Quick therapy question

[JohnAlex]

So, this should a quick one.

I know it's said that to get a T letter, it can be required to have 3 months of therapy first. 
But how many times do you have to meet during that time?

Like, is that three months mean meeting once a month for three months?  Or meeting once a week for three months?  Could you meet twice during the 3 months?

[Robert Scott]

I have heard ... once a week for an hour or twice a month for an hour and half.

I personally meet once a week for an hour....but it only took 2 sessions to get my letter

[brandnewman]

How often you meet during those three months is up to you and your therapist.

I saw mine 3 or 4 times during that time. I already knew I wanted to start T so we mostly talked about my coming out process. I stopped seeing him just before starting T. I haven't seen him since, but I know he is available anytime, should I need to talk.

[JesseO]

I only saw my therapist 3 times over a month and a half when I received my letter. My endo requested it and my therapist was fine with writing it. My endo didn't care how long I'd been in therapy, but made it clear that he would prefer if I stayed in therapy for at least the first few months of taking T. I would suggest contacting the particular doctor that you plan on getting T from to see what they require. Then you can talk to your therapist about the requirements and when they would be comfortable giving you the letter.

[Jigsaw]

Standards of Care requires 3 months if you live in the US.  It does not state how often you have to meet.   Any therapist who gives one to you before then should have their license/quals pulled because even three months is not that long and the standards of care are in place for a reason. In fact they are gambling with their licenese/quals if they don't follow the standards of care.  They need to ensure that it is the right thing to do and that the person they are giving it to is not on some kind of fad or giving them a story they made up and are trying to believe.  Yeah, people still could do something like that..... but odds are in that time a trained therapist can weed out the crap and get to the bottom line unless they feel a need to go longer based off something that is said, etc. 

How often you meet is up to the therapist and how they feel about your situation and stage in transition.   I meet my therapist every 3 weeks and it's just to see how things are going.  Before my T letter it was every 2-3 weeks.  Each appointment is only an hour. The factors she took into consideration and has voiced to me verbally are age, how long I had been living as a man pre-T (and any circumstances that may prevent full-time), knowledge of transition and my past.   There is not exact formula because everybody is different.  Just be honest and let their medical/counseling experience do the rest.  If they feel and agree with you it's the right thing at the right time, they will suggest your appointments be more spread out.  If you are the first GLBT person they have seen....then you may be at the mercy of the therapist for everything regardless.

[MaxAloysius]

I read the guidelines, and what I got from them was that if you're over eighteen then three months is suggested, but the over all decision comes down to each individual therapist/doctor, and there is no required amount of time. When I eventually got my letter for T I only went to see my therapist twice in the space of two weeks, because the decision for when I was ready was ultimately hers to make. I do live in Australia though, so maybe it's different here?

[Adio]

I read the guidelines, and what I got from them was that if you're over eighteen then three months is suggested, but the over all decision comes down to each individual therapist/doctor, and there is no required amount of time.

This exactly.  I actually just typed up a similar response in another thread.  But for those not reading it here's the quote that's relevant (from the VI section in the SOC):

Psychotherapy is Not an Absolute Requirement for Triadic Therapy. Not every adult gender patient requires psychotherapy in order to proceed with hormone therapy, the real-life experience, hormones, or surgery. Individual programs vary to the extent that they perceive a need for psychotherapy. When the mental health professional's initial assessment leads to a recommendation for psychotherapy, the clinician should specify the goals of treatment, and estimate its frequency and duration. There is no required minimum number of psychotherapy sessions prior to hormone therapy, the real-life experience, or surgery, for three reasons: 1) patients differ widely in their abilities to attain similar goals in a specified time; 2) a minimum number of sessions tends to be construed as a hurdle, which discourages the genuine opportunity for personal growth; 3) the mental health professional can be an important support to the patient throughout all phases of gender transition. Individual programs may set eligibility criteria to some minimum number of sessions or months of psychotherapy.

http://www.wpath.org/publications_standards.cfm

[MaxAloysius]

Thanks Adio, I was pretty sure that's what I'd read before. They're guidelines, not fixed rules.

[Lee]

Yeah, they're not fixed in stone.  I know one guy who got his T letter after one meeting.

[Jigsaw]

Guess my old therapist must have been in some network that required them to go by the recommendation.  Even my new one sticks to the three months.
Why should there even be a requirement from some docs or whoever to have therapist then?  Why do they require a therapist letter?  I am just totally confused now.

Thanks for clearing that up Adio.  My apologizes for believing my old therapist.  Her whole network was under same rules it seemed.

My personal feelings are just so mixed about this now.  Seen plenty of people who had no idea what they wanted in the end and would hate for T to be one of those issues they regret later.

[wheat thins are delicious]

It's different for every therapists.  Some require more time then others some don't.  My friend had to have a year of RLE before his therapist would write him a letter.  But because of where we live and the resources here it was what he had to do.  I met him on the tail end of his year of RLE and got an appointment with a different therapist that he hadn't heard of.  She gave me my letter on the first visit. 

It's basically up to therapists to decide when to give letters and up to GPs and/or endos to decide if they require a letter or not.