The Power of Being Seen: Pride & Mental Health Care

Behind the Board is a space for APF’s Board of Trustees to share their expertise in psychology, offer perspectives on the field today, and explore how philanthropy helps turn psychological knowledge into real-world impact.

At its core, Pride is about being able to exist fully and authentically. Finding a truly affirming mental health provider can be a challenge for LGBTQIA+ people, those navigating chronic illness, and individuals building families outside traditional expectations.

For the past 26 years, Dr. Lindsey Buckman has built her career around being the kind of provider who meets people where they are. From her early training in trans-affirming care and HIV/AIDS services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, to her current work supporting individuals and couples through fertility, family-building, chronic illness, and identity-related challenges, she has dedicated her career to helping people feel seen, supported, and empowered to live authentic, fulfilling lives.

This is what Pride looks like in practice to Dr. Buckman: helping people navigate life’s challenges without having to hide, explain, or compromise what makes them who they are.

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Finding Purpose at the Intersection of Identity and Care
Even before I fully understood my own queer identity, I knew I wanted to be a psychologist. As early as high school, I felt drawn toward helping people become the best versions of themselves — through feeling understood, supported, and genuinely cared for. What I couldn’t have anticipated then was how deeply personal that calling would become.

During graduate school, my professional training and my own identity development began transforming at the same time. After coming out, it became important to me to direct my work toward the queer community. That conviction led me to train at the Los Angeles LGBT Center Mental Health Clinic, an experience that would ultimately shape not only my clinical approach, but the entire course of my career. 

Learning Care at the LA LGBT Center
The LA Center was one of the earliest institutions providing trans-affirming care, which meant I was exposed early in my training to gender-affirming approaches that many providers at the time had little experience with. I worked with individuals navigating gender dysphoria and exploration, stigma and discrimination, chronic illness, and HIV/AIDS. What became clear, quickly, was that the people I was working with weren’t just carrying mental health challenges; they were also carrying the emotional weight of stigma, isolation, and the exhausting experience of navigating healthcare systems that didn’t always feel safe or affirming.

That environment taught me something I’ve never forgotten: good mental health care is so much more than clinical understanding. It requires seeing people within the full context of their lived experiences, identities, relationships, and the systems that shape their day to day lives..

I also began to recognize critical gaps in the mental health system. Many providers, even well-intentioned ones,lacked the training necessary to work effectively with LGBTQ+ populations. Providers who identified as part of the community often hadn’t received adequate clinical education around trans care, HIV/AIDS-related mental health, or intersectional identity. On the other side, those with clinical expertise frequently lacked the empathy and compassion that make care truly effective.

I came to understand that representation alone is not enough without knowledge, skills, and most importantly, a genuine willingness to understand people’s lived experiences. That realization moved me so deeply that I stayed at the Center for another year and a half after completing my training,and it set the direction for everything that followed in my career.

Following the Evolving Needs of the Community
One of the most meaningful aspects of my career has been allowing it to grow alongside the communities I serve. Over 26 years, my work has expanded into chronic illness and caregiver support, trans and gender-affirming care, and fertility and family-building — supporting individuals and couples working with donors, gestational carriers, or becoming donors and carriers themselves.

At first glance, these areas may seem distinct, but they are deeply interconnected. Many of the people I work with today hold multiple identities and are navigating overlapping, complex experiences. I support queer people facing fertility challenges, people managing chronic health conditions while also carrying the weight of marginalization within healthcare systems, and families building their lives in ways that don’t always fit neatly into existing structures. The through-line across all of it has remained the same: compassionate, ethical, and affirming care for people who have too often been failed by systems that weren’t built with them in mind. While specific needs may evolve over time, the importance of being seen, understood, and authentically supported has not.

What Pride Means in Practice
So many people, particularly LGBTQIA+ individuals and those navigating chronic illness or reproductive healthcare,have spent years feeling misunderstood, dismissed, or forced to explain themselves and their families to providers who simply didn’t get it. Part of my commitment to this work is being someone my clients can trust to truly understand.

That trust isn’t assumed. It’s built through years of listening, learning, and staying rooted in the values of this community. It’s strengthened through meeting people with curiosity instead of judgement, and care instead of dismissal.

And that, to me, is where Pride shows up. Pride is not confined to a month, but is lived daily in practice. Pride is what happens when someone is met without judgment. When identity and experience are affirmed without hesitation. When the care someone receives takes all of who they are into full consideration, and they leave feeling important, valued, and seen.

As psychologists, our work carries a responsibility that extends beyond clinical outcomes. We have the opportunity — and the obligation — to help people feel seen, valued, and able to thrive fully as themselves. For me, this responsibility has always been grounded in the belief that care is the most powerful when it affirms the full complexity of who people are . It has been an honor to spend my career contributing to a community built on care, safety, and belonging.

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When psychology embraces the full complexity of people’s identities and experiences, it creates pathways to healing, belonging, and well-being.

Join us in creating a future where everyone can thrive as their authentic selves. Make a gift to APF today.

Learn more about APF’s Board of Trustees.

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