LGBT-Friendly Therapists: A Curated Directory for Ventura, Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo Counties

The pro-choice movement to protect health and bodily autonomy is inseparable from the LGBT movement. LGBT people continue to face higher stress and trauma – yet when LGBT patients try to access health services, 24% report discrimination. So we developed this directory of queer-friendly therapists for the Central Coast!

Psychology Today is the most popular platform for finding therapists. Whilst one can search therapists with "LGBTQ+" as an Expertise, we set a higher bar with two criteria: A therapist must 1) explain explicitly in their profile how they support LGBT patients, and 2) prove they live in Ventura, Santa Barbara, or San Luis Obispo County by offering in-person sessions.

The two criteria above are simple but set an unexpectedly high bar. For example, of the 400 search results for Ventura County who claim "LGBTQ+" as an Expertise, a mere 4% explain how they support queer communities and offer in-person sessions! Luckily we update the directory below each quarter, most recently Q1 2026.