LGBTQIA+ Affirming, Trauma Informed Photography Process

I affirm my clients through an LGBTQIA+, trauma-informed process, designed to nurture each individual in their unique needs and humanity.

My goal is to treat each of my clients with the utmost respect, care, and support while working with me.

I am glad to work with clients in developing a plan to meet individual accessibility needs for photo sessions and events.

I am fat positive, sex positive, and neurodivergent. I am queer, nonbinary, and live with chronic pain. I am white and hold thin privilege.

My scope of practice:

I am not a therapist and no aspect of my work is therapy. I am not a mental health professional. I am a photographer.

What is my trauma-informed, LGBTQIA+ affirming process like?

Clients are always the expert on their own needs & goals.

Many people hold trauma around being photographed, for a myriad of reasons. I recognize and respect this, and want to support clients in having the photography experiences they need and deserve. I strive to create opportunities for affirmation and joy in a supportive context.

Prior to every session, we will have at least one virtual meeting (or written questionnaire, if that is preferred) in which we discuss boundaries, areas of sensitivity, any trauma clients wish me to be aware of, affirming language, accessibility needs, and plans for managing and supporting potential triggers during our time together.

In this meeting we also discuss how to open up opportunities for gender euphoria, queer affirmation, and more to our sessions. I draw on my extensive experience working with fellow LGBTQIA+ individuals as well as what clients tell me about personal experiences and needs to co-create a plan with them for this purpose. Each plan is individualized and collaborative.

As part of this meeting or in a follow-up meeting, our planning time can include elements of brainstorming around creative ways to celebrate aspects of clients’ identities through visual storytelling and metaphors.

I welcome feedback from clients, during and after our sessions, on how to better meet their needs and improve in supporting them. I am committed to continued learning and growth, while doing my best with what I know right now!

As an aspect of my trauma-informed practice, I take responsibility for recognizing and communicating my own needs and boundaries.