Quote from: Robyn37 on February 01, 2015, 08:17:31 AM
I made an appointment with a therapist for next monday. I am travelling for work essentially full time this year, but I found one in the area I will eventually be settling down that does skype sessions. What I did not think about was that I will be at my parents house visiting before I leave for Europe for 3 months. I am not sure I will be able to get an hour of complete privacy. I am sure they will give it if I ask, but then they will ask questions and I am sick of lying. I have considered coming out to them, since I will be able to sit and talk with them about it in person. My recent experience with telling my girlfriend went well, and I see no reason as to why telling my parents would not go okay at the worst. I am interested in y'all's opinion on this. Just for some background, I am very close with my parents, but we never really talk about our feelings and I have no idea what their opinion is on LGBT issues. They are not very religious, but their social ideals tend to lean more right.
Hi Robyn
The sentence I highlighted does cause me to be a little perplexed, since closeness does rather imply communication, but regardless, here are some ideas. For the most part, in general terms, good parents will move heaven and earth for the wellbeing of their children. I know there are horror stories in this forum, but people who are not fundamentally driven by ideology or dogma tend to put their kids first.
In your heart you probably already have a fair idea of how they are likely to react, not so? Therefore, follow your instincts and talk to them about your issues, and be totally honest. This is the time to say "Folks, you've been great parents; now I
really need your help..."
It may be useful to have your ideas written down, and to separate them into 3 parts:
1 - the past, and how you've lived with being transgender,
2 - the present, or what you're doing about it right now, and
3 - the future, or what you want to do going forward.
If you've not written this down before, you may find it to be a phenomenally useful exercise to focus your thoughts. Think about their questions - the ones that are likely to come up relate to job opportunities and social acceptance, and how you're intending to present, and what body changes you want to undertake. They are likely to want to see whether you've really, really, REALLY thought about the plan and its consequences.
My experience? My parents and sister were shocked - they'd edited out of their minds every transgender event that had occured in my life, and were just happy that I was an ok femme gay boy. It took a few sessions to convince them, so give them time as it's a huge thing for family to come to terms with. Now, 8 months later, I've just received my first birthday card addressed to their daughter, and they're accompanying me to Thailand for my GRS, which is both a good and bad thing
Good luck - hope this helps a bit!
Julia
