On a campus where more than 70 percent of the gay and lesbian community reported harassment for their sexual orientation in 1988, therapy sessions will be a welcome service in the fall.

Officials from the University's Counseling and Psychological Services recently announced they will offer therapy sessions to assist gay students. The therapy sessions will provide gay men and lesbians with advice on maintaining relationships and coping with homophobia and the coming-out process.

Now gay and lesbian students who want to ask for advice on a particular issue, or just need to talk, have a place to turn.

The Lesbian and Gay Student Alliance currently provides a peer support group, but these students are not always trained to help others cope with severe emotional problems. CAPS counselors will be asked to attend conferences and workshops pertaining to gay men and lesbians.

LGSA members requested that the counseling service also make a list of gay affirmative counselors available for referrals. These counselors would voluntarily sign up for the list, and would have taken classes about gay men and lesbians or have a special interest in such counseling.

Officials in CAPS, however, said such a list would prevent all counselors from gaining experience with gay and lesbian issues. But CAPS should consider some people might be more comfortable talking with a counselor who specifically requested working with gay men and lesbians.

A list would not necessarily exclude other counselors, as it would be available upon request. Students who wanted to just make an appointment could do so, but students with a special request could also have their needs addressed.

Penn State is not alone in starting this therapy service. The University of Michigan has offered similar services for 15 years. Two full-time counselors are available for advice there. The University of Pennsylvania has offered counseling for about 12 years.

Therapy groups from CAPS, along with an option to request specialized counselors, can help a segment of students here, subsequently benefiting the entire community.