Individual Therapy in Los Angeles, CA

A gay therapist is a licensed mental health professional who is also openly gay — bringing lived experience, not just clinical training, to work with LGBTQ+ clients. This matters because LGBTQ+ people often carry unique stressors: internalized shame, family rejection, identity questioning, and the ongoing work of living authentically in a world that doesn’t always support that. A gay therapist understands these dynamics from the inside — which means less explaining, less educating your therapist, and more time doing the work that actually matters. David Strah is one of Los Angeles’s most experienced gay male therapists, with decades of practice and lived experience in the LGBTQ+ community.

LGBTQ therapy — also called gay-affirmative therapy or queer-affirming therapy — is individual (or couples) therapy provided by a therapist who is specifically trained in, and ideally has lived experience with, LGBTQ+ identity and culture. The difference isn’t just about being “accepting” — it’s about deeply understanding the distinct pressures that shape LGBTQ+ lives: coming out, internalized homophobia, family dynamics, relationship structures, and the psychological impact of living in a society still navigating how to fully embrace queer identity. At David Strah Therapy, LGBTQ-affirmative care isn’t a specialty add-on. It’s central to everything.

You don’t need to be in a full-blown crisis to benefit from therapy. Common signs include: persistent anxiety or worry that affects your daily life, low mood or depression, difficulty managing stress, relationship patterns that keep repeating, unresolved trauma, identity struggles, or a pervasive sense that something isn’t right — even when life looks fine on the outside. If you’ve been feeling stuck — emotionally, relationally, or in your sense of self — therapy is worth exploring. Many people find that the act of reaching out is itself the turning point.

Yes — and it’s not an add-on. It’s foundational. As an openly gay therapist and published author in the LGBTQ+ space, David brings genuine lived experience to this work. That means a therapy space where your identity is never treated as the problem to be solved, where the unique stressors of LGBTQ+ life are genuinely understood, and where you can be fully yourself — no explanation, no justification. David works with gay men, queer individuals, bisexual and transgender clients, and anyone navigating the rich and complex terrain of LGBTQ+ identity.

Yes. David Strah’s office at 321 N. Larchmont Blvd, Suite 808 is accessible from West Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Los Feliz. He serves LGBTQ clients across Los Angeles in person and offers telehealth for clients throughout California including Culver City, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Burbank, and beyond. Call (917) 922-2650.

Therapy timelines vary widely depending on what you’re working through and your goals. Some clients find meaningful relief and new tools in 10–20 sessions. Others with more complex histories or deeper goals work with a therapist for a year or more. At David Strah Therapy, progress is regularly reviewed together — the goal is always to reach the point where you feel genuinely equipped to navigate life on your own terms. There’s no pressure to stay longer than you need, and no rush to wrap up before you’re ready.

Your first session is the beginning of a real conversation — not an intake form. David will spend time getting to know you: what brought you in, what’s been challenging, what you’re hoping therapy will help you with, and a bit about your history and context. You’ll also have space to ask questions and get a feel for whether this is the right fit. By the end of the session, you’ll have a clearer sense of what we might work on together and what a path forward could look like.

This is one of the most important questions you can ask — and it’s more common than you might think. The quality of therapy varies enormously based on the therapist’s approach, their depth of training, and how well they understand you and your specific context. If past therapy felt too passive, too surface-level, or like you were talking but nothing was actually shifting — you may simply not have found the right fit. At David Strah Therapy, the approach is active, tailored, and rooted in understanding the deeper patterns — not just managing symptoms. The free 15-minute consultation is the lowest-risk way to find out if this feels different.

Getting started is simple. Call or text (917) 922-2650, or submit a contact request through davidstrah.com. We’ll schedule a free 15-minute consultation to talk about what you’re looking for and make sure it’s the right fit. From there, we’ll find a session time that works for your schedule — in person at the Larchmont Boulevard office or online anywhere in California. The hardest step is reaching out. Everything after that gets easier.