Six sessions. One-on-one. A structured examination of the psychological patterns shaping your life — where they came from, how they operate, and what becomes possible when you can name them accurately.
Most gay men who do this work aren’t in crisis. They’re functioning. Professionally successful. Socially present. They have relationships, or they know why they don’t. They’ve possibly done therapy. They can describe the patterns they’re stuck in with considerable precision.
And yet. The patterns continue.
The Formation Programme isn’t therapy in the clinical sense. It’s structured pattern recognition work: a six-session arc designed to map the specific psychological formation that shaped you, identify how that formation is operating in your current life, and give you language for what you’re carrying that is accurate enough to be useful.
It’s available worldwide — including to gay men in the US and Canada who want to work with a clinician specialising in gay male psychology outside the clinical therapy framework. It’s not a substitute for therapy if you’re in active distress. It’s for the men who are past that — who want the next level of clarity on what’s actually running.
Mapping where you came from. The specific environments — family, religion, culture, school — that shaped how you learned to manage your identity, your needs, and your visibility. Not a biography. A psychological map.
What was built on top of the formation. How shame operates in your specific case: where it lives, what it protects, how it shows up in behaviour that doesn’t look like shame from the outside. Naming it precisely changes its grip.
How the formation shows up with other men. The attachment patterns driving your relationships — who you choose, how close you get before you pull back, what triggers pursuit or withdrawal, what intimacy actually costs you.
What the body is carrying. How shame shaped your relationship to your own body and sexuality — appearance, performance, what you allow yourself to want and what you don’t. Where the body became a project rather than a context.
Distinguishing what is genuinely yours from what was learned and adopted as a survival strategy. Who you are when the performance stops. What you’ve been performing and for whom, and what it has cost you.
Not what you think you should want. Not what you’ve been working toward by default. The clearer question: now that you have a more accurate map, what direction does that suggest? What becomes available that wasn’t before?
Between-session reflection work is built into each session. You leave with something specific to sit with before the next one — not homework, but a pointed question or frame that sharpens what the following session can work with.
At the conclusion of the programme, Gino prepares a written pattern map: a document naming the specific patterns identified across the six sessions, their origins, and how they are currently operating. This is not a clinical assessment. It’s a named, written account of what emerged — in plain language, that you keep.
The programme is paid upfront as a single package. This commitment structure is intentional: the six sessions build cumulatively, and piecemeal attendance produces a different result.
For BACP-registered clinical psychotherapy in the UK and Europe, see the Therapy page.
Once booked, Gino will be in touch within 24 hours to schedule your first session.
The Formation Programme is designed for gay men who are psychologically stable and curious. It is not appropriate if you are currently in acute crisis, experiencing active suicidal ideation, or require clinical psychiatric support. In those circumstances, please seek BACP-registered therapy or an appropriate crisis service directly.
It is also not a substitute for therapy if ongoing clinical work is what your situation requires. If you are uncertain which applies, the Process page explains the difference.
The Formation Programme is six structured one-on-one sessions of psychological pattern recognition for gay men, led by Gino Cosme, BACP-registered psychotherapist. Each session has a named focus area building cumulatively from early formation through to identity, relationships, the body, and direction. Between-session reflection work is included. The programme culminates in a written map of the specific patterns you carry and where they came from.
Therapy is open-ended clinical work oriented toward a presenting problem. The Formation Programme is structured, time-bounded, and focused on pattern recognition rather than symptom treatment. It does not require a clinical referral or diagnosis. It is available worldwide — including to gay men in the US and Canada where Gino does not offer clinical therapy. It is not a substitute for therapy if you are in active clinical distress.
Gay men who are psychologically stable and curious about their own patterns. Men who recognise that something keeps repeating in their relationships or self-experience but can’t quite name it with enough precision. Men who have done therapy and want a more structured examination of their specific formation. Men in the US and Canada who want to work with a clinician specialising in gay male psychology. Available worldwide, online.
A written pattern map: a document Gino prepares summarising the specific psychological patterns identified across the six sessions, their origins in your formation, and how they are currently operating. This is not a clinical assessment — it is a named, written account of what emerged through the work, in plain language, that you keep.
The Formation Programme is priced at €875 for the full six-session package. This includes all six 60-minute sessions, between-session reflection materials, and the written pattern map. Sessions are conducted online via video call. Payment is taken upfront as a single package.
Click the booking button on this page. You’ll select the date for your first session; the remaining five sessions are confirmed with you directly from there. Before the first session you’ll complete a short intake questionnaire covering what you’re bringing to the work and what you want to be different by the end. Payment of €875 is made in full at the point of booking, and secures all six sessions. There is no payment plan at this stage.