The author explores the barriers faced by gays and lesbians in accessing relevant and non-biased counselling services. The investigation utilizes a qualitative research design that borrows procedures from a grounded theory model for research. The first goal of this study is to review the ways in which helping professionals have historically responded to homosexuality. Current obstacles to participation in counselling are then investigated through interviews with ten lesbians and gays. Respondents identify barriers to service as including concern about interventions aimed at reorientation, the client's comfort level with their own sexual identity and heterosexist bias within the therapeutic approach. Given the sense of alienation individuals describe in relation to conventional helping systems, the author reflects on the variety of alternatives to counselling that lesbians and gays may employ in addressing problems. As most participants report having had some form of contact with counselling practitioners, the researcher examines how clients determine comfort within a therapeutic setting. Assessments about suitability of service inform decisions related to 'coming out' to the helper and proceeding or terminating with participation in counselling. The study concludes with a series of recommendations about the development of a more accessible approach to clinical service. The respondents advise that practitioners commit themselves to a process of reeducation that entails challenging internalized bias and expanding their knowledge base with regard to gay and lesbian issues. It is suggested that accessibility is enhanced through the counsellor's efforts to outline agency confidentiality policies; adopt inclusive language; ensure the presence of physical indicators of a lesbian and gay clientele; and, the promotion of a visible profile within the sexual minority communities. The author argues that counselling professionals have a responsibility to advocate for the rights of those citizens who belong to the gay and lesbian minorities.

Based on a social-ecological model of health, this thesis discusses the results of an exploratory, qualitative study, Photovoice Families that employed Photovoice and photo-elicitation methodology to examine how 12 lesbian women in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area defined and configured their families. Participants were given disposable cameras and asked to photograph the people that they considered to be a part of their family. This study explores the structure of family within the lesbian community and the meaning attached to the roles of individuals in lesbian womens lives. Previous research suggests that many lesbian and gay people create families of choice out of a network of friends, co-workers and others because of a lack of acceptance or understanding from their families of origin. Other studies contradict these findings and reveal that lesbian women do remain connected with families of origin and that these people have important roles in their lives. Participants in this study chose parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, surrogate families, friends, their community and many other people to photograph and to call family. More important than the concepts of families of origin or families of choice was the idea that families take care of and protect each other, regardless of whether they are related by biology or friendship. This study suggests that the creation of family is an active process in which women designate people whose relationships support and affirm them. A social-ecological model of health views all aspects of a persons environment including social, cultural and family backgrounds as important factors that impact health. Support and influence from others, particularly close friends and family members, can have an impact on both a persons physical health as well as their sense of emotional well-being. By illuminating sources of social support in a population that is frequently marginalized and ignored, this study can make an important contribution to the design of public health programs and policies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 146 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-117).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.(Department of Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 239-264).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-120). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ39217.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in Social Work. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-88). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ39185.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Jan. 9, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-36).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-53). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ67725.

This study is an exploration of the lesbian subculture in Russia focusing in particular on the subculture as a unique heterogeneous space of social interaction and cultural production that is not self contained or isolated from mainstream society, but incorporates a variety of cultural flows and traditions that are a part of Russian mainstream culture, other Russian subcultures, or global cultural flows. Some of these cultural flows and traditions are more compatible than other ones. The increasingly globalized images and ideas of what a gay and lesbian community is, or perhaps should be like, are only partially compatible with contemporary reality in Russia. The high value placed on visibility and explicitly political, even radical activism, in gay and lesbian subcultures in the West, must in Russia be reconciled not only with the totalitarian past, and the increasingly authoritarian present, but also with the traditions and practices that developed as a response to the repressive regime and enabled people to live and even thrive within it. Using private spaces as public space, and public space as private space established a practice of multilayered spaces that are continuously maintained through social inclusion and exclusion, visibility and invisibility. However, the subculture is not only an intersection of external cultural flows and traditions, it also has it’s own unique traditions, knowledges and practices. Poetry, music, literature and art form the backbone of the flow of activities within the subculture. Visual and grammatical cues, styles, jokes and lesbian genders are integral aspects of the subculture as it is continuously renegotiated by its participants also on an individual level.. The study is based on fieldwork, participant observation and interviews, mainly in Moscow, and to some extent in St Petersburg, during 2005 with recurring visits during 2006 and 2007.