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When Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Center fi rst opened its doors in 2012, it had just fi ve clients.

A lot has changed since then.Two years later, Colors has provided more than 2,100 free

counseling sessions to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth under 25 and their families at its offi ce near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Th ere is often a waiting list.

Colors is an initiative of the LGBT-Affi rmative Psychology Specialization within the graduate Clinical Psychology program at Antioch University Los Angeles. Dr. Douglas Sadownick, director of both the Specialization and Colors, oversees the AULA-trained counselors in partnership with the Antioch University Counseling Center.

“Our counselors are trained to provide affi rmative

psychotherapeutic healing to a deserving community in need,” explains Sadownick. “As part of the therapy process, we teach our clients about the lasting cultural impact of LGBTQ individuals throughout history, to empower them to lead lives of integrity, dignity, wholeness, and contribution.”

Colors – one of AULA’s mission-driven community projects – is funded entirely by gifts. As a result, it relies heavily on the generosity of donors and its Colors LGBTQ Advisory Board, which includes three members of the AULA Board of Trustees: Jack Illes, Roland Palencia, and Jason Oclaray. Th e Advisory Board is working to build sustainable funding from alumni and friends, which will enable Colors to support even more LGBTQ youth.

“Th ere is just so much that could be done,” explains Illes, to allow for “more program time, additional

A Unique Counseling Center Offers a Future to LGBTQ Youth.

Watch a video about Colors at groundswell.antiochla.edu/colors

Photos by Mikel Healy Counselor Cassie Najarian greets a new client.

ADVANCING THE MISSION

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32 | WINTER 2014

locations, and expanded user groups beyond the existing demographic.”

Adds Palencia, “We are literally in the business of saving lives, mostly emotionally, but in some cases even preventing youth from [attempting] suicide.”

Th is life-changing work occurs every day at Colors, where clients are buzzed into a colorful waiting room, which features a neon orange couch, a bright yellow desk, and an LGBTQ library from which clients can borrow books. In the three comfortable therapy rooms, counselors provide psychotherapy through a unique synthesis of psychoanalysis and other approaches designed to transform pain into empowerment for LGBTQ youth.

Th e infl ux of patients over the past two years is hardly surprising. According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to seven times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers. (Although not included in the study, the report suggests that transgender youth likewise have higher rates of suicidal behavior.) LGBTQ youth are also much more likely to report bullying, substance abuse, lack of access to health care, and mental illness.

“Th ese clients may not have a lot of family support,” says Cassie Najarian, a Colors counselor and its former program manager. “Th is is really the fi rst time they’ve been in a space that affi rms who they are.” She notes that sexual orientation and gender identity are added stressors for clients who are suff ering in numerous ways; for instance, many are also undocumented immigrants.

Supervisors Enrique Lopez and Marston James tell the story of one nearly suicidal transgender client who faced an extremely hostile home environment. By working with the client’s father – who was supportive but lived in another state – they were able to help the client relocate. Moving to a place with a trans-friendly support system very likely saved his life, they say.

Sadownick sees the potential for Colors to help even moreclients in the future.“It would benefi t us to have more resources so that we can hire more supervisors and counselors,” he notes.

For Jason Oclaray, a member of the Colors Advisory Board and AULA’s Board of Trustees, personally supporting Colors is nothing short of a moral imperative.

“I feel a deep responsibility to take care of our LGBTQ youth,” Oclaray says. “Colors is the quintessential example of AULA living its mission, allowing students and the community to benefi t from the University’s eff orts. And it’s a way for LGBTQ youth to empower themselves to change their futures.” -SF

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to seven times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Learn more about Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Center at colorsyouth.org

Dr. Douglas Sadownick.

From left: Enrique Lopez, Marston James, and Cassie Najarian.

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