LGBTQ+ affirming therapy in Chicago · Come as you are.
LGBTQ+ affirming therapy in Chicago, where you arrive already understood.
Identity-celebrating care for LGBTQ+ adults, teens, couples, and families — in person in River North and Logan Square, and online across Illinois and Texas.
- River North
- Logan Square
- Virtual IL & TX
- Insurance accepted
Ashé Counseling & Coaching is a Chicago group practice offering LGBTQ+ affirming therapy for individuals, couples, teens, and families — in person in River North and Logan Square, or by secure video anywhere in Illinois and Texas, with most major insurance accepted.
For a lot of LGBTQ+ people, therapy has meant spending the first sessions explaining yourself — defining terms, justifying a relationship, bracing for a clinician's discomfort. That labor is exhausting, and it has no place in healing. At Ashé, your identity isn't something to be processed, tolerated, or fixed. It's understood from the first session.
Our clinicians hold the fullness of who you are: your relationships and chosen family, your culture and faith, your history, and the particular weight of moving through a world that isn't always built for you. Whether you're coming out, questioning, transitioning, or simply tired, this is a place to set the explaining down and get to the work you came for.
“You shouldn't have to teach your therapist who you are before you can begin.”What we believe
Ashé was founded in Chicago in 2018 as a practice rooted in presence, culture, and care. That lens matters here: many of our clients live at more than one intersection — queer and Black, trans and Latine, bisexual and religious, nonbinary and a parent. We don't ask you to leave any part of yourself at the door.
What is LGBTQ+ affirming therapy?
LGBTQ+ affirming therapy is mental health care that treats lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, nonbinary, and questioning identities as healthy and valid — never as symptoms. An affirming therapist understands minority stress (the chronic strain of stigma, rejection, and staying on guard), never tries to change your orientation or gender, and lets the session center what you came to work on.
Affirming doesn't mean every conversation is about identity. Many of our LGBTQ+ clients come in for anxiety, grief, burnout, or a breakup. The difference is that their therapist already gets the context.
“LGBTQ-friendly”
- Tolerant, but you educate them
- Identity treated as a side note
- Unfamiliar with minority stress
- Assumes one kind of family
Affirming at Ashé
- Fluent from the first session
- Identity honored as a strength
- Trained to name minority stress
- Chosen family & every relationship shape
Care for the full range of your experience.
Affirming therapy that meets you wherever you are — in your life, your identity, and your relationships.
Coming out & sexual identity
Explore, name, and honor who you are at your own pace — no rushing, no assumptions.
Gender identity & transition
Support through exploration, social and medical transition, and the questions in between.
Minority stress & discrimination
Tend to the cumulative toll of stigma, rejection, and vigilance, and steady your sense of self.
Relationships & chosen family
Partnerships of every shape, including polyamory, and the families you build by choice.
Family & acceptance
Disclosure, boundaries, and complicated relationships with your family of origin.
Race, culture & queerness
Space for the layered experience of being LGBTQ+ and Black, Brown, immigrant, or faith-rooted.
Anxiety, depression & self-worth
The mental health concerns that often come with living in a non-affirming world.
LGBTQ+ teens
A confidential room of their own — and support for parents learning to show up well.
Affirming isn't a label. It's how we practice.
Believed.
Your experiences are taken at face value — never questioned, debated, or minimized.
Celebrated.
Your identity is a source of strength to be honored, not a problem to be managed.
Held.
A confidential, judgment-free space for everything you're carrying, with your name and pronouns used from day one.
Three steps to your first session.
Find your therapist
Browse Ashé clinicians by specialty, location, and availability — or let our team match you.
Find a therapistVerify your insurance
We check your benefits before your first session so there are no surprises.
Verify insuranceBook online
Choose a time that works — in person or virtual — or call us at 1-866-434-1735.
Book onlineTwo Chicago offices. Online across two states.
LGBTQ+ affirming therapy FAQ
What is LGBTQ+ affirming therapy?
It's mental health care that treats LGBTQ+ identities as healthy and valid. An affirming therapist understands minority stress, never tries to change your identity, and lets you focus on what brought you in — instead of educating your clinician.
Do I have to be in therapy because of my identity?
Not at all. Many LGBTQ+ clients come to Ashé for anxiety, burnout, grief, relationships, or work stress. Affirming care means your identity is understood as context, not treated as the problem.
Where can I get LGBTQ+ affirming therapy in Chicago?
Ashé sees clients in person at our River North office (40 E Huron St, Unit 4B) and our Logan Square office (2653 N Kedzie Ave), and offers secure video therapy anywhere in Illinois and Texas.
Does Ashé accept insurance?
Yes. We accept major commercial plans including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, and Optum, plus Meridian Illinois Medicaid. Our team verifies your benefits before your first session.
Do you work with transgender and nonbinary clients?
Yes. Our clinicians support trans, nonbinary, and gender-questioning clients through exploration, social and medical transition, family conversations, and everyday life. If you need a letter for gender-affirming medical care, mention it when you reach out so our intake team can match you with a clinician who provides them.
Do you see LGBTQ+ teens and families?
Yes. We offer teen therapy, family support, and couples therapy. Teens get a confidential space of their own, and parents and caregivers can get support learning how to show up for them.
How do I get started?
Find a therapist, verify your insurance, then book online or call 1-866-434-1735, Monday–Friday, 9am–7pm CT.
What if I need help right now?
Ashé isn't a crisis service. In an emergency, call 911. For immediate support, call or text 988. LGBTQ+ young people can reach The Trevor Project 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386 or by texting START to 678-678, and Trans Lifeline is available at 877-565-8860.
Find a therapist who gets it.
Affirming care with a clinician who sees you fully — in River North, in Logan Square, or from wherever you are in Illinois and Texas.
Or call 1-866-434-1735 · Mon–Fri, 9am–7pm CT