Family therapy is guided by the principle that all individuals within a family unit deserve love, support, and acceptance. Yet for many years since its inception in the early 1950s, family therapy oftentimes neglected to uphold these standards when dealing with individuals who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or for those who questioned their sexual orientation or gender identity (LGBTQ). As a result of this, many injustices have been committed against LGBTQ-identified individuals and especially against the youth of that population who continue to face the highest incidences of behavioral health disparities when compared to their heterosexual-identified peers. 

Negative social attitudes and discrimination related to an individual's LGBTQ identity are significant contributing factors to these disparities, and often result in institutional, interpersonal, and individual stressors that affect an individual's mental health, safety and personal well-being. 

Due to these circumstances, LGBTQ youth can face a myriad of risks that include bullying, abuse, abandonment, neglect and the highest rate of homelessness and suicide among our general population. 

The age of adolescence can come with many challenges, but for LGBTQ-identified adolescents, this age can be especially hard if they do not receive the love, understanding and support of their family members. Family response to an adolescent's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression has a significant impact on the adolescent's emotional well-being. 

Negative parental responses to sexual orientation or gender identity are sharply associated with a young person's psychological distress, as the already vulnerable state of the adolescent's well-being is put at a significantly greater risk. 

In contrast, however, a parent-child relationship that is characterized by closeness and support will typically reflect greater stability and emotional health. Therefore, in order to help ensure the safety and well-being of LGBTQ youth, it is imperative that parents, mental health professionals and leaders of society work to increase understanding and acceptance of sexual and gender identity diversity. 

Fortunately for this purpose, there is research being done that is helping to validate the importance of family support of LGBT youth thanks to the efforts of Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Caitlin Ryan of California State University, San Francisco. 
For more than 40 years, Caitlin Ryan has worked to advance the practice and understanding of LGBTQ affirmative psychotherapy through her innovative work in developing the Family Acceptance Project. 

The Family Acceptance Project is the first of its kind program that is designed as an LGBT affirmative family therapy model to help strengthen support and understanding within the family unit. The Family Acceptance Project 
is a research, intervention, education, and policy initiative that focuses on preventing physical health and mental health risks and promote well-being for LGBTQ children and youth. The project also works to prevent suicide, homelessness, and HIV transmission, all within the context of promoting family unity. 
The project uses a research-based, culturally-grounded approach to help strengthen ethnically, socially, and religiously diverse families and promote positive development and healthy futures for LGBT children and youth. 

Community Counseling Center is proud to offer the Family Acceptance Project as our way of remaining steadfast in our commitment to strengthening families, individuals and upholding our support of the LGBTQ community of Southern Nevada. 

Founded in 1990 by Ronald Lawrence, Community Counseling Center was formed to address the need for affordable mental health treatment. Since then, CCC has been providing quality substance abuse and mental health treatment to the southern Nevada population. We are dedicated to empowering our clients through education, prevention treatment, and advocacy. We promote the healthy functioning of individuals, families and society. 

We are committed to providing culturally competent, affordable, and linguistically appropriate mental health care in a manner that is both compassionate and professional. 

For more information about the Family Acceptance Project or other services of Community Counseling Center, please visit www.cccofsn.org or call 702-369-8700. 

This article was never made available to be considered for print in Gay Vegas Magazine. This article was sent by a third party after the magazine had already gone to print. LGBT non-profits that are interested in engaging the entire LGBT community should send equal information and resources to all of our local LGBT publications for the widest reach possible, to promote inclusiveness, create community and to avoid creating competitive differences between publications.