God knows, we all need help at the moment don’t we. Life is DIFFICULT. We need help with our stressful jobs, our insanely high rent, our insanely volatile city. Sometimes we just need help opening the fridge! It can be hard sometimes. You know when pressure builds up behind the door and you can’t open it and it’s two in the morning and all you want is a piece of honey roasted wafer-thin ham. It’s JUST. NOT. FAIR.
Well, in these stressful post-Brexit, pre-Trump times, QX Magazine is here to help. For a start, we encourage drinking (responsibly) which, let’s be honest, is a help to everyone. We love a drink. We might have one right now actually. But sometimes, believe it or not, a drink is not enough. So we’ve compiled a list of the city’s best help services for gay men. They all offer services that will guide and assist you spiritually, mentally, or physically, to live a more fulfilled, calm and happy life.
LGBTplus
LGBTplus is a specialist therapy service for the gay community, offering individual sessions in a safe, non-judgemental space to discuss any issues negatively affecting people’s lives. Sexuality, addiction, anxiety, depression and relationships are the most common issues discussed in therapy. We spoke to the man behind it, Stephen.
‘I work with gay men of all ages and backgrounds and have seen a rise in vulnerable young people coming with issues around chemsex and homelessness,” he said “Addiction to sex, drugs and alcohol are becoming increasingly commonplace. It’s also affecting professional gay men in well paid jobs, struggling with career and relationship pressures, that encourage them to escape into chaotic, addictive behaviour patterns that ultimately lead to a loss of self esteem and confidence.’
“People can be apprehensive if they’ve never spoken with a therapist before, so I offer a free initial session to enable us to get to know one another, I describe how I work and give clients the opportunity to talk about any issues affecting their lives in a relaxed, non-judgemental environment.”
If this sounds like it’s up your street, head to lgbtplus.co.uk
Freedoms Shop
Freedoms Shop sell all sorts of products geared to help gay and bisexual men with their sex lives, including the best lube, condoms and more! Most importantly though, they sell revolutionary home HIV testing kits. If for whatever reason you don’t fancy going into a clinic, you can order an HIV test kit to do yourself in the privacy of your own home. Freedoms-shop.com
Positive East
Positive East offers a range of services to HIV+ guys. They’ve got a team of experts who offer everything from counselling, for those struggling mentally with their condition, to complimentary health therapies to help you live healthily with HIV. Call 020 7791 2855 for more info, or visit positiveeast.org.uk.
The Terrence Higgins Trust
The Terrence Higgins Trust are one of Europe’s largest and best-established HIV and AIDs charities. We’ve worked with them loads here at QX, and we can attest to the fact that they’re a lovely bunch of people who truly care about their cause. Established in 1982, THT offers a wide range of support service to people living with HIV, and also educates people on HIV and AIDs. They have three main focuses; Long Term Condition Management focuses on people continuing to live healthily with HIV and work well with their condition; Health Improvement, which works with high risk communities to promote better sexual health; and Clinical Servives, which offers testing for HIV and a range of other STI services. For more info on the Terrence Higgins Trust, to find out how you can get help, or to volunteer, head to tht.org.uk
Switchboard
Known to many for years as “The London Lesbian & Gay Switchboard”, one of the oldest LGBT charities in the UK has recently rebranded to become more inclusive. Now just known as “Switchboard”, it’s an LGBT+ helpline that provides help, advice or even just calm words for those who need to hear them most. It was founded in 1974, and operated from a tiny room above a bookshop near King’s Cross. It experienced immediate, huge demand, and had to become a twenty-four-hour service. In the 70’s they helped people coming out after the recent decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 (yes, it was THAT RECENTLY). The 80s and early 90s were of course focused on the AIDs crisis, while in the 21st century, they now address all sorts of issues, from people feeling isolated, to people struggling with drug addiction. If you need someone to talk to, give them a call on 0300 330 0630
The Living Well Dramatherapy Program
Drama AND therapy! That sounds like the stereotypical gay man’s wet dream doesn’t it! But there is reason behind it. Not-for-profit health services enterprise Living Well is running a new six-week course, which helps you through therapy via the medium of performance arts.
Each week deals with a different theme and issue, and it’s all very interesting stuff. Week one is “Interpretation”, looking at introspective issues like self-awareness and self-esteem. Week two, “Vision”, looks at things like how you would describe yourself as a person. So self-perception. Week three moves on to “Qualities”. What qualities do you possess? Week four is “Obstacles”. What’s standing in your way? Week five, “Resolutions”, addresses how you could resolve internal conflicts. While week six, “Actions” wraps things up by thinking about what you can do to solve all these problems.
It’s a refreshingly unique way of looking at mental health, and hopefully you can make friends and have fun while doing it. For more info, go to livingwellcic.com
56 Dean Street
Now, we’re going to assume you’ve ALL heard of 56 Dean Street. We all know the walls of that waiting room don’t we. But if you haven’t…it’s one of London’s most well-regarded sexual health clinics, catering especially for gay men. The offer the full range of services; rapid HIV testing, PEP, safer sex advice and counselling, and treatments for common STIs like Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia. They’re open 8am – 7pm on Monday and Tuesday, Midday – 7pm on Wednesdays, 8am – 7pm on Thursdays, 9am – 4pm on Fridays, and 11am – 4pm on Saturdays. To book an appointment, call 020 3315 6699.
Wesley Gryk Solicitors
Wesley Gryk are a group of moral, socially aware solicitors. Who’d have thought THAT existed. But seriously, they’re great. They mainly focus on potential financial and legal issues relationing to same sex couples, like perhaps same sex adoption or civil partnerships. They also assist immigrants and asylum seekers in getting the rights they’re entitled to. If you think their services could be of use to you, go to gryklaw.com, or phone them on 020 7401 6887.
