Outstanding Beautiful Brothers

OBB (Outstanding Beautiful Brothers) provides counseling and community building & educational groups to young gay, bisexual, questioning and other
men who have sex with men of color regardless of HIV status.  All services are free and confidential.

Groups Services

• Spectrum: (Ages 18-29) Explore your inner artist through drawing, painting, and spoken word in this weekly drop-in group.  A great first step to learn more about OBB services. No art experience or registration required.  Call Ali Wood at (212) 367-1296.
• Brothers Keeping Brothers Safe (BKBS): (Ages 18-29) A six week intervention focusing on how brothers can better themselves and their community.  The training focuses on topics such as stigma, safer sex, HIV/STI’s, dating, sex work, and domestic violence.  Metro cards and refreshments are provided. Call Amor Boykin at (212) 367-1102.
• Fraternity House of T.O.P. (Taking Ownership of Prevention): (Ages 18-29)  An ongoing fraternity-based leadership group for graduates of BKBS.   Members work together to produce projects that promote HIV awareness and build community.   Metro cards and refreshments are provided.  Call Amor Boykin at (212) 367-1102.
• Many Men Many Voices: (Ages 16-29)  A short-term intervention with real talk about how to create a healthier sex life, responsibly choose sexual partners, and gain a deeper understanding of power dynamics in your relationships.  Incentives, metro cards, and refreshments are provided.  Call Hosea Crowell at (212) 367-1218.

One-On-One Services

• Mental Health Counseling
• Substance-Abuse Counseling
• Creative Arts Therapy

Meet with a caring professional in a safe setting to address issues such as reducing stress, improving self-confidence, managing anger, addressing questions about sexuality or gender, coping with living with HIV/AIDS or fears of contracting HIV/AIDS, and easing through transitions in career or relationships.  For ages 18-29.  Metro cards are provided.  Call Jeremy Ortman at (212) 367-1139

Frequently Asked Questions about One-On- One Counseling

• How do I know if I one-on-one counseling is for me? Questions, choices, concerns and changes are all a normal part of life. Sometimes you can work through them on our own or with the help of friends and family. Other times, they can feel too private, overwhelming or complicated to resolve with someone from your personal life.  When this is case, talking to a professional can provide a safe setting to explore your concerns and move towards improving your situation. While some people who seek counseling have chronic emotional difficulties, most are dealing with normal life events and are simply in need of an objective listener - someone who doesn't judge and who can help them see new alternatives.
• What are some of the reasons people seek counseling? People seek out counseling for many different reasons. Counseling may be of help to you if you are experiencing any of the following:
  • Questions about your future
  • Questions about your sexuality or gender
  • Wanting to improve your family relationships
  • Concerns about romantic relationships
  • Wanting to be more assertive or improve your self-confidence
  • Wanting to better manage your feelings of anger
  • Coping with living with HIV/AIDS or fears of contracting HIV/AIDS
  • Not feeling like your “old” self
  • Consuming alcohol or other drugs more than you’d like
  • Difficulty balancing all the demands of your life
  • Thinking about ending your life
  • Grieving over the death of someone close to you
  • Concerned about someone close to you
  • Recovering from unwanted sexual contact or violence
  • Carrying a secret that you’ve never told anyone, but wish you could

It is also okay if you don’t know exactly what you want to address, we can help you figure that out as well.

• Is counseling confidential? What you share with your counselor will be held in confidence, unless you authorize your counselor to discuss it with others.  There are however, some exceptions to confidentiality.  It may be appropriate for your counselor to discuss your case with a treatment team in order to present you with the best available treatment.  Counselors are required by law to release certain information in situations that involve harm to yourself or others.
• Who is eligible for Outstanding Beautiful Brothers (OBB) counseling services? OBB counseling services are available for 18-29 year old gay, bisexual, questioning and other men who have sex with men regardless of HIV status.
• Will individual counseling cost me anything? Counseling services are completely free.  No health insurance is needed.  A roundtrip metro card may be provided at each session if needed to cover the cost of transportation. 
• How often will I meet with my counselor? Counseling sessions are held weekly for 45 minutes.  Counseling treatment can be a short term or long term depending on treatment needs and the goals agreed upon between you and your counselor.  You can stop counseling at any time but are encouraged to talk with your counselor when you are ready to end counseling treatment.
• How can counseling help me?
  One-on-one counseling can:
  • Help you find or maintain your emotional balance
  • Assist you in coping with past experiences and ongoing family concerns
  • Develop insights into your relationship patterns so that you can learn from your experiences
  • Increase your understanding about sexual orientation and/or gender identity
  • Aid you in identifying and reduce self-defeating behavior that may be causing you more harm than good
  • Provide a space to identify goals for the future and a realistic plan for attaining them
  • Connect you to support resources in the community including case management, housing, education and employment services, psychiatric or medical care.
• How do I gain the most out of my counseling experience?
  • Define your goals. Think about what you would like to get out of counseling. It might be helpful to write a list of events, relationship issues, or feelings that you think are contributing to your distress. Take time before each session to consider your expectations for that session. Self-exploration and change involve hard work, and sometimes painful feelings are stirred up in the process of healing. Counselors are trained to pay close attention to these issues and will probably encourage you to discuss these feelings openly.
  • Be an active participant. This is your counseling experience, so be as active as you can in deciding how to use the time. Be honest with the counselor and give feedback about how you see the sessions progressing.
  • Be patient with yourself. Growth takes time, effort, and patience. All of your coping skills, behavior patterns, and self-perceptions have been learned and reinforced over a long period of time, so change can be difficult and slow at times.
  • Ask questions. Ask questions about the counseling process. Your counselor is there to assist you.
• How do I sign up? If you are interested in one-on-one counseling, contact Jeremy Ortman, at (212) 367-1139 or by email at jeremyo@gmhc.org. Your first appointment will be an intake interview and where you will complete paperwork to get enrolled.  At intake we will come to a better understanding of your needs and how we can most help you.   You will also have an opportunity then to have any additional questions answered and learn more about our services.