Skype Archives - Gay Couple Counselling (UK)

Long-Distance LGBT Couple Counselling

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:57:07 +0000

'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' © Pilot Theatre

It’s not uncommon for gay and lesbian couple relationships to become successful over long distances.

Whether the couple began through meeting online through services like Grindr, Gaydar, Qrushr Girls etc, or began through meeting in person whilst on holiday, gay men and lesbian women can find themselves in love with someone who lives in a different country (or a different town).

And just like all other long-distance relationships, as gay and lesbian people we suffer the struggles to get into the country of our loved one.

But unlike heterosexual couples, our long-distance relationships can struggle to have our relationships and their loved ones recognised by the country to which we wish to emigrate.

Our relationships pose a unique set of conflicts and stresses that can damage our intimate couple relationships.

Counselling for LGBT Long-Distance Relationships.

Why? Well, couples in long-distance relationships can suffer the same struggles and conflicts as couples who live together.

Long-distance LGBT relationships can struggle with a unique set of problems, specific to living in different countries (or different towns).

Maintaining a non-physical relationship over Skype can be difficult (but can be creative!).

LGBT couples in long-distance relationships need to learn how to communicate in different ways than from couples who are living together; Gay Couple Counselling can help with that. When the relationship is struggling to stay together, consulting a qualified gay couple counsellor can be a great help to keeping the relationship going.

Conflicts in Long Distance Relationships.

How familiar do these problems seem to you … we tackle matters like this in a majority of cases:-

Learning how to understand your partner (and avoid assumptions about what’s being said to you).
Learning how to stay with a conversation when topics become difficult.
Learning how to offer support to your partner, even when you’re feeling low yourself.
Learning courage in how to ask your partner about things (things that, perhaps, seem easier to assume).
Learning about closed-relationships & open-relationships and how to discuss and negotiate a successful long-distance contract.

Begin Counselling for Long Distance LGBT Couples.

Dean Richardson MBACP(accred) – specialist in gay couple counselling

Dean Richardson specialises in therapy for gay couples in long-distance relationships. Dean’s intention is to make counselling for gay couples in different countries (or same country, different towns) easy to understand and easy to begin.

It’s important that you both can make an informed decision about counselling – Dean will help you both with that.

Not until you and your partner are sure that you want to try counselling will you begin with a one-off session.

Skype LGBT Couple Counselling.

Long-distance couple counselling is achieved through Skype video conferencing … so you and your partner will need a Skype account, a device capable of running Skype software, and a place of privacy for 50 minutes a week.

Come and say Hello!

So, simply say “hello” and tell Dean what you and your partner are looking for. Dean will email you with options to think about and we can discuss arrangements from there.

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Zoom: Gay Couple Video-Therapy

Dean Richardson MNCPS(Accred/Reg) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:57:54 +0000

Woman Resting Head on Girlfriend's Shoulder ca. 1999 © Microsoft Office Clipart

For gay couples who are interested in working with a professionally qualified Gay Couple Therapist via Zoom video counselling sessions, GayCoupleCounselling.com reaches out to work with gay couples throughout the world.

Not looking for online gay couple relationship therapy? Try our Portsmouth in-person Face-to-Face services.

Ideal for:

Gay and lesbian couples in a long distance relationship (different towns, counties/states or even different countries).
Gay relationships where the couple live away from one of our professionally qualified gay couple Zoom therapists.

Gay Couples use Zoom Video

Our video couple counselling services for LGBT relationships uses Zoom’s “group video” service and is targeted toward gay couples, lesbian couples, mixed-sexuality couples in intimate/committed relationships who wish to use GayCoupleCounselling.com‘s therapy services but who are either unable to travel to a face-to-face/in-person meeting, or who are in a long-distance relationship.

Long-distance/remote couple relationships are couples who are in separate countries or separate counties/states/towns who wish to work with GayCoupleCounselling.com specifically as a Specialist in LGBT Couples Counselling.

Benefits of Zoom for Counselling

Not all relationships are in the same home: in the same city, same county/state or even the same country!
Long distance couple relationships struggle with conflicts as much as living-together relationships.
Working with your partner via Zoom with a qualified & experienced gay couples counsellor can be an appropriate therapy for your relationship problems.
The same therapeutic boundaries are maintained: time boundaries, session schedule’s and working practices.

Using Zoom

Most couples prefer to use two devices (eg 2 x computers, a computer and a Zoom-enabled Smart Phone etc…) but if the couple can tolerate to sit very close to each other then a single Zoom camera will suffice; the couple need to be able to look at each other from time to time The choice to use one or two Zoom devices is yours, though.

Confidentiality & Zoom Video Conference.

Zoom has a position on confidentiality which may effect some couples’ decision to participate in Zoom video conference couple counselling – a version of Microsoft’s is here: https://www.zoom.com/en/trust/privacy/privacy-statement/

Time Differences

Zoom couple counselling can be ideal for remote/Long-distant relationships – but we will have to manage any time-differences.

Outside-of-session Contact.

It is sometimes necessary to make contact with the counsellor outside of the sessions (e.g. to cancel or rearrange an appointment). When emailing Dean, best practice is to CC your partner in the email. Unless it has been agreed otherwise by everyone, individual contact with Dean without the knowledge of the partner is not advisable, but we will manage this as far as possible should it become necessary.

Whilst attempting to engage in contact beyond the time-boundaries and therapy-boundaries is discouraged, we will manage situations as they arise.

Do Video Conference Services permit Counselling?

Video Conference Services do not prohibit counselling and therapy via their communication services.

Contact us today for Gay Couple Video Counselling.

Are you a gay or lesbian couple, a couple in a mixed-sexuality relationship, looking for support and professional assistance in managing your relationship conflicts?

1) Look through the directory for a therapist who you’d like to contact or

2) Contact us to discuss your needs.

About Dean Richardson MNCPS(Accred/Reg) (author)…

Other posts by Dean Richardson MNCPS(Accred/Reg).

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Why Counselling for Gay Relationships?

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:46:56 +0000

Gay men and lesbian women are as capable of managing relationship conflicts as anyone else. Through, many of us are disadvantaged by the way we were brought up in heteronormative, gay-unaware or gay-intolerant families.

It’s stereotypical to think of gay couples as destroying their relationships the moment emotional lives become complicated. ‘No baggage…’, ‘sorted…’, ‘no strings…’ are common phrases seen on gay dating services – and their use are telling of deeper issues than a simple need for an “uncomplicated” relationship.

GayCoupleCounselling.com provides therapy services for the distinct needs of gay & lesbian couples. We’ll resolve disturbing histories, perturb repeatedly unhappy behaviours, improve trust & increase relationship intimacy…

Why choose Couple Counselling for Gay Relationships?

The choice to bring your relationship into counselling can be a courageous one.

Men who struggle to be in partnership with another man.
Women who struggle to be in a partnership with another woman.
Men and women who fall in love with someone who’s sexuality is dissimilar to their own.

Often, LGBT couples begin their relationship with expectations of a partner based upon a heterosexual parental template. WE who have been htought up in a gay family are of the minority, therefore it’s quite right that the only templates of relationships come from heterosexual parents. For the most part, as children many of us have been living as “the enemy within”. Even when we have “come out”, many of our families have had to adjust to embrace us … and if they have had to adjust this suggests they were living a non-gay/heteronormative family life-style to begin with.

What we bring into relationships include:

Baggage from our pasts.
For some – the ingrained message that ‘we are not normal’.
Our relationship-templates learned from our non-gay families.
How our parents resolved (or not ) their relationship conflicts.
Our relationship-templates quietly learning from a heteronormative family.

We work on our relationships to make them successful – and sometimes we need a little help from someone whom we can trust.

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Counselling Locations

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:47:13 +0000

GayCoupleCounselling.com anticipates adding further locations as new therapists join our organisation.

Each individual member therapist practices in their own locations. Meanwhile, we are currently offer counselling for gay & lesbian couple relationships in two main locations:–

Worldwide: Skype – Gay Couple’s Video Counselling.

For those couples who cannot travel to a therapist’s private practice, or who are in long-distance relationships, you can work with a gay couple counsellor via online video counselling – using Skype Group chat.

Read more about Gay Couple Counselling via Skype…

Hampshire (UK): Gay Couple’s Counselling in Portsmouth, Great Britain.

Dean Richardson’s private practice is based on the south Hampshire coast in Havant (North of Hayling Island, east of Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK), in a pleasantly peaceful building discretely located away just off the central town centre. Easily accessible by train, bus and car.

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