• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FHE Health - Addiction & Mental Health Care Homepage

Drug, Alcohol and Mental Health Treatment

ContactCareers

Call for Immediate Help (833) 596-3502

MENUMENU
  • About
        • About FHE Rehab
          • About FHE Health
          • Our Staff
          • Locations We Serve
          • Testimonials
        • Our Campus
          • Gallery
          • Our Videos
          • The Health and Wellness Center at FHE Health
        • Our Locations
          • Alcohol Rehab
          • Detox Center
          • Drug Rehab
          • Mental Health Center
          • Outpatient Rehab
        • Careers at FHE Health
          • Employment Opportunities
        • Our Expertise
          • Accreditations
          • Educational Opportunities
          • Community Impact Award
          • First Responder Families Podcast
          • First Responder Paws
          • Education Scholarship
  • Addiction
        • Treatment Programs
          • Treatment Program Overview
          • Alcohol Addiction
          • Drug Addiction Treatment
          • Behavioral Addiction
        • Levels of Care
          • Continuum of Care
          • Addiction Detox
          • Inpatient Addiction Treatment
          • Outpatient Addiction Treatment
        • What We Treat
          • Alcoholism
          • Amphetamines
          • Benzodiazepines
          • Cocaine
          • Heroin
          • Opioids
          • Sedative
  • Mental Health
        • Mental Health Rehab
          • Mental Health Rehab
          • Onsite Psychiatric Care
          • Dual Diagnosis
        • Levels of Care
          • Residential Mental Health Care
          • Outpatient Mental Health Care
        • What We Treat
          • ADD & ADHD
          • Anxiety Disorders
          • Bipolar Disorder
          • Depression
          • Eating Disorders
          • Personality Disorders
          • PTSD
          • Schizophrenia
          • Substance Use Disorder
          • Trauma
  • Programs
        • FHE Programs
          • Specialty Program Overview
          • Restore (Mental Health)
          • Empower! (Women's Program)
          • Shatterproof FHE Health(First Responders)
          • Compass Program
        • Support Programs
          • Alumni
          • Family Support
        • Therapies
          • Acupuncture
          • Breathwork Therapy
          • CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
          • DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy)
          • EMDR Therapy
          • Expressive Arts Therapy
          • Individual Therapy
          • Group Therapy
          • Gambling Therapy
          • Massage
        • Medical Care
          • Medical Integration
          • Ketamine Infusion
          • IV Vitamin
          • Fitness & Nutrition
          • Medication-Assisted Treatment
          • Medication Management
        • NeuroRehab Services
          • Neuro Rehabilitation
          • Neurofeedback Training
          • Neurostimulation Therapy
          • EEG Brain Mapping
          • Insomnia Treatment for PTSD
  • Resources
        • FHE Guides
          • Understanding Drug Abuse
          • Signs of Addiction
          • The Disease of Addiction
          • Confronting Addiction
          • Staging an Intervention
          • Rehab Success Rate – Does It Really Work?
          • Withdrawal Timelines
          • Life After Rehab
          • LGBTQ+ Community Resources
          • Veteran Resources
          • FHE Podcasts
          • Remote Resources Toolkit
        • Learning Center
          • Help for You
          • Help For Loved Ones
          • Help For Alcoholism
          • Help With Substance Abuse
          • Behavioral & Mental Health
          • Life in Recovery
          • Rehab Explained
          • Addiction Statistics
          • Our Research Articles
          • View All Articles
        • The Experience Blog
          • Addiction News
          • Alumni
          • Community Events
          • Expert Opinions
          • FHE Commentary
          • FHE News
          • Treatment Legislation
          • View All Articles
  • Admissions
        • Insurance
          • Blue Cross Insurance
          • Beacon Health / Value Options Insurance
          • Cigna Insurance
          • Humana Insurance
          • TRICARE Insurance
        • Admissions
          • Steps to Addiction Help
          • Will Insurance Cover Behavioral Treatment?
          • Self-Pay Rehab
        • FAQ
          • Keeping Your Job in Rehab
          • Example Day in Rehab
        • Contact Admissions
          • Contact Us
          • Secure Payment Form
  • Contact
  •  
Home > Featured in Experts > FHE Health Supports for the LGBTQIA+ Community

September 29, 2022 By Kristina Robb-Dover

FHE Health Supports for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Inclusive Care: Our Commitment to the LGBTQIA+ Community

This article has been reviewed for accuracy by our peer review team which includes clinicians and medical professionals. Learn more about our peer review process.

Updated June 13, 2024

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community face unique mental health challenges related to being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, or Asexual/Ally. Discrimination and stigmatization feature prominently in the LGBTQIA+ experience, and LGBTQIA+ members are at higher risk of substance abuse, self-harm, suicide, and potential ostracization by friends and/or family. In June 2023, for the first time in its four-decade history, the Human Rights Campaign declared a national state of emergency for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

What Support FHE Health Offers the LGBTQIA+ Community 

FHE Health’s Kim Sorondo is working to change that, by helping LGBTQIA+ clients feel safe and supported. A licensed mental health counselor, Sorondo is a primary therapist in FHE’s Restore Mental Health program. Thanks to prior experience working in the LGBTQIA+ treatment setting, Sorondo has expertise in this area and has been assisting FHE Health to improve its care and support for those whose gender and/or sexual orientation fall outside of “the binary.” (The term “non-binary” is “used to describe people who understand their gender presentation in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman,” Sorondo explained.)

In an interview that aired back in 2022, Sorondo talked about what FHE Health was doing to support these clients. She also described some of the commonly occurring mental health and addiction issues that she encountered within the LGBTQIA+ community.

More FHE Health Supports for LGBTQIA+ Clients: An Update

We recently reached out to Sorondo again for an update. What, if any, changes or trends had she observed in the last two years?

  1. Notably higher admissions from the LGBTQIA+ community – The number of gender-variant people seeking treatment through Restore has “grown exponentially,” Sorondo said.
  2. LGBTQIA+-inclusive changes to Restore Mental Health programming – Restore Mental Health is now a self-contained program, meaning that clients can stay in the same place for the duration of their treatment, regardless of their level of care. This has made it easier for gender-variant clients to form connections and remain in a supportive environment with their peers.
  3. Training in inclusivity and events to show solidarity, such as celebrating Pride Month – Sorondo has continued to train staff on topics like inclusivity and to help organize events in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. Sorondo is hopeful that these events will draw more participation from staff in the coming years.

What Is Our Safe Space Meeting?

Safe Space Meeting is a peer support group for people who identify as LGBTQIA+. They meet to share their experiences, discuss topics like coming out, and find ways to encourage and empower one another in a non-judgmental environment. Sorondo helped start the group in 2022, after leading a clinical training for FHE clinicians on how to be sensitive to clients with issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

“In 2022, I provided a presentation for the clinical staff on this population and the special challenges associated with being gender-variant,” Sorondo said.

Sorondo’s presentation generated interest in ways to support gender-variant clients, one of which was the peer support group Safe Space. Today, Sorondo helps to lead and facilitate the group.

Whatever your gender and sexual identification along the spectrum that is LGBTQIA+, the Safe Space meeting is where you can go to feel accepted, understood, and supported. The Safe Space group is also where you can go to show your solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, either as a member or an ally.

Recognizing Gender Non-Conforming and Sexual Orientation with Language and Pronouns

Another support has been the language sensitivity and pronoun accuracy that Sorondo and her colleagues are careful to practice when referring to gender. Whether it’s in a client’s chart, in a group, or in an individual therapy setting, it sends the message that “we see you, and respect your pronouns in a non-judgmental environment,” Sorondo said.

A vocabulary that describes all variations can be complicated to understand. Sorondo gave the example of an assessment with a client who identified their sexual orientation as “pan-sexual.” If you’re wondering what that means, here is how Sorondo defined the term: “People who identify as Pan-sexual fall in love with ‘hearts not just parts,’ no matter their gender identity.”

Examples of How This Support Has Helped the LGBTQIA+ Community

How has this support helped members of the LGBTQIA+ community? Sorondo shared some examples:

  •  “A non-binary client who was very passive and struggled with low self-esteem, which made it difficult for them to advocate for themselves when they were misgendered,” Sorondo said. “The Safe Space group gave this person the self-confidence they needed to correct people when the wrong pronouns were used to identify them.”
  • “As a sounding board for its members, the Safe Space group has led to additional ways that our staff can further support the LGBTQIA+ community at FHE Health,” Sorondo said.

Some of the More Common LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Challenges

Like the general population, the LGBTQIA+ community is susceptible to a broad range of mental health challenges. There can also be a lot of variation between people on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, “which encompasses both gender identity and sexual orientation,” and Sorondo was careful to emphasize this diversity.

At the same time, Sorondo acknowledged that this population encounters certain mental health and substance abuse challenges that tend to be prevalent in the LGBTQIA+ community, and they are at higher risk of engaging in maladaptive coping, including Chemex, alcoholism, and other illicit substances.

Self-harm behaviors Like Eating Disorders and Substance Abuse

People often struggle with coming out to family, friends, and coworkers, and this can trigger anxiety and depression. To deal with the rejection they experience from family and society they “may turn to maladaptive coping, including self-harm,” Sorondo said. These struggles can co-occur with alcohol and drug use.

The Importance of Personalized Care

One interview cannot possibly cover all the ground, as Sorondo is the first to admit. They may share a common acronym, but the LGBTQIA+ community represents a very broad and diverse group of people, whose mental health and addiction experiences are equally broad and diverse— one might call it “a rainbow” of difference.

At FHE Health, we understand the unique challenges that LGBTQIA+ clients face. We also make it our aim to ensure that each patient in our care feels accepted, supported, and empowered in their journey toward healing and/or recovery. For more information about support for you or a loved one, contact FHE today.

Filed Under: Featured in Experts, Expert Columns

More Questions about Treatment?

More Questions about Treatment?

We offer 100% confidential and individualized treatment

Contact Us

About Kristina Robb-Dover

Kristina Robb-Dover is a content manager and writer with extensive editing and writing experience... read more

Primary Sidebar

The Experience Blog

  • Addiction News
  • Alumni
  • Community Events
  • Expert Columns
  • FHE Commentary
  • FHE News
  • Treatment Legislation
  • All Articles

Sign up for the Blog

Our Facilities

Take a look at our state of the art treatment center.

View Our Gallery

Learning Center

  • Help for You
  • Help For Loved Ones
  • Help For Alcoholism
  • Help With Substance Abuse
  • Behavioral & Mental Health
  • Life in Recovery
  • Rehab Explained
  • All Articles
Contact Us
  • Call Now:
  • Best Time to Call:

Footer

FHE Health

© 2025 FHE Health

505 S Federal Hwy #2,
Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441
1-833-596-3502
youtube facebook instagram linkedin twitter
  • Contact
  • Careers at FHE Health
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
A+ BBB and Top Places to Work - Sun Sentinel

Copyright © 2025 · FHE Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}

The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. If one of our articles is marked with a ‘reviewed for accuracy and expertise’ badge, it indicates that one or more members of our team of doctors and clinicians have reviewed the article further to ensure accuracy. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care.

If there are any concerns about content we have published, please reach out to us at marketing@fhehealth.com.

833-596-3502

Text/Call Me