Creating a truly affirming space for the LGBTQ+ community starts before a client ever walks through your door. Most therapists have good intentions, but good intentions are not the same as knowing what to actually do.
In this episode of The Traveling Therapist Podcast, I sit down with Eric Sullivan, a proud queer therapist and founder of Proud Practice, who spent a year traveling the globe and came home with a renewed sense of purpose. From Argentina to Scandinavia to Southeast Asia, Eric experienced firsthand how differently the queer community is treated around the world, and it deepened his commitment to helping therapy practices become fully LGBTQ+ inclusive from the inside out.
In this episode, We Explore…
Connect with Eric:
Proud Practice affirming therapy quiz https://www.proudpractice.com/quiz
Proud Counseling https://www.proudcounseling.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/proudpractice/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/proudpractice
Connect with me:
Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
The Traveling Therapist Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
Signup to learn more about life as a Traveling Therapist: https://www.portablepracticemethod.com/free-training
Revolutionize Your Private Practice with AI Course: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/ai
Bill Like A Boss Insurance Billing Community: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/blab
Subscribe to the Podcast:
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Kym: Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Traveling Therapist podcast. Really excited to have our guest today. We have Eric Sullivan here with us. It has a super interesting story and a really powerful thing that he's doing right now in the therapist community.
[00:00:14] Eric, welcome to the podcast. I'd love if you would start out and just tell us how'd you go from being a typical therapist to a traveling therapist.
[00:00:22] Eric: Thank you, Kim. I'm so excited to be on your show, which by the way, I've been listening to, all throughout the year and probably starting about two years ago, I just started binging your show on long drives.
[00:00:34] Kym: Oh my gosh. Thanks.
[00:00:36] Eric: So now here I am. I'm like, Hey, this is so fun.
[00:00:38] Kym: That's amazing. I love that. It's like full circle. I love when that happens. Yeah.
[00:00:43] Eric: and so how I got to be working as a traveling therapist. I have a therapy practice. I transitioned it to doing remote therapy back in 2019. So before the pandemic, before it was cool. Which it's so funny because I just, I can remember so clearly, so many other therapists hating on it and being like, that's not real therapy and you can't do that, and all this stuff.
[00:01:10] And then the pandemic happened and then they were all reaching out to me being like, can you help me figure this out?
[00:01:15] Kym: Exactly same. Same. I left my office, I remember I left my office the day I left. They're like, are you sure you wanna do this? I don't even know if you can do this. I was like, absolutely. I'm doing this and yes, I can do it. And you know, and then we're all reaching out to me when the pandemic hits, so I can relate.
[00:01:32] Eric: so once I had the practice remote, I started traveling, doing kind of like smaller trips. And working while on those trips, which I had never done before. I've always loved traveling, always been a big part of my life, but I always treated it more like I'm on vacation. I'm not working. I started then pairing it into both. I still vacationed too, but then I would work during the week.
[00:01:56] Kym: Yeah. I like that though. It's kinda like dip your toe in the water a little bit. See how it goes. See if you like it.
[00:02:01] Eric: Yes, so I did my first like solo remote therapy trip in 2022. I went to Medellin, Colombia for like a few weeks out of, yeah, it was so fun. I always had a dream to go there. I just had that moment of being like, I'm just gonna go. I'm gonna go by myself. I don't need to ask anybody else. I don't need to have anyone come with like, I want to go, so I'm just going,
[00:02:30] Kym: I love that. And then, I mean, so what led up to the big, I didn't even talk about it in the intro, but like the big solo trip, it's for a year. how did you work your way up to that and then like, tell us all about it because I, I just want everybody to know what you did. It
[00:02:45] Eric: Yes. So I guess like the, the spoiler on that is I went abroad for a year and I traveled all around the globe from South America to Scandinavia, to Southeast Asia, back to South America. And a big part of how that came to be was doing that first smaller trip like. doing that one trip, getting a taste for it, kind of proving to myself that I could do it, and then doing more small trips like that.
[00:03:13] And then somewhere along the way I was like, you know, if I didn't have like housing, if I didn't have a my apartment or like a lease, I could do this for as long as I want to. And that's when I was just like, I can't not do this.
[00:03:28] Kym: Yeah. So what'd you do? Did you get rid of like an apartment lease or something and just say, you know what, I'm, I'm doing it.
[00:03:35] Eric: Yeah, my lease was coming up. I had like kind of a few months to prep for it. I put all my stuff in storage. I came up with sort of like a rough outline of what I was going to do. I also didn't make any like hard commitments or promises to myself. It was like, I'm gonna go to South America. I've been there a bunch of times.
[00:03:54] I love it there. Spend a few months there and then probably what I'm gonna do is go to Scandinavia after if I want to. But if I don't, that's okay too. I can come back at any time. My stuff's in storage, I can lease another apartment. And that part helped not overcommitting to anything like made it feel less overwhelming and made it feel like I think I'm going to do this and I think it's gonna be great, but if that changes and I don't want to, then that's okay.
[00:04:24] Kym: I love that. Yeah, and I mean, I mean the storage unit with no rent or anything is such a good idea. 'cause it's like, okay, if I hate it, I can come back and, and take everything outta storage and just resume living how I was before kind of thing.
[00:04:37] Eric: Yeah, because I did, that was also part of my vision for it. I wasn't like, I'm gonna move abroad and never come back. I was like, I'm gonna do it for, I think I thought to myself like, I'll probably do it for about six months. And then I'll see where I'm at.
[00:04:52] But I did think in time I'm gonna come back, so that'll be great just to have all my stuff there. I definitely had that moment of being like, I'm just gonna sell all my stuff and I'm gonna sell my car and I'll just figure it out. But a good friend of mine was like, you don't have to do that. Like you can if you want, but like why don't you just hold onto it just in case. So it worked out.
[00:05:14] Kym: So when you were going to these places, did you have like friends or contacts already in these places or were you just like, I've always wanted to go to Scandinavia, so I'm just gonna go.
[00:05:23] Eric: For the most part, I didn't have contacts or know people where I went. I did coincidentally, like, so this idea started formulating. One of my best friends had mentioned to me, Hey, Guess what? I'm gonna move to Argentina for a few months. I was like, no way. Like I'm about to do something really similar.
[00:05:44] I was likely gonna go back to Colombia to start, but I have had visited Argentina before and loved it. So I was like, okay, great. Like I could go there. Why not? That would be so fun to be able to have a good friend there at the same time. So that was amazing. Like that just lined up really well. We were both there for about three months together, like we had our own places, but, we hung out a lot.
[00:06:12] We got to like, explore things and do things together. It was really kinda like a stepping stone to the whole rest of it,
[00:06:18] Kym: you kinda like got warmed up with a friend there and then you were just like, okay, now I'm ready to go do the rest of this, whatever this is.
[00:06:26] Eric: And I like made it an intention not to like fully lean on him. During that time, we were in the same place together. I still, like, I went to a Spanish language school. I made friends through that. I played tennis, so I joined tennis clinics. Like, I kind of also like built my own life there too. Also in practice to be like, I'm not gonna have him, but these are the other places. So I need to get used to, getting out there and doing the stuff I like.
[00:06:55] Kym: Yeah, so just like searching the community for things you're already interested in and then just like joining up, becoming a part of that community while you're there, kind of thing.
[00:07:04] Eric: Yes, which that's something I definitely recommend to anyone who like wants to do this or is doing this or is gonna do it again. That community aspect is so important and it's a lot easier just to join in with stuff that's already happening and already organized versus trying to be the one to get it together.
[00:07:23] Kym: Oh yeah. Instead of like, Hey, I think I'm gonna start a book club in Colombia. Maybe look for a book club that already exists somewhere. Yeah, that's so smart. So could you tell us about your journeys then with like in all these different places and building community and like sort of how you made that work in a couple of the places that you really enjoyed?
[00:07:42] Maybe that would be good to just kind of hear your strategies for people that are listening.
[00:07:46] Eric: Yeah, absolutely. after Argentina, I went. The general region of Scandinavia. But funny enough, I started out that part of the journey in a place I was not expecting to go, which was the Netherlands. And
[00:08:03] Kym: Oh.
[00:08:03] Eric: I ended up there was, you had interviewed someone on your show about like using opening up travel credit cards and using the points to travel with.
[00:08:13] am I blanking on his name? It starts with an E,
[00:08:16] Kym: oh, I know who you're talking. Eli. I think his name was Eli Rosen, maybe.
[00:08:19] Eric: Let me check. Elliot. Elliot. I heard him on your show, and I was like, that's a great idea. I've never thought to do that before. And what really got me was, the airport lounges.
[00:08:30] they're so good. They're so awesome. And I had never been in one before, so I was like, I'm about to be in so many airports over the next year. Plus I'm gonna be spending this money anyway. Anyway, so I ended up reaching out to him. He helped me set up some travel credit cards, and then I had all these points accumulated, and he had told me what you're gonna do with these is I'm going to get you a, a flight, like a, hopefully like a, a business class flight to your next destination.
[00:08:56] So then when that time came, I was like, Hey, okay, so I'm trying to make my way over to Scandinavia. I'm pretty open. We source out like a, a few different options. and then one day he just reached out to me and was like, Hey, guess what? I found you a direct flight from Buenos Aires to Amsterdam. That's where you're going.
[00:09:18] And I kind of loved it because like all along that travel, I had so many decisions that I had to make, like on my own, no one else to ask. No real anchors. So for him just to be like, this is the one, this is the flight, you're not gonna find something better. Like you need to just capitalize on this and let me book it for you right now. Yeah, I was just like, cool. I've never been to Amsterdam.
[00:09:43] Kym: Now Amsterdam has a great airport lounge too. Just saying, uh, I've sat in that airport lounge a couple times. It's really good. So how long was that flight and like, how much did you end up spending on it? I just loved stuff like that. Like, travel hacks, like
[00:09:57] Eric: flight, I think was like a direct 14 hour flight. It was a red eye. he got me a business class seat and had like a lay down flat sleep, you know, situation, which was incredible, but has also like, kind of destroyed me 'cause I'm like, uh, I don't wanna fly regularly again.
[00:10:18] Kym: Never, never again.
[00:10:19] Eric: But yeah, so that, that just kind of decided that part and that got me to that region. And then from there I just like bopped to a few different, places along the way. I went to Copenhagen, I did a week in Bergen, Norway. All leading up to spending a month in Stockholm, Sweden, which was like a lifelong dream of mine because half of my family heritage is from Sweden, and we've always known that, right?
[00:10:49] Like we always grew up being like, we're half Irish and half Swedish. But then my siblings and I alled that like ancestry, DNA, oh, no way.
[00:10:58] Kym: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We look alike too, don't
[00:11:01] Eric: We do. I know. I'm like fellow ginger.
[00:11:06] Kym: Yes.
[00:11:07] Eric: my family and I did that ancestry, DNA and that's where we actually learned like our, all the breakdown of all the places and I kind of threw it out to my siblings. Hey, we should all take this trip. Like we know we're our heritage now. Let's go see these places. Crickets on the group chat. Just, you know, whatever.
[00:11:25] And so that's when I was just like, okay, cool. Like again, I'm not gonna wait on anybody, and if this is something I wanna do, I'm not gonna talk anyone into it. I'm just gonna go and I'm gonna experience it.
[00:11:35] Kym: That's amazing. How fun.
[00:11:37] Eric: It was so fun. And I always knew that those countries were like super queer, accepting, but I tell you, I have never seen so many pride flags in my entire life. Then in those places Amsterdam, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, everywhere, pride flags. It was so fun to see that.
[00:12:01] Kym: That's amazing. I mean, that question comes up sometimes in the traveling therapist, Facebook group, like which is the most like, l lgbtq plus friendly country and like I always go research it and that always comes up the Netherlands, like all of those countries up there for sure. Yep.
[00:12:17] Eric: Yeah, the Netherlands were actually the very first country to legalize same same sex marriage.
[00:12:22] Kym: Really, I never knew that. Wow. That's amazing.
[00:12:26] Eric: the year 2000.
[00:12:27] Kym: Wow, that's incredible. So maybe we could talk a little bit about your therapy practice, proud counseling. Proud counseling.com. If anybody wants to go check it out, let's talk about that and maybe your experiences just overseas with the, I always wanna make sure I say this right, the lgbtq plus community and then also you kind of discovered a calling around that and I wanna just dive into all that for people listening.
[00:12:53] Eric: Yes. First of all, props to you. You said it right. Anyone who's listening, you've gotta be able to say that acronym LGBTQ plus. I know it is like a little bit of a tongue twister and sometimes you mix up the letters. It's all good, but if you can say it and you can say it with confidence, it lets whoever you're talking to know. I mean, it gives them a sense of safety and at the very least, it lets 'em know, all right, cool. She knows how to say it.
[00:13:18] And just another tip, you know it is a mouthful, you can also say the word queer as a synonym for L. So you can say like, I can say I, I am a queer specialized therapist. I can say I'm an LGBTQ plus specialized therapist. Lands the exact same way. Queer is a little bit easier to say and it's a little bit more kind of, um.
[00:13:40] Like a modern way to refer to the community. So if you say that too, if I hear someone say the word queer with confidence, I'm like, whether they're in the community or not, I'm like, cool. They know that that's something that they can say and that it's good to say and it feels good to hear it.
[00:13:57] Kym: Yeah. I love that. Thank you. Thanks for the education. it's important 'cause you know, you never know like what's the right way to like, say things and, you know, let people know, especially what you're doing with it. I wanna talk about that and. Before we hit record, you said something, you were, you were like, 'cause I think I, I think what did I did I say like, why'd you come back earlier?
[00:14:14] Why are you back now? And you said, well, there's a story behind that. So I wanna talk about that some and how it all connects to what you're doing for the LGBTQ plus community. Let's talk about it.
[00:14:27] Eric: Yep. I'm giving you snaps again. Go girl. yeah, I sometimes I think we forget how much privilege we have and we forget that the way that we get to live and some of the freedoms that we have are not the same as what everyone else has. And that is especially true for the queer community.
[00:14:48] It's so different country to country. The level of acceptance You know, starting in South America, people ask me that all the time because prior to this big trip, I've traveled there frequently. I love South America. Um, people always ask me what the level of acceptance there. It's, I would say it's generally pretty high.
[00:15:10] Um, I've always felt really safe there. I've always felt really welcomed there. I have had, I've been in, you know, dating situations, partner situations. Holding hands down the street there, and I've never felt unsafe doing that than being in Scandinavia, Europe, that region. That to me was like a, a next level affirmation that I've never felt before.
[00:15:38] Not even in the us, like I just felt like every single place I went to. I was welcome there. I was safe there. It really wasn't a big deal. And I think part of that is because they started doing that work so long ago that they're, it, it's just, it's part of the culture. It's so normalized there.
[00:15:58] Kym: It's just totally mainstream, like yeah.
[00:16:00] Eric: Yeah. And then from there, so I kind of loosely knew. I was like, if I still have an NB post Scandinavia, I'm gonna go to Southeast Asia. I've never been there before, like always wanted to. Like, I've always been intrigued by it. Why not? Like if, if ever a time, now is the time to go. So. I went to, Thailand and Bali.
[00:16:29] I did a stop in Taiwan and along the way to those places to get from Sweden to Thailand. The only flights I was finding were connecting in Dubai.
[00:16:45] Kym: Ooh. Okay.
[00:16:46] Eric: I had this moment of being like, hmm, because being gay is illegal in Dubai. but it's weird too because it's also a place where gay people do go. And of course, I mean, gay queer people exist everywhere. So like there's a lot of locals there who are gay or part of the queer community.
[00:17:05] They're just not allowed to be out about it. And if they are, it's dangerous. So then I had this, you know, had to sit with myself and have a moment of, 'cause it was, I also, even though that is the case there, I've always had an intrigue about it. And part of me has always wanted to go there and see what it was like.
[00:17:24] So I kind of had to decide like. Am I gonna do that? And is now the time. And the other just plot twist is I actually knew a guy from like a dating situation who I met in another country a year or two ago. And he was living there and he was like, you're traveling. Like come see me, come visit. And I was like. Okay. I kind of want to, but like what's it like, you know, so you go on the forums and the gay travel blogs and the big message that I was getting was, you can travel there as a gay person and it's not dangerous, but you gotta be careful and you can't demonstrate gayness in public.
[00:18:07] And yeah, so it was kind of a bizarre concept to like wrap my head around where I'm like, I'm gonna go somewhere where my existence is illegal and here I am, in the us very out, very proud. you know, I'm a queer specialized therapist. It's such a part of my life that I didn't quite know how it was gonna go.
[00:18:29] Kym: Yeah. Scary. I would be scared. Yeah.
[00:18:33] Eric: I was, and I was scared and I like, thought about backing out of it and, you know, I must have gotten on and looked on the internet 70,000 times. Like, is it actually safe or, you know, but I decided to go for it. and I did meet up with a guy while I was there and so that was interesting.
[00:18:56] That kind of reminded me of like a lot of queer people and gay people early in their coming out and when they're first dating and first relationships. Like holding hands in public is not something that a lot of people are ready to do or comfortable with doing, kissing their partner, things like that.
[00:19:14] It kind of felt like that where like, I don't think no one k new or like I, I think people kind of gathered that we were a couple or you know, dating or whatever, and I didn't feel like anyone had a problem with it. There's also this unique aspect of, if you're a tourist there, it's okay.
[00:19:37] Kym: Oh, okay. Right. So they kind of like overlook it and they know you're just like passing through kind of thing.
[00:19:43] Eric: Yes,
[00:19:44] Kym: Oh, gotcha.
[00:19:45] Eric: if you're staying, like in one of the resorts, kind of in the main area, the country was built on tourism. They want tourists to come. They're not trying to like kind of regulate you or punish you, you know, but, so that was weird too 'cause you're there and you're like, feel a sense of freedom here that other queer people don't have. It was a mixed bag. It, it was, you know, it was pretty eye-opening.
[00:20:13] Kym: so how long did you end up staying in and was that the only country you really felt that in, or was Southeast Asia? Was there any like, feelings like that culturally in Southeast Asia, or was that pretty open? I guess Thailand would be in my, I would think Ty would be, yeah.
[00:20:27] Eric: Thailand was. Yes. So like that was interesting too. Then going from Dubai was just a short little trip for me. Almost like a stopover. Yeah. I didn't spend like a lot of time there. then going to Thailand and starting in Bangkok, which is like, I thought, very, very queer and very queer affirming and, it seems like representation for the trans community was a lot more visible and normalized and just, you know, part of the everyday culture there. So that was really cool.
[00:21:00] But then after that, going to Bali, which is in I Indonesia, and I don't think I realized like what level of acceptance Indonesia has. Again, it was sort of like, you're a tourist, it's fine. But for the locals, like I met other gay men while I was there who were very much closeted and very much scared and like what's the little strip in Bali, uh, ak, which is kind of like the beach area that a lot of travelers go to. Right on one of the main streets is a gay bar, and like walking by. It, it, it's almost like if you're on Bourbon Street or wherever, like kind of this hu hustling, bustling street, and then there's a gay bar and people are, you know, coming in and out and it doesn't seem like a big deal. But it is to the people who live there.
[00:21:54] Like some of the gay friends that I met there. Like, I was like, I wanna check out Bali Joe's. Like, do you guys go? Like, is it fun? And, some of them were like, yeah, we've never been.
[00:22:05] And I was like, what?
[00:22:07] Kym: Wow.
[00:22:08] Eric: yeah, we can't. Yeah, we c we can't because we can't be seen there because like then our families might know that we're gay. And that that was just like, that was really eye-opening. 'cause I was like, wow, this is your city. Is your place that you live and you probably walk by this bar all the time and you've never been there. Like that was a trip.
[00:22:28] Kym: Wow, that's interest. So it's like, it was like literally like a gay bar, in the city. But they couldn't go because their family would find
[00:22:35] Eric: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:36] Kym: Wow, that's terrible. Oh my god. Everybody knows gay bars are the best bars.
[00:22:41] Eric: right.
[00:22:42] Kym: Right. Ivy, come on. Wow. That's very interesting. I did not know that about Bali for real. I did not know that. I just assumed it was super open and laid back, you know about, about everything.
[00:22:55] Eric: right. I didn't know that either. That was a, that was a surprise to me once I got there and learning that. So it was just, it is such a juxtaposition all along the way
[00:23:06] Kym: Yeah.
[00:23:07] Eric: It really highlighted something that it wasn't like, I've always known this, I've always known like how important it is to have spaces that are not only affirming, but signaling to you that you're safe there.
[00:23:23] I think that's something that any person of a marginalized group can relate to. The queer community, a black indigenous person of color, a woman, a trans woman, like. If safety is not explicit, it's not there.
[00:23:37] like that really got reinforced to me being in different countries and especially seeing the difference in experiences of me as a tourist, and not only just a tourist. Being a tourist from the United States also comes with a level of like a different level of freedom and acceptance and like, I don't wanna say clout, but kind of to the locals there. Like, I can remember even in like in Dubai, some people were like, you're from the us, you're fine. They're not gonna bat an eye at you. They're not gonna mess with you. And so like.
[00:24:12] just being like, okay, cool. Like I love my community. I've always been a big advocate for my community. I want to do more and I, need to do more.
[00:24:23] Kym: Yeah. So tell us about that. what has that led to all the, the experiences have led to you feeling like a new calling is what you were kind of saying before we hit
[00:24:33] Eric: Yes. I do, I feel very called to. I'm in queer mental health. I love that work. I get to do so much amazing work directly with my clients, but this moment of being like I can have so much bigger impact if I help other therapists to set up spaces that are affirming for their clients, for new clients coming in the door.
[00:24:55] There's a interesting phenomenon with members of the queer community seeking out providers, medical providers, healthcare providers. They're always going to look into them, and they're always gonna ask around, is that person affirming or not?
[00:25:10] And we see that with therapists for sure, like people who are a part of a marginalized community are like, I'm not gonna walk into a space where I'm supposed to like talk about my life and open up and go deep with you if I don't know if you support who I fundamentally am or not.
[00:25:29] Kym: Right, of course. Yeah.
[00:25:32] Eric: And I know that therapists are awesome people, right? Like we have good hearts, we want to do good work. What I see with most therapists is they are definitely willing to do it differently. They just don't know how. They don't know what to do to create that safe environment for people. And so like. I'm gonna help them figure that out.
[00:25:54] Kym: I love that. for somebody listening right now that says, yeah, I don't know how to make it affirming space. Like, could you give maybe three things that would be super important for somebody to do or to put on their website or whatever to make it very apparent that they're at affirming
[00:26:09] Eric: Yes, absolutely. first off. practice and get comfortable with saying that acronym, you have to be able to say LGBTQ plus and interchange that with the word queer as well. If you use that word and you use it with confidence, you are going to help that client across from you feel safe and comfortable talking about their identity. that one's super important.
[00:26:34] Another really important one is visibility and representation for the community. So on your website, in your office, like signals to members like, most people are listening right now, but I have a, a progress pride flag in the background here in my office. And so like.
[00:26:51] Kym: Yeah.
[00:26:51] Eric: if you can have something like that and if you can display on your website that you serve that community, that's really, really, really important. People are visually scanning an environment the second they walk into it and like, I know for me. If I go anywhere, any business, anything, if there's a pride flag displayed, I'm like, cool, great.
[00:27:14] Like it's, it'll never get old to me it's so exciting. and also like, you don't have to be a queer specialized therapist to have that, right? Like if any therapist has that, because whether you know it or not, you have queer client. No matter what type of therapy you do, you've got queer clients.
[00:27:36] Kym: I would hope you would know that if you're a therapist, I would hope that would be like the core of what you know about your client, but I mean, maybe it's
[00:27:44] Eric: Maybe it's not because honestly, some therapists miss it because they're not asking because they don't know to ask and they don't know how to. So that's another important tip that I'll share is like for any therapist, you have to have it in your intake. What is the person's orientation? What is their gender identity, and what pronouns do they use?
[00:28:06] Kym: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
[00:28:08] Eric: I can tell you right now, if the therapist is not asking that, the client is not gonna share it. It.
[00:28:15] Kym: Right. 'cause it's probably like, I don't know how you feel about it or if you're okay, and I'm not gonna maybe risk putting that out there. I would think like it wouldn't feel safe if you don't have the, the flag or the stuff on your website saying, I'm affirming, or at least on an intake form, I probably wouldn't wanna share it either.
[00:28:32] Eric: Totally, I have recently had, I mean this was a few years ago, but I started with a new primary care doctor. They never asked me what my orientation was. Never. Not on an intake, not in a physical, not in an assessment. So I never shared that with them, and there was aspects of my healthcare that pertained to me being a gay person at a gay man.
[00:28:57] And that it's like if they didn't start that dialogue and my provider, my doctor was a straight man, so I was like, how am I gonna sit here and tell this guy that I'm gay? Like that's not comfortable for me to do. It's his job to make me feel comfortable and then ask me about it. And so I just never did. And then shocker, I didn't stick with him.
[00:29:19] Kym: Yeah. Right. You're like, I'm finding somebody else. Yeah, definitely. Okay. Great tips. Now, you had mentioned to me, I think it was before we started recording that. Not only do you wanna get the word out and like, help therapists, but you've got a whole plan for this. Like maybe you could talk a little bit about what your plans are and how you're actually going to help therapists make affirming
[00:29:39] Eric: would love to. I'm so excited. So this is not new work for me. I have been doing this ever since I started with therapy, which was in 2010, so for 16 years now, because anytime, it would come up in conversation that that was the work that I specialized in all the time. The, the therapist, the clinical clinical director, whoever it was, was like, that's so amazing.
[00:30:02] Will you come train our staff? Yes. I love doing it. It's so much fun and therapists are so open to learning that it makes it so rewarding. So I have done this training for so long, I am just going to make it more streamlined and more accessible, and start offering that to therapy practices like a core clinical LGBTQ plus training will be a big part of it,
[00:30:28] but the bigger one, and this, this came to me while I was abroad, going abroad is so amazing on so many fronts. You just, you get to spend so much time with yourself. I do soul searching and, you know, what are my wildest dreams? And, I just did this really crazy, awesome thing with my life.
[00:30:45] What else can I do? And so this came to me while on that trip that I want to help therapy practices top to bottom, become fully LGBTQ plus inclusive. that's the big one that I'm working on now.
[00:31:00] Kym: That is amazing. Yes. Oh my gosh. So how do, if somebody's listening, if the, if a therapist is listening or a group practice owner or somebody right now, and they're like, this is what we need in our life. We need to get this integrated now, how do they work with you? Like, what does that look like right now and in the future?
[00:31:17] I feel like it's gonna be an even broader like kind of framework, just like feeling your passion and energy for it. But like right now, how could somebody get started right now with you? They wanted to.
[00:31:28] Eric: Best way to get started is first you have to see where your practice is already at 'cause I bet most practices have some of these, things in place that they need. So I have created, a quiz for therapists to see how affirming their practices. so you can access that@proudpractice.com slash quiz.
[00:31:51] It's 10 questions. It takes about three minutes to complete. You're gonna get your score of how affirming your practice is, and then you're gonna right away get some tips on how to make it even more so.
[00:32:03] Kym: That's amazing. Of course, we're gonna have that down in the show notes. If you guys wanna click through down into the show notes, you can get access to it immediately.
[00:32:10] Eric: Yes, and I'm also on Instagram and Facebook at Proud Practice.
[00:32:16] Kym: Okay. It, it just, it's amazing what you're doing and I love how your, like, just travels really inspired you to get more serious about this. Just like experiencing it out there in the world. It's like, okay, I need to come back. 'cause you said like, okay, I'm back in the country and this is what I'm doing. Very cool. Now, do you have any other, like big travel plans right now? Or right now? Are you just like buckling down, you're gonna do this work right now?
[00:32:39] Eric: I am buckling down right now, but I'm so transformed by this trip that I took last year where, you know, it's funny, a lot of people, that I'm interacting with in my personal life are like, okay, cool, so you're done. Right? Like, whew, you did it. Like, no,
[00:32:59] Kym: No, no, I'm just getting started.
[00:33:01] Eric: started. And here was the other amazing thing, like once you go and live abroad, you really see like, I can have a. A pretty kind of normal, routine life like I have in my own country anywhere else. So like, I'm gonna do this from here on out. There will be a nomadic element to how I live my life.
[00:33:22] Like whether that's one month out of the year, I'm living in a different country. I have a, you know, I could totally see it in my future where I live part-time in the United States and in South America. I'm just really called to that region. I have an affinity for the people there and for the gentleman there.
[00:33:41] So, you know, you never know what, the future might hold. I might meet one who locks me down and, and we live between the two continents. That could be cool.
[00:33:50] Kym: I love that. That's awesome. Oh my gosh. thank you for taking the time today and for those of you listening, if you wanna reach out to Eric, at Proud Counseling on Instagram and your website.
[00:34:03] Eric: So my therapy practice is proud counseling. My, work with therapist is proud practice.
[00:34:09] Kym: Oh, proud practice. Okay. Thank you for saying that. Yeah. Perfect. Well, thank you Eric. I can't wait to hear about what you do in the future with all of this.
[00:34:17] Eric: Thank you, Kim. You're so awesome.