Mental Health Counseling

LGBTQ+ youth deserve affirming, empowering, and accessible mental health counseling.

SMYAL’s mental health counseling services are tailored to meet your unique needs, providing a safe and inclusive space for you to explore your emotions and experiences. We know that finding a therapist who understands you and your community can be frustrating, expensive, and nerve-wracking. At SMYAL, we’re working to remove these barriers.

Our team of compassionate and understanding therapists is well-versed in the challenges that LGBTQ+ youth face, and we are here to help you navigate those challenges with confidence and resilience. Whether you’re struggling with self-acceptance, coming out, or dealing with discrimination, SMYAL is here for you.

Mental Health Services

SMYAL’s mental health support is designed for LGBTQ+ youth ages 6-24. Our cost-free services are hosted both in-person in Washington, DC as well as virtually through telehealth. SMYAL therapists are licensed to provide therapy in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

SMYAL’s mental health services include:

Individual and group therapy
Play therapy for youth ages 6-12
Support for families and caregivers
Bilingual therapy in English and Spanish

If you are interested in getting connected to SMYAL’s mental health services, please fill out a referral form and email it to [email protected] or call 202-617-5645.

You can fill out the form yourself or have another healthcare provider refer you.

MOSAIC: Parent & Caregiver Support Group

When your child comes out, your family mosaic is now more colorful than it might have been before. With these changes come questions and adjustments, MOSAIC is here to support you.

Facilitated by therapists at SMYAL, this support group is for parents, caregivers, friends, and family of LGBTQ+ youth. We understand that having a safe place to explore your thoughts, get a better understanding, or just connect with others who may be going through similar transitions is important. Our goal is to provide that safe space for you weekly to safely navigate your thoughts and build your own community of support as it relates to your loved one who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

How To Join

MOSAIC is free and takes place virtually on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm ET

Registration is required to join all MOSAIC Support Groups. If you are interested in joining, please reach out to [email protected].

Each group has 20 open spots which are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be a waiting list for each group. If you have registered, but are unable to attend, please update your RSVP so we can notify those on the waitlist.

Upcoming Groups

Tuesdays, 6:30 pm, March 18 – May 13

What Our Clients are Saying

For me, it has always been a priority for my child to express her authentic self and I really appreciate your role in contributing to this. Over the past year, my child's ability to self advocate and share what she needs has increased tremendously. So thank you for all of your contributions to this growth and much more (that I don’t even know about right now!).

Thank you so much for all you have done for my child - the intervention and therapy has been so helpful for her to process all her feelings, and to have a safe place where she could be herself and express her thoughts without any filter. We really appreciate all the support that you have given us as a family as well - the sustainability plan will be a great resource to make sure that we continue to maintain all the good supports and coping strategies that you helped put in place. I also really appreciate the list of additional providers in case my child needs more support. I hope that you are able to help more kids and families through SMYAL, the way that you have helped us. We appreciate all your work!

SMYAL has really helped me through some really challenging times in my life with love and care. I'm so grateful for SMYAL services and everything that they do for LGBTQ+ youth.

The services I received through SMYAL were instrumental in building my ability to accept my sexuality and to learn to trust myself through several life transitions. I am so grateful for the work done at SMYAL!

Therapy helped me with figuring out some things about myself. I didn’t know these things before and learning coping skills helped me to realize what I want. I want to get my diploma, I want to get a job, it helped me realize everything.

Before I started therapy, I didn't have motivation. SMYAL helped me get through tough times. Thank you for your help.