S5 Episode 45: Beyond The Closet with Max Littman, LCSW

Max Littman is a licensed clinical social worker, IFS therapist, consultant, and writer. Max holds a master’s degree in social work and has trained extensively in trauma-informed care, somatic therapy, queer-affirming practice, and his work is grounded in both clinical skill and lived experience… a true fusion of psychological depth and emotional truth. Most importantly, Max is not just a set of credentials; he is a human being… one who has walked the winding path of self-discovery, sat with the ache of exile, and returned again and again to the parts of himself once cast into the shadows. Max is the author of the book "IFS Therapy for Gay and Queer Men: A Companion for After Coming Out," which is both a tender and courageous offering that bridges theory and embodiment. His writing is sacred terrain where the wounds of shame, rejection, and survival are met with compassion and clarity; and he gives language to what so many have carried in silence: the burden of having to explain themselves, the exhaustion of masking, the grief of disconnection from self and others. Max doesn’t simply explain the IFS model - he lives it by extending an open hand to the gay and queer men who have felt othered, silenced, or pathologized, and reminds them: you are not alone, you are not broken, you are not a disorder. Max speaks directly to the inner exiles: the parts of gay and queer men who were told they were too much, too sensitive, too soft, too loud, too feminine, too afraid, and are subtly told within their own gay and queer community they are not enough. Instead of pathologizing them, he honors them; welcomes them; and invites them back into belonging. At the heart of Max’s work is a simple truth: healing doesn’t mean becoming someone new; it means remembering who you were before the world told you to be someone else. His work is not about fixing what’s wrong, it’s about remembering what’s true: that we are whole, that we are worthy, that our stories; even the ones we were told to forget; matter.

Connect with Max:

Website - https://maxlittman.com

Max's Book: Internal Family Systems Therapy for Gay and Queer Men: A Companion for After Coming Out - https://a.co/d/cciEBtN

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