In her master's thesis titled Disclosure of non-normative sexual orientation to parents and seeking professional help, the author explores the disclosure of non-normative sexual orientation to parents, the seeking of professional help from population of non-normatively sexually oriented persons and whether they are satisfied with it or not. In the theoretical part, she presents the key concepts such as sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, types of non-normative sexual orientations and their formation. The process of coming out, parents’ reactions to it and different options of professional help for LGBT+ people are explained as well.
In the empirical part the author explores the phenomenon of revealing non-normative sexual orientation to parents and the possible change in the family atmosphere after that with the use of qualitative methodology. In addition, the research focuses on the very formation of an individual's sexual orientation, on the first disclosure to any other person ever and on how they felt about it. The author also focuses on researching the seeking of professional help in the selected population and their satisfaction with it.
The study included eight non-normatively sexually oriented adults who had already revealed themselves to their parents. They are five homosexual men, one homosexual woman, a bisexual and a pansexual person. Their average age is 24.4 years, all coming from the middle of Slovenia. Six of the participants had a negative parents’ reaction to their disclosure. They described parents' doubts about their disclosure and their thinking that it was only a phase, as well as their shame, concern, fear and desire to hide their child's non-normative sexual orientation from others. They talked about parental disapointment, sadness and/or anger and in some cases parents’ desire for having time to process and coming to terms with it. In two cases, however, the disclosure was a positive experience that further improved the family atmosphere because the parents responded openly and acceptingly.
Seven people had experience with professional help, in which they find as most important the therapist's open and accepting attitude, professional competences in working with a specific group, a sense of homeliness of the therapeutic space and instilling a sense of worth in the client by normalizing his sexual orientation.
The results showed that disclosure to parents is a demanding, often emotionally burdensome process and that professional help can be an important support.
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