Counteracting the effects of invisibility in work with lesbian patients
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 8, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
1Loyola University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. csaari@luc.edu
Abstract:
Lesbian women frequently experience "invisibility," the failure of others to recognize the significance of their sexuality and partnership relations. Such invisibility can have deleterious effects, such as a reduced ability to relate life stories to others and thereby to extend and integrate aspects of identity and its healthy complexity. Although this invisibility often is intertwined with coming-out phenomena, it continues to exist in many social contexts throughout life. Therefore, it is important for psychotherapists to recognize and understand the concept of invisibility so that they do not perpetuate it within the therapy. Several case vignettes are used as examples of how invisibility can affect a woman's life and functioning and can be counteracted in therapy.
Related Concept Videos
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Blind Procedures
Modeling in Therapy
Participant Modeling
Participant modeling involves therapists demonstrating calm and effective behaviors in situations...
Impression Management Techniques I: Managing Appearances
Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...

