DescriptionFirst and foremost, we are a community of therapists focused on developing connections with one another as we seek to create a community for therapists. 

• As mental health professionals and community members, we recognize the emotional labor we carry, especially in supporting marginalized communities. To sustain our community and our ability to fulfill this work, we uplift the value of reducing isolation by building an inclusive and supportive network that prioritizes survival, wellbeing, and a sense of belonging for all Queer-identifying Therapists. 

• Therefore, we highlight the following:

  • A Community, not a Business.

    • This is a community-first and foremost. While we appreciate that everyone has a business to run, this is not a venue for you to sell your products or services. 

    • Referral requests, announcements of upcoming groups, or asking for assistance in resourcing services for a particular Client/Therapy Participant are allowed. But blatant selling will be removed from any feeds. 

  • Advocacy Through Connection

    • We value advocacy as a meaningful activity and event that fosters connection, amplifies voices, and strengthens our community bonds. Because community care is an act of advocacy.

    • As a value and focus of our activities, we will dedicate time and energy to meet the needs of our LGBTQIA+ community. As modeled by our queer ancestors, we will work to ensure that our efforts are dedicated to members of our community who are marginalized, not just those most easily accessible for us to serve.

• By prioritizing wellbeing, we create a thriving and resilient queer-affirming therapeutic network that models healthy relationships and self-care.  

• We embrace a community-driven, non-hierarchical approach that respects, invites, and amplifies the diverse experiences and perspectives of all members. Our work is rooted in intersectional justice, acknowledging the interconnectedness of race, gender, ability, neurodiversity, and other lived experiences within the queer community. We strive to ensure that all members—especially those with multiple marginalized identities—feel fully seen, valued, and supported.

• Mutual Respect and Accountability

  • This is a community of Clinicians who have all completed necessary education and training to obtain licensure. Each of us deserves respect and to have our humanity acknowledged. It is our collective responsibility to maintain the boundaries necessary to ensure mutual respect and acknowledgement of one another is honored. 

  • Harassment, harmful language, or oppressive behaviors will not be tolerated. Instead, we foster a space where members are empowered to address bias, prejudice, and harm in a way that encourages learning, accountability, and repair. When harm occurs, we commit to restorative approaches that prioritize impact over intent, fostering healing and understanding rather than punitive measures. We recognize that learning and unlearning are ongoing processes.

• Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression are not Welcome.

  • As a community of Queer-identifying people, we are here to uphold values that are feminist, anti-racist, and focused on the inclusion of marginalized communities. This means that all of our members are empowered to call out speech that is inherently oppressive, biased, and/or harmful to another member or a group based on identity.

• We are dedicated to supporting the growth and empowerment of Queer-identifying therapists and their clients/therapy participants, fostering both personal and professional development within our community. This includes:

  • Encouraging peer mentorship and resource-sharing

  • Facilitating collaboration and community learning

  • Providing spaces to explore therapeutic practices that center queer-affirming care

  • Rest, Sustainability, and Wellbeing

    • We recognize that queer therapists often carry immense emotional labor, both personally and professionally. 

    • We value community care, sustainability, and rest as necessary components of our work, resisting burnout culture in favor of a thriving, long-term collective impact.

Our community is built on a culture of feedback that fosters growth, safety, accountability, and repair.

Feedback & Growth Mindset

By participating, you are open to giving and receiving feedback in ways that are:

• Constructive and grounded in mutual care

• Aimed at improving our collective impact

• Acknowledging both strengths and areas for learning

We recognize that growth requires openness to being challenged while remaining committed to each other's dignity.

Repair & Accountability

As an organization built by and for queer-identifying individuals, we create opportunities for necessary repair from harm caused outside of and within the queer community, fostering healing and mutual understanding.

• We are committed to accessibility and celebrating diversity in all its forms, welcoming individuals of all identities, licensure levels, professional experience, socioeconomic statuses, and locations across the Chicagoland area—beyond traditional boundaries.
  Accessibility means:

• Intersectional Inclusion and Justice

  • Our community is rooted in intersectional justice, acknowledging the interconnectedness of race, gender, ability, neurodiversity, and other lived experiences within the queer community. We strive to ensure all members, particularly those with multiple marginalized identities, feel fully seen, valued, and supported.

• Physical, Digital, and Financial Accessibility

  • Our community is driven to foster access to members across socioeconomic, ability, and accessibility status. As such, we aim to offer events that can be  financially accessible, offer virtual attendance to engage with those restricted by location, provide resources/tools for people with disabilities or sensory issues to safely and comfortably access our events.

• We uphold the importance of providing competent and affirmative mental health services, prioritizing the unique needs and care of our queer-identifying therapy clients. In doing so, we promote furthering the field of therapy and fostering the health and wellbeing of all therapy clients, no matter their identity.

• Commitment to Learning and Growth

  • Our community embraces continuous learning, self-reflection, and open dialogue. 

  • We recognize that unlearning biases and deepening our understanding of justice and mental health is an ongoing process. Similarly, therapy practices and social justice movements evolve, requiring continued engagement in efforts that foster personal and collective growth.

  • Through the creation of ongoing educational opportunities, self-reflection, and spaces to safely engage in discourse that explore our growth edges, we will demonstrate our commitment to the lifelong learning and growth we are called to as Therapists.