AMANDA ALMEIDA DE SOUZA

As a psychoanalytic therapist, a significant part of my clinical practice is dedicated to working with LGBTQIA+ individuals. This work requires not only technical knowledge, but also sensitivity, ethical commitment, and a deep respect for each person’s subjective experience. Many LGBTQIA+ patients seek therapy due to the emotional impact of living in environments marked by prejudice, silence, rejection, or lack of recognition. In my clinical experience, family distance is a recurring theme. Some patients have faced explicit rejection, while others experience more subtle forms of exclusion, such as emotional neglect, denial of identity, or conditional acceptance. These dynamics often generate feelings of guilt, shame, fear of abandonment, and internalized stigma. Within the psychoanalytic setting, these experiences can be explored safely, allowing patients to give meaning to their pain rather than silencing it. I also work with issues related to identity construction, self-acceptance, and the conflicts that emerge when personal desire clashes with social or familial expectations. Many LGBTQIA+ individuals grow up learning to hide aspects of themselves in order to be loved or protected. Over time, this can result in anxiety, depressive symptoms, difficulties in relationships, or a fragmented sense of self. Psychoanalysis offers a space where these conflicts can be articulated without judgment, respecting each person’s rhythm and history. My approach is grounded in listening rather than labeling. I do not view sexual orientation or gender identity as problems to be solved, but as fundamental dimensions of subjectivity that deserve recognition and respect. The therapeutic process aims to strengthen the patient’s capacity to speak freely, build more authentic relationships, and relate to their own desire with less fear and self-criticism. Above all, my work with LGBTQIA+ patients is guided by the belief that psychotherapy can be a space of symbolic repair, where suffering is acknowledged and new possibilities of existence can emerge through speech and the therapeutic bond.