Katy Lees (they/them)
@iamkatylees
Author, psychotherapist, & cat petter. THE TRANS GUIDE TO MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING and QUEER MINDS are out now!
Queer Minds shares interviews with queer mental health experts, addressing the psychiatric system, autistic queer liberation, radical community care, overcoming hardship, and more. It combines honesty about challenges with hope, centred on queer lived-experience and practical advice for mutual aid.
July was spent forging forward with my Middle-earth re-read (although I’ve only just reached the point where this technically counts as a re-read). I absolutely loved The Hobbit, much more than I was expecting to! It’s also been lovely to re-read Fellowship as an adult after loving it as a kid.
Queer Minds is a book of interviews with queer people from around the world exploring what it means to heal, resist, create, and belong. There are chapters about how queer people dream, how transness and ADHD bring creativity, what recovery after forced conversion therapy can look like, and more.
Seeing my hand-sewn patch together with the others as part of the Trans Unity Quilt was such a moving moment for me. I’m so proud to have been part of the project, to see the quilt as a whole, and to know the quilt will be carried at London Trans+ Pride at the weekend. sl1nk.com/6axd9pa
Queer and neurodivergent minds have always known how to build new worlds - in therapeutic practice, in love, in healing, and in resistance. Queer mental health care means world-building together, and we can build that world through a commitment to anti-oppressive community care and self-consent.
I wrote Queer Minds because I wanted to make space for the different kinds of experts on queer mental health that have held me in my life as a queer therapist. They’ve been therapists themselves, trainers, trainees, supervisors, service users, clients, friends, advocates, and survivors.
How are you feeling today - honestly? Do you have a moment to check in with yourself and see what you need? Have you grabbed a drink, eaten something, taken your meds, stretched a bit if you can, and said something nice to yourself? Can you give yourself and your community some extra care today?
If you've enjoyed Queer Minds or The Trans Guide to Mental Health and Well-Being, it would make my day if you left a review wherever you grabbed your copy, or on Goodreads/StoryGraph. Even a few words can help others decide if these are the books they need. Thanks to everyone who’s read them!
In June I only read one book, because I finally knuckled down and finished The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. As complicated and dense as it is, I really enjoyed it. It’s full of amazing characters making terrible decisions. It was also cool to see my bestie Glorfindel from LoTR again. Aurë entuluva!
How lovely to see my article in the BACP Children, Young People and Families journal! It’s about affirming therapy practices for trans, non-binary, and questioning adolescents. It is important that practitioners understand how fully ‘seeing’ these clients can help them feel resourced and resilient.
My debut book, The Trans Guide to Mental Health and Well-Being, covers issues like anxiety and depression for trans people. My second, Queer Minds, features interviews with LGBTQ+ advocates on psychiatry, autistic liberation, community care, and more. I’m hopeful that there’s something for everyone!
Still trying to find my way forward with my compass gone, but maybe I’m getting better at turning towards the sun.
A few more shots from Hartlepool Pride. If I look like I was ready to tackle any hecklers during the Pride march that’s because I was (I’ve never been in a fight in my life) @curious_arts @teesidepride #HartlepoolPride #Pride2026 #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPeopleBelong
Hartlepool Pride, you were everything I needed and more. It was such a pleasure to facilitate the Time To Talk space. There’s also a real need for spaces like this to exist outside of Pride so that trans people can be ourselves together locally. I’m still hopeful that we can make that happen soon!
Come and see me at Hartlepool Pride on Saturday the 13th! I’ll be running the Time To Talk space for trans people and their loved ones. It’s a drop-in space offering a welcoming and informal space for people to connect, build community, create signs for the parade, and meet over a cup of coffee. 🌈
In May I read two non-fiction books that really spoke to me, and one that I thought was great until Dick Schwartz started talking about being healed neurologically by ghosts. 🤨 ‘It’s OK That You’re Not OK’, in particular, said a lot that I needed to hear. I recommend it for anyone processing grief.
Last weekend would have been my Lucy’s 48th birthday. I wish she could have had 48 more. She was an incredible person - sharp, soft, fierce, loving - and I take her with me into all things, so that she’ll always be at least a little bit here, because the world needs more people like her.
What’s happening with the EHRC guidelines has me even more nervous about being in public, and scared for my trans siblings. I know this is an attempt to scare us away from being part of the world but I’m not going anywhere. Trans people will always be here, fighting for ourselves and each other.
Save the date - I’ll be facilitating Time To Talk at this year’s Hartlepool Pride! There’ll be lots of space for trans and/or non-binary people to get together as a community, plus I’ll be reading a few excerpts from Queer Minds and bringing sign-making supplies for the parade. Will I see you there?
I can’t speak highly enough of Queer Yoga by Mookaite Jasper! I was lucky to read this before it came out, and I’ve enjoyed folding the ideas into my practice. It’s an accessible year-long companion, with monthly themes that progress intentionally and lots of variations for diverse bodies and minds.
Here are some things that we can work towards as suicide prevention: - Community care, - Trans rights, - Enough resources for everyone regardless of ‘productivity’, - A ban on conversion ‘therapy’, - An end to fatphobia in medicine, - Adequate pain relief for everyone, - Decolonisation, - Abolition.
It’s Trans+ History Week! This is an excellent time to remind you that trans people have existed for as long as people have existed. We’ll keep being here, making history, for as long as there are humans.
April was an excellent reading month! Frankenstein was a re-read and, if you’re wondering where I come down on the ‘who is the monster and who is the man’ divide, I think both Frankenstein and the Creature are hubristic responsibility-dodgers who want to marry their sisters, so nobody wins 🤷🏼
If you buy Queer Minds and/or The Trans Guide to Mental Health and Wellbeing directly from the @JKPBooks website, you can now use the code %LEES20 to get 20% off! The code can be applied upon checkout when ordering directly through www.JKP.com