CY Korn - photo by Wunmi Onibudo — Photo by Wunmi Onibudo

I grew up at a time where if my mental health was doing poorly or a professional decided to, I could have received electric shock therapy or be sectioned for my gender and/or my sexuality. Just because… because possibly an ill-informed professional could not separate the personal from the professional.

Being lesbian, gay or bisexual was not taken off the World Health Organisation, Mental Health Classification until 1997. I was 17 when I came out to myself and the legal age of consent was 21. I went to a faith school where we learnt about flowers being pollinated, we did not have an inclusive education that may have provided a holistic approach to look after my consensual, personal, social and relational safety and well-being.

When I first came into the LGBTQ+ charity and voluntary sector in 1999 and in every community organisation that I’ve worked in since, were the aftermath of that lack of mental health support for and with the older generation that survived those decisions. The men who have sex with men and transgender community that transmitted HIV in the height of the HIV epidemic, those somehow managed to not transmit HIV in the HIV epidemic, somehow, are now ageing with HIV that comes with its own set of complicated comorbid physical, medical and mental health needs, and both groups bring survivors’ guilt and PTSD symptoms from the HIV epidemic. There is of course the fallout and impact within the LGBT community of not being protected by law, health and social policy, and LGBT Hate Crime.

In the early 2000s as Schools Liaison Worker, I walked into an assembly or classroom of teachers to do a gender or sexuality training or workshop. The senior leadership of the school, teachers or young people I came to engage with would act up or sometimes walk out due to the subject. None of this was that long ago!

In the faith community that I come from, as in most faith groups, giving money or time to charity is considered a way of demonstrating to the community, your G-d and yourself the extent of your belief and moral compass. People from the outside looking in just see that richness and rich people giving money or having money as a stereotype for the whole community. That becomes a stereotype, which is discriminatory, that discrimination causes stigma. This implodes and often prevents people in the community getting help when they most need it. Mental health does not discriminate; it affects us all - the rich, the not so rich and the poor. There are always two truths or more in every situation. Those on the poverty line, facing mental health issues, relational family problems, cost of living struggles - their needs often get overlooked.

Throughout my experience of working in community I have enjoyed and been privileged to engage and work with members from the people of colour (POC) and Back African Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities that were from the LGBTQ+ and beyond communities.

They were part of the reason in my early training as a therapist I trained in the intercultural model as a therapist. This training cemented something for me as a therapist. In western thought, we think we are just working with the individual in the therapy room, but, in the faith, People of Colour and in Black African Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, the client is not just bringing themselves into the therapy - they are bringing their experience of community, family, sometimes faith and Racism into the therapy room. Intercultural therapy allows me to work with the whole client, so the client does not feel they have to leave any part of themselves outside the therapy door. Like the faith communities they struggle to accept help from outside the community they belong due to systemic oppression, racism in education, health, law enforcement and wider society. This presents huge barriers to access support and higher rates of mental health problems within these communities. There are also the current and historic racist attitudes, treatment from the medical and mental health white coat professionals is unfortunately still very much present by some today.

Due to all the named reasons. I am removing the labels that my training and professional body attach a lot to.

My different qualifications allow me to call myself either a Counsellor or Psychotherapist. My belief and experience are that what we call ourselves as professionals matter. Though my sense to those seeking emotional support who may come with multi-layered needs, these professional labels may just present more barriers to access therapy. The therapy relationship will never be completely equal. Particularly when working in private practice there is the power and transactional nature of money that there has been much writing about. My qualifications and experience should not present more barriers to those vulnerable and needing emotional support getting my help.

Yes, it is almost 2026, there is still much work to be done!

From now, onwards I will describe myself as a therapist and my professional therapy work comes under the banner of:

CY Korn Therapy (Body and Trauma Relational Therapist & Clinical Supervisor)

Embodied Relational Edge: Therapy and Well-Being Services in the UK, Europe and Beyond