Relationship Education and Therapy for Same-Sex Couples

The gay and lesbian community suffers higher rates of discrimination, mental health problems, and relationship break-up than their heterosexual counterparts. In this paper we analyse the challenges confronting same-sex couples, and the implications for couple education and therapy with same-sex couples. We describe some similarities in the challenges confronting heterosexual and same-sex couples (e.g., negotiation of shared realistic relationship expectations, effective communication). These similarities suggest existing evidence-based approaches to couple therapy and relationship education are likely to assist same sex couple relationships. We also describe distinctive challenges for same-sex couples (e.g., homophobic discrimination, internalised homophobia, and low support from many families for same sex relationships). These distinctive challenges suggest some adaptation of existing approaches to couple education and therapy could enhance their relevance and effectiveness to same sex couples.