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The NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression: LGBTQ+ Positive Practice Guide (2024) has been produced by Sarah Beattie (she/her), Professor Allán Laville (he/him), LGBT Foundation and NHS England, to provide a resource to therapists who work with LGBTQ+ people within Talking Therapies services.
The creation of this guide begun with a nationwide survey to gather information from practitioners, to establish what they required from the guide and needed further support on when working with LGBTQ+ people. As the guide was developing, focus groups were conducted with both practitioners within Talking Therapies services and LGBTQ+ experts by experience who have received support from a Talking Therapies service, to provide feedback on the content of this guide.
This LGBTQ+ Positive Practice Guide outlines existing evidence and guidance and provides practical recommendations for supporting the LGBTQ+ community. The recommendations address how services and practitioners can reduce barriers that LGBTQ+ people may face when accessing talking therapies, the importance of recording and monitoring data and how to ensure clinical practice is inclusive. Thirteen case studies have been incorporated into the guide to highlight positive practice that has been implemented in a variety of services across the UK.
This guide is designed to be used by Talking Therapies services to advance their practice in order to improve LGBTQ+ people's experiences and outcomes of psychological therapy. A helpful 'bite-sized' guide has also been developed to summarise the Positive Practice Guide (PPG) recommendations, which is to be used in conjunction with the full version of the LGBTQ+ PPG.
Click the images to the left to access the guide at LGBT Foundation