LGBTQ+ people face discrimination, marginalization and oppression often from a very early age. Gay men, in particular, have also lived with the trauma of the AIDS epidemic. Those in the oldest generation, who experienced a crushing amount of loss and the fear that this new disease created faced perhaps the most extreme set of emotional consequences. But two generations since, those who came out after AIDS was better understood and young gay men today still grapple with the mark those times left. How do people from such traumatic experience create lives of authenticity and actualization? Walt Odets, who has spent his career working with gay men in his psychotherapy practice, believes that grieving and grappling with these traumas is an essential part of claiming life and moving forward. His book, Out of the Shadows, offers an understanding and road map for the work while telling compelling stories of men who have managed, despite what was put in their way, to create beautiful lives.