Finding Pride
Finding Pride is a 7-week group program for La Trobe students. It is run by LGBTIQA+ people – for LGBTIQA+ people.
Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles, this program will support you to:
- Share your experiences in a safe, welcoming and confidential space.
- Connect to people through common experiences.
- Learn to face life challenges, including those caused by discrimination.
- Explore your core values and how they can help to guide you through tough times.
Finding Pride is run by the La Trobe Counselling Service, and La Trobe's Prevention & Inclusion team.
How to register
Registrations are open now. The next program starts on 14 August 2025.
To register
- Complete the online form.
- When completing the form, select these options:
- For “What sort of assistance do you need?” choose “Group Program Registration.”
- For “Which Group Program are you expressing interest in?” choose “Finding Pride.”
- For “Would you like a phone call prior to attending group?” select “Yes” (this call is required).
- Use the text box to share your preferred semester or add comments (optional).
What happens next?
After registering, a facilitator will email you to arrange a phone or Zoom chat. This is a chance to ask questions, share concerns, and confirm if the program is right for you.
Program Schedule
Finding Pride runs once per semester. Participants attend all 7 sessions over 8 weeks. Each session lasts 1.5 hours on Thursday afternoons.
2025 Semester 2 group program – Online, Zoom
| Semester Week | Date | Session # |
|---|---|---|
| Week 3 | 14 August | Session 1 |
| Week 4 | 21 August | Session 2 |
| Week 5 | 4 September | Session 3 |
| Mid-semester Break | 11 September | No session |
| Week 6 | 18 September | Session 4 |
| Week 7 | 25 September | Session 5 |
| Week 8 | 2 October | Session 6 |
| Week 9 | 9 October | Session 7 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Each session includes the facilitators presenting, guiding group discussions, and running skill-building activities.
You decide how much to participate. You won’t be pressured to share personal details or do anything you’re not ready for.
Facilitators create a welcoming, non-judgemental space. Sessions are a mix of serious conversations, personal reflections and fun, light-hearted moments.
Before the program starts, you’ll get more detailed information to help you feel ready.
The program is for all La Trobe LGBTIQA+ students. This includes students of diverse genders, sexualities, and those with innate variations of sex characteristics. We welcome students who are questioning, discovering, or unsure if they belong in LGBTIQA+ communities. You don’t need to have a specific label to participate.
All student types are welcome, including:
- International and domestic students
- Undergraduate and postgraduate students
- Full-time and part-time students
- On-campus and online students
You will be prompted to discuss concerns and accessibility during your initial phone call with the counsellor. Please note on your registration form if you need an alternative format for this chat.
In addition to this, we also ensure that:
- Participation is always optional - you can choose to ‘pass’ on any activity.
- No prior knowledge of LGBTIQA+ terms or history is required – you’re welcome to ask questions.
- You can describe yourself in your own words or language - or not define yourself at all.
- Feedback and collaboration are encouraged throughout the program.
- The room location or Zoom details are shared only with participants.
- Group guidelines are set together during the first session.
Confidentiality
Your involvement in Finding Pride is confidential, in line with La Trobe Privacy Policy. Facilitators will only share your information with your permission, or in rare cases required by law, such as:
- serious risk of harm to you or someone else
- if legally required to disclose to a court, requested by subpoena
- if you are under 18 and disclose current physical or sexual abuse
Facilitators discuss session with each other and a supervisor to improve the program, but this is kept confidential.
Finding Pride is led by a Counsellor from the La Trobe Counselling Service and Peer Worker from La Trobe's Prevention & Inclusion team. Both facilitators are part of the LGBTIQA+ community and passionate about creating a welcoming, inclusive space. They will share some of their own experiences in the group.
Sort of.
The program teaches skills and ideas from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This is a therapeutic program that improves psychological flexibility, a fundamental building block to resilience.
Finding Pride is also a peer-support group. It helps us connect to community and gives people the opportunity to be in a room full of other LGBTIQA+ people.
Absolutely!
Most people experience mental ill-health at some point in their lives. LGBTIQA+ people are more likely to experience mental ill-health, because of discrimination. This program is designed to equip you with beneficial skills for both current and future life challenges.
LGBTIQA+ communities have long histories of gathering to connect and share resilience strategies in the face of discrimination, and this group is another form of that.
Yes! You will need to fill out the registration form again, but it’s a good idea to let your counsellor know or ask them if you need help filling out the form.
Ideally, yes. Based on student feedback, the program is purposely designed so that you will be with the same group of people for your whole program. Showing up consistently builds trust, connection and a sense of support.
If you have found yourself ‘planning’ to go to a drop-in group for a long time but never or rarely attending, Finding Pride might be a good option for you.
You can still register. The program dates follow a regular schedule, so you’ll have time to plan. If you can’t make it after registering, just reach out and chat to us - you’re welcome to join a future group.
We get it. The LGBTIQA+ umbrella is extremely diverse. That diversity hasn’t always been reflected in community events and programs.
For example, some groups may use the ‘LGBTIQA+’ acronym but make no other reference to intersex or asexual people. Others may assume that LGBTIQA+ experiences and terms in Western, English-speaking cultures are universal.
We are committed to creating a space that is welcoming to LGBTIQA+ peoples of all communities, bodies, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds and faiths. The program is designed to value a broad range of experiences. We encourage you to discuss any concerns with the counsellor during your initial chat.
Whilst this is a common concern, we find that participants typically show remarkable care and consideration in how they speak.
The facilitators are trained to guide and model respectful, non-judgemental language. We will have a group discussion about this in the first session, with some examples of how we may manage certain situations.
Yes! As long as you register with your student email.
If you are concerned about any potential conflict of interests, we are happy to discuss this with you in advance.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept non-student staff into the group program at this time.
We love questions! Please email us at lgbtiqa.programs@latrobe.edu.au and we would be happy to discuss them. You can also request a phone call, if you prefer.
Alternatively, you can register for the group and discuss your questions with the counsellor during your initial chat.
We have LGBTIQA+ counselling available, a list of external supports, and some more information about being LGBTIQA+ at La Trobe.