Joyce Miles Jacquote Presents a Primer for Working With Bisexual and Pansexual Clients

Working Therapeutically With Bisexual and Pansexual Clients

If you work with clients, chances are you are already working with someone who is bisexual or pansexual, whether they have disclosed it to you or not. That was one of the most important reminders from Joyce Miles Jacquote’s presentation, and honestly, it is something therapists need to hear more often.

I see this happen all the time in supervision. A clinician assumes they are “affirming” because they are welcoming and kind, but they have never examined the specific experiences bisexual and pansexual clients face. These clients are often navigating invisibility, identity erasure, stigma from both heterosexual and queer communities, and pressure to simplify who they are for other people’s comfort.

That means our work as therapists is not simply to “accept” identity. Our work is to understand the systems our clients move through every day and recognize how those systems impact safety, disclosure, relationships, and mental health.

Understanding Bisexuality and Pansexuality Beyond Definitions

One of the strongest points Joyce made was that bisexuality and pansexuality are overlapping identities, but they are not interchangeable. Clinicians sometimes collapse these experiences into one category, often unintentionally, which can make clients feel unseen.

Bisexuality has historically been framed as attraction to “both genders,” but many people now define bisexuality as attraction to one’s own gender and other genders. Pansexuality is often used to describe attraction regardless of gender or attraction across the gender spectrum. For younger clients especially, identity language continues to evolve.

What matters clinically is not memorizing every term. What matters is staying curious instead of defensive when clients describe themselves. I tell supervisees this all the time: your client should not have to educate you while also protecting themselves emotionally.

When therapists become overly focused on getting terminology “right,” we sometimes miss the larger issue. Clients want to know whether the room is emotionally safe enough for authenticity.

Minority Stress Is Not Theoretical, It Is Clinical

One of the most important frameworks discussed in this training was Minority Stress Theory. This theory explains how chronic stigma, discrimination, concealment, and rejection contribute to negative physical and mental health outcomes.

Bisexual and pansexual clients often experience marginalization not only within heterosexual spaces, but within queer spaces as well. Joyce described this as being “a minority group within a minority group,” and that distinction matters clinically.

I see this frequently with clients who feel pressure to “pick one.” Some are told they are actually gay or lesbian and simply unwilling to admit it. Others are told they are straight and experimenting. Over time, this invalidation creates internalized stigma, identity confusion, shame, and hypervigilance around disclosure.

Clients may conceal relationships, avoid discussing attraction openly, or monitor how they present themselves socially depending on the environment. Therapists who miss these dynamics may unintentionally reinforce them.

This is where understanding intersectionality becomes essential. A bisexual client who is also a person of color, neurodivergent, religious, or disabled may be managing multiple layers of marginalization simultaneously. Those experiences cannot be separated neatly in treatment.

Why Community Belonging Matters So Much

One thing I appreciated about this presentation was the emphasis on community. We sometimes underestimate how healing community belonging can be for clients navigating identity-based isolation.

Joyce explained that bisexual and pansexual individuals report more positive experiences when they feel connected to affirming communities. That does not always mean in-person support groups. For many clients, especially those in conservative areas, online communities may be safer and more accessible.

I think therapists sometimes dismiss online connection too quickly. But for clients in the Bible Belt, rural areas, or highly conservative family systems, online community may be the first place they experience normalization and visibility.

Community also helps counter identity erasure. Clients who have never seen themselves represented positively may struggle to find language for their experiences at all. Representation matters because visibility creates possibility.

As clinicians, we can normalize help-seeking, encourage community engagement, and help clients identify spaces where they do not have to fragment themselves to belong.

Relationship Myths Continue To Harm Clients

Another clinical issue Joyce addressed was the persistent hypersexualization of bisexual and pansexual individuals. This is one of those areas where harmful cultural narratives often enter therapy rooms unnoticed.

Many bisexual clients report being stereotyped as promiscuous, incapable of commitment, or sexually available to everyone. These assumptions show up in romantic relationships, dating culture, family systems, and even clinical interactions.

I appreciated Joyce naming how bisexuality is often erased once someone enters a relationship. A bisexual woman married to a man may suddenly be viewed as heterosexual. A bisexual man partnered with another man may be assumed gay. Clients frequently describe feeling invisible after partnership because others stop recognizing their identity entirely.

That invisibility can affect relationship satisfaction, belonging, and mental health. It can also create complicated dynamics around disclosure and authenticity.

Therapists need to avoid reinforcing stereotypes through assessment questions, assumptions about fidelity, or minimizing identity concerns once clients are partnered.

Faith, Identity, And Authentic Living

One of the most nuanced parts of this discussion centered on religion and identity conflict. This is an area I think therapists sometimes oversimplify.

Clients do not always want to abandon faith. Many want to reconcile faith with authenticity. Those are two very different clinical goals.

Joyce discussed how bisexual and pansexual clients often experience deep conflict between religious teachings and identity development, particularly in conservative Christian and Muslim communities. This can create secrecy, shame, isolation, and fear long before clients ever enter therapy.

I appreciated the reminder that many clients resolve this conflict not by leaving faith entirely, but by finding affirming spaces within faith traditions. Sometimes that means changing congregations. Sometimes it means redefining spirituality in more personal ways.

Our role is not to decide what faith should look like for clients. Our role is to help clients move toward congruence, safety, and self-trust.

That requires cultural humility from therapists. It also requires us to resist the urge to impose our own assumptions about religion, queerness, or identity resolution.

What Therapists Can Do Differently

Affirming care is not performative. Clients notice whether therapists genuinely understand the realities they face.

Sometimes small things communicate safety:

• Inclusive language on intake paperwork
• Clear affirming statements on websites
• Accurate pronoun use
• Non-assumptive relationship questions
• Awareness of identity concealment and minority stress

But affirming care also means understanding the research, recognizing systemic pressures, and staying open to learning.

I often tell clinicians this: clients are not looking for perfection. They are looking for safety. They are looking for a therapist who can tolerate complexity without trying to simplify it into something easier to understand.

Working with bisexual and pansexual clients requires us to hold that complexity well.

Where This Blog Connects

• Counselors Serving a Minority: A Chat with Ana Marcella Rodriguez
• Navigating The Therapy Call: Reduce Client Anxiety and Set Clear Expectations

Want to learn more? Check out this month’s free resource from Kate Walker Training.

If you are supervising clinicians and want to create more affirming, ethically sound experiences for LGBTQ+ clients, download the Supervision Onboarding Checklist. If you are building a practice where clients feel safe, seen, and supported, grab The Essential Guide For Self-Employed Mental Health Professionals and Supervisors. And if you are ready for CE-level training on supervision, documentation, private practice, and complex clinical issues, check out the Step It Up Membership.

Blog post by Kate Walker, Ph.D., LPC-S, LMFT-S
Creator of Texas’s first fully online 40-Hour LPC/LMFT Supervisor Training Course.
Kate is the founder of Kate Walker Training, where she helps counselors, supervisors, and practice owners build sustainable, ethical, and profitable businesses.
Ready to grow your supervision practice? Check out the Supervisor Training Courses.

This post is a written summary of a podcast episode hosted by Dr. Kate Walker. We use AI to help format the transcript and check for clarity and spelling, turning spoken content into an easier-to-read format.