Who are you? It's a question for the ages, but in today's world, there is so much opportunity to craft your own unique identity. People are creating new terms to define themselves or discarding labels altogether. Some feel a need to find or invent a word that accurately describes who they are, while others wish not to be confined by a static label. All of these approaches to identity development are valid. But there's more to defining oneself than just finding the right label (or none at all) — many people struggle with accepting their own uniqueness. It can be hard to stand apart from the crowd, to feel like you don't fit in, to not be able to see a reflection of yourself among your peers or in popular media. And when you're walking outside the mainstream, you can often feel very alone and misunderstood. 

People in non-mainstream relationships — specifically lesbian and gay couples, bisexual people, transgender people, those living in polyamorous families, and those living in kinky households — have some unique therapeutic needs and challenges, while also suffering from many of the same conventional issues that afflict more mainstream families. However, they often have difficulty finding helping professionals who understand them and can address their relationship issues without invalidating their unconventional relationship structures.