who paid for ad placement.

Some other online directories, where you can put in your ZIP code, include:

• Inclusive Therapists (social-justice-oriented therapists)
• National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network
• Gay Therapy Center (this organization has a location in L.A.)

Big surf from distant hurricanes in the Pacific could bring coastal flooding to Southern California starting this weekend.

Hurricanes Polo and Odalys are expected to cause coastal erosion, flooding and high surf along Southern California's already battered coastline. Swells from Polo are expect to arrive as early as late Sunday and peak Monday and Tuesday.

Bryan Lewis, National Weather Service meteorologist, told LAist that high tides could reach 7 feet. He said Long Beach and Avalon are among the more vulnerable areas for potential flooding and erosion.

Long Beach and Los Angeles warned residents to prepare for potential flooding and other effects through at least Wednesday.

In early September, Hurricane Marie brought coastal erosion and flooding that led homes being red- and yellow-tagged in L.A. and Orange counties.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown. 

For organizer Arnold Byun, the launch is something of a homecoming. 

Nearly five years ago, Byun and his co-founder, Kioh Park, were living in Koreatown and spending months at Document Coffee Bar dreaming up what would eventually become Maum Market, the Asian makers market they launched in January 2022. The market now has a regular presence at ROW DTLA, where it hosts pop-up markets on Dock Street several times a year.

“The genesis of Maum Market is actually really embedded in Koreatown,” Byun, 31, told The LA Local. “And we have a lot of affection and personal history with Koreatown, so it’s a very personal thing for us just to return to our roots.” 

Most of the 24 vendors participating in the first Friends & Family Flea have some connection to Koreatown, Byun said. Some grew up in the neighborhood, some still live there and others have moved away but retain ties to the area. The vendor list includes apparel brands, artists, jewelry makers, beauty and wellness businesses and food vendors. 

“We’ve been trying to be pretty intentional about curating from the community as much as possible,” Byun said.

There will be plenty of food and shopping, including “sogeum-bbang,” or salt bread, tea, handmade candles, soaps and vintage clothing, as well as flash tattoos and burgers and fries from Love Hour. The LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club will teach visitors about hwatu, the Korean deck of playing cards with roots in Japan. The club will also offer $5 tarot card readings.

Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown.

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Eena Cho, founder of the LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club, was born and raised in Koreatown. She remembers living with her mother in an apartment on Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue and volunteering at the senior center near Seoul International Park, where she spent time with older Korean residents.

She also grew up playing go-stop with her grandparents during Korean holidays, like Chuseok and Seollal. 

“That was a big part of my childhood,” said Cho, 24. “Another part is that living in LA where there’s so many different groups of people together, I remember my best friend Maria growing up, she was Mexican, and we would be playmates because both of our parents were working overtime.”

For Cho, joining Friends & Family Flea felt like a natural fit.

“Koreatown is a beautiful diaspora of many different cultures,” Cho said. “And I think that makes Koreatown, Koreatown.”

Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown.

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Courtesy Eena Cho

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The local focus is a big part of what Byun hopes will distinguish Friends & Family from other flea markets and fairs. He said organizers wanted to create something that “intentionally celebrates a specific neighborhood,” in this case, Koreatown. 

For the Koreatown market, that also means highlighting small businesses beyond the restaurants that often get the most attention.

“It’s more about, you know, where do we get our dry cleaning, where do we get our shoes done, or these kinds of services that I think don’t get highlighted as often as maybe restaurants do, but are really core and essential parts of a community business,” Byun said.

Byun’s own history with Koreatown also makes the neighborhood an especially fitting place to start.

His family immigrated to the South Bay from Korea in 2002, when he was 6. He remembers coming to Koreatown with his parents on the weekends for Korean meals and grocery trips.

Byun still thinks of the neighborhood as a second home for Korean immigrants, while appreciating how its community has grown more diverse.

“I’m just really happy to see it become a really beloved neighborhood,” he said.

The market is also giving back locally. Hats sold at the event will benefit the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Byun said.

And this may not be a one-time run. If Saturday goes well, organizers hope to bring Friends & Family Flea back to Koreatown on a monthly basis. They also plan to offer discounted vendor fees to Koreatown residents.

“I feel like there was so much opportunity for us to really hone in and create something more hyperlocal and also really embed ourselves in the community as well,” Byun said.

When I lived in the UK, I worked on a BBC television show about birding. It was a strange experience as I couldn’t exactly book guests — “Hello Mr. Sparrow, could you be on location for an interview at 2 p.m.?”

So instead I spent a lot of time with the crew climbing up mountains with a large tripod on my shoulder. Did you know there’s a bird in the Scottish Highlands whose plumage turns white in winter to blend in with the snow? (It’s called a ptarmigan. Don’t pronounce the p.)

But it did mean I was attuned to British bird calls. I could hear something and pronounce solemnly: “Ah yes, that’s a lark. And that one's a chaffinch."

Moving to LA meant learning a new set of bird calls

When I moved to the U.S., however, it was a whole other story. I really didn’t recognize any of the bird calls. They were all so different. I just shrugged and figured they were part of the backdrop. But one day recently, a woman told me about a free app and said it was life-changing. "Hmm, I’ll see about that," I thought.

Merlin bird app

It’s called Merlin, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and it’s kind of like Shazam for bird calls. As in, you click it, and it tells you what bird song you can hear around you. When I opened it in my backyard for the first time, a whole orchestra of bird sounds opened up around me. I admit: it was kind of life-changing.

Of course it first picked up a crow, which I know only too well, given its loud, raucous sound. But then it identified a house finch. Huh. Who knew they were in my backyard? And as I listened closely, I realized … I knew that sound! It’s the first thing I hear when I wake up at dawn, lovely and melodic.

The house finch, awakening the day.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

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So now when I open my eyes in the morning, I say, "Good morning, house finch, communing with fellow beings alive on a vibrant California morning!" It kicks off my day, although I guess I’ve been reading too much Mary Oliver.

The backyard birds you're probably hearing right now

But then other birds I didn’t know would pop up on my phone during the day, with names as intriguing as their calls: the spotted towhee, the orange-crowned warbler, or Cassin’s kingbird.

I mean, they do realize they’re in a backyard in Los Angeles, not some estate in Georgian England? My favorite for a while was the dark-eyed junco. Now we’re talking romantic heroes. Imagine him slyly popping across the apple tree limbs to call to you. Dark-Eyed Junco, at your service.

Dark-eyed junco, at your service.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

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Meet Swinhoe's white-eye, a non-native bird spreading across SoCal

And then there’s Swinhoe’s white-eye. Which sounds a little like an eye ailment, but there you go. It’s a tiny bright yellow bird with a white ring around each eye. So cute! I first noticed them when there were a bazillion of them in a tree outside my house. It was such an unusual sight that I mentioned it to a woman walking her dog, and we stood there, oohing and aahing, until we both realized we’d oohed a little too much, and it was time to go.

Swinhoe's white-eyes are not native to SoCal, but are thriving.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

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When I researched them, I was surprised to find they’re not native to SoCal. They’re actually pretty new to the area. There were just a handful in Orange County 20 years ago, probably having been brought over from Asia as pets and escaped. And now, they’re thriving and have spread everywhere from Baja to San Luis Obispo. Who knows where they’ll end up next? If anyone sees a chartreuse cutie in New York, let me know. It'll probably be very tired.

Yes, you can see I’ve become slightly annoying with my newfound bird interest. I’ll be asking my family what they want for dinner, and I’ll say, “Wait, is that the spotted towhee?” and turn to my phone, and my teenager will wrest it out of my hand and say, “Mom, be in the present!” Which is right. But my morning serenade as the birds come online one by one and greet the new day — well, that’s as present as you can be.

Walk through the automatic doors at the Carson Library and you’ll see on your left a 1973 painting called "Dominoes" by John Riddle.

Riddle, a prominent Black artist, has worked in the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, and has been collected by Jesse Jackson and Roberta Flack.

Riddle's work was previously owned by the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company in West Adams. Over two decades, the company’s art director, William Pajaud, an L.A. artist himself, carefully collected hundreds of pieces of Black art. Each piece in the collection, Pajaud said, would be a chapter telling the story of African Americans in the U.S. The collection included oil paintings, watercolors, and sculptures in clay, wood and metal.

When Golden State Mutual Life Insurance shut down, the company sold most of the best pieces at a private auction in 2007, with some selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. L.A. County was able to acquire about 120 works, including Riddle's piece.

To keep the works accessible to the public and free of charge, county officials chose four public libraries and three community centers to show the work. Earlier this year, the county arts department created a new website with a map to make them easier to find. The locations include the Golden State Mutual historic building in West Adams, plus:
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Libraries

• Carson Library (Carson)
• A.C. Bilbrew Library (Willowbrook)
• Masao W. Satow Library (Gardena)
• View Park Bebe Moore Campbell Library (View Park/Windsor Hills)
  

Community centers:

• Curtis Tucker Behavioral Health Center Health Services (Inglewood)
• Willowbrook Senior Center Aging and Disabilities (Willowbrook)
• Mark Ridley-Thomas Behavioral Health Center Health Services (on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus).

“All of these are county-owned spaces that are available, accessible to the public and to patrons to be able to live with the works, learn about the works, see the works, learn about the works,” said Kristin Sakoda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

Dominoes by John Riddle. The painting was part of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance collection but is now part of the Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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As you walk past the checkout desk at the Carson Library, toward the teen section, you’ll see another remarkable piece from the county’s holdings. It’s a two-foot-tall sculpture made from one piece of mahogany. It’s called "The Embrace" by artist Elizabeth Catlett, whose work is in the collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, among many other institutions. Catlett depicted two people hugging, their faces and bodies fused together, their eyes looking at the viewer.

Detail of El Abrazo (The Embrace) by Elizabeth Catlett.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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In the auction catalogue for the Golden State Collection, Catlett wrote: “I still work figuratively, trying to express emotion through abstract form, color, line, and space. I attempt to reach out to ordinary people who have little or no experience or understanding of art principles, and extend to them what I may feel about a subject."

Ancestral Fragments by Stanley Wilson.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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Meanwhile at A.C. Bilbrew Library, north of Compton, there’s a piece by Charles White, who lived in L.A. County for decades and mentored many artists in the region. His paintings and drawings in the 1960s took on the issues of the Black Civil Rights Movement, and that led well-known Black Americans like Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt to buy his art.

County officials are hopeful that the communities around these neighborhoods enjoy the art’s benefits, including “mental health, in our education, our youth development, our sense of inclusion and belonging,” Sakoda said.