Couple Therapy For Lesbian Women: Current Evidence-Base And Recommendations for Therapists

Despite growing interest in mental health problems among LGBTQIAPN+ people, few literature reviews have focused exclusively on lesbian couple therapy.The aim of this study was to analyze existing evidence in the literature on lesbian couple therapy, understand current approaches and identify gaps in knowledge about the specificities of therapy with this group.Following the PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review, performing searches for primary studies in the PubMed, LILACS, PsycInfo and Web of Science databases.The inclusion criteria were studies published between 2011 and 2023 in Portuguese, Spanish or English that answered the guiding question.Twelve of the 789 records retrieved by the searches met the inclusion criteria and were selected for review, nine of which were empirical studies.Characterized by a low level of evidence, the studies focused mainly on young and heterogeneous populations in social and economic terms.The findings show that research on this topic is still in its infancy.There is a tendency among therapists to generalize therapeutic intervention tactics employed for heteronormative couples to non-heteronormative couples.These limitations indicate a need to deconstruct the discursive effects of heteronormativity and invest in dialogical contexts and frameworks that are inclusive and sensitive to the expression of the differences manifested in lesbian couples.Future studies should focus on the need to safeguard the particularities that characterize the marital dynamics of lesbian couples in the space of couple therapy, especially given the current backdrop of visibility of family configurations that deviate from the heteronormative model.