HOLDING SPACE FOR EXPLORATION :: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. TONY MEINERS, PSYD

What’s the best way to support a loved one who’s starting to identify LGBTQ+ within unsupportive environments?

It’s never underestimate the power of just holding space for an individual, especially for a queer population where there really is a lack of safety or in my experience, a lot of people really go through all of this internally without any sort of like external sense of support. Like having that place and having someone there who really is just there to kind of hold space and help us be able to explore who we are is like really powerful, you know? ’cause I always say even my role as a psychologist or running a group or whatever it is, it’s like I’m not there to tell someone how they should feel or develop these identities. It’s like I’m really just kind of, I imagine creating this like space for people to kind of come and have the ability to kind of process and explore things themselves. 

How do we exist in a world in which sometimes we feel like we’re not supposed to exist?

That’s something we can’t change. Like we can’t change other people’s beliefs. I spent many years of my life trying, you know, so instead, how do I at least create, you know, some moments or some space or be one connection for someone in which they can like really unpack some of these things and not feel so isolated and lonely in the process.