Is having Therapy really needed?

[Natal]

Just wondering....

[tinkerbell]

IMO, yes it is needed.  The aim of therapy is (or should be) guidance.  I'm afraid that without the appropriate advice, we'd be all over the place, doing things we are not supposed to do and avoiding the things that we are.

tink

[Natal]

Well.... um.... how much does therapy cost?

[Laura Elizabeth Jones]

Well.... um.... how much does therapy cost?

It varies greatly some people charge on a sliding scale and some do not. Luckily, my therapist charges on a sliding scale (which is a good thing since his normal fee is around $120 an hour).

[Natal]

Ouch ..... 120 dollars X 3.8 = 456 Ringgit.... (Woah weird price.) I am gonna go bankcrupt.

[Wing Walker]

I believe that therapy is a necessary part of transition.  One should not start HRT without a recommendation from a therapist.  I don't know what is available from the health system where you live so don't let the prices mentioned here put you off.

Wishing you the best,

Wing Walker

[mikke]

I'm really glad I had therapy, though I was less than pleased at the beginning. And mine was free.

[Natal]

How did you get it free? Comes with a Happy Meal?

[Berliegh]

What do they do at therapy? what happens? and what is achieved?

In the U.K we have Gender Identity psychiatrists who try and trip you up and try to humiliate you. They are agressive and question your every move. There isn't the kind of support you might get in the U.S. and the word 'therapy' doesn't exist in the U.K ....

[Suzie]

I think it depends on the patient.  I think you could reasonably say there are some stable, sane, resourceful individuals out there who could navigate their way through the process without a therapist, and who actually might be harmed by one.

BUT, I think those people are few and far between.  And even if you have your head screwed on straight regarding the gender issues (as if anyone could tell you if you do or don't), who among us doesn't have other areas of our life that need some working on.  At the very least, it's nice to be able to have a caring individual to drop in on and say "you know, life is really really hard sometimes.  I got read at the supermarket the other day and it just threw my entire day off..."

Suzie

[tinkerbell]

How did you get it free? Comes with a Happy Meal?

I also received therapy free of charge.  It was covered by my health insurance from work.  It still is; I only have to pay $10 for every one hour session now up to 24 sessions a year.  If I have more therapy than that, then it is expensive, $140 per hour with my therapist.

tink

[celibi87]

How did you get it free? Comes with a Happy Meal?

I also received therapy free of charge.  It was covered by my health insurance from work.  It still is; I only have to pay $10 for every one hour session now up to 24 sessions a year.  If I have more therapy than that, then it is expensive, $140 per hour with my therapist.

tink

I could pay five bucks and see a therapist through my insurance but the therapist that I was assigned to took one look at me and said. "I only have a limited amount of time." That said to me that he shouldnt be a therapist, let alone mine. So I have decided to look elsewhere for a therapist.

[Hypatia]

In the U.K we have Gender Identity psychiatrists who try and trip you up and try to humiliate you. They are agressive and question your every move.

Sounds exactly like the shrink the U.S. government sicced on me.

[Purple Pimp]

I think it depends on the kind of person you are.  Clearly, it's possible to transition without therapy.  Lots of people have.  At the same time, the people who did did so because they were headstrong or because they couldn't find one/lack of funds.  I think if you know yourself and are willing to accept responsibility for your actions, therapy may not be necessary.  However, there are a lot of transgender people out there with serious comorbid issues who really really need therapy, and there are others who just get what they can from it.  I don't see a therapist since I have no insurance, though this may change once I'm a full time Master's student in January.  So, in short, some need it, some don't.

[funnygrl]

I couldn't do this without therapy. my sessions run 90 min. long and cost me $75.00 each time, worth every penny in my opinion.

[shanetastic]

I'm still not the biggest fan of therapy, but I mean, there are times when it helps.  Really the most needed thing I think is a great friend who will listen to whatever you will say and just give some help if needed.

The main purpose of my therapy is mainly just like venting and the how to approach this type of stuff, now that I got the HRT letter a little while ago.  But it's just way too expensive at times since my parents don't want me to run it by insurance because they don't want to.  Luckily, they pay for it most of the time.

[Berliegh]

Here's my question again, What do they do at therapy? what happens? and what is achieved?

[emma?]

berliegh... its like your shirinks but they are private practices, and being private charge pretty much how they want, and since theres other options if theyre not what you want or need you can change they tend to cater to you. most in my experiance with other issuse have been kind and understanding asking thought provoking questions. their whole point to me seems to be to help you cope with your 'issues' by asking questions and makeing you think about them

though there are bad ones they seem not as prevelant as in your nhs<?>.
and we cna change them at any time if we feel the need our gov't doesnt tell use you have to see this one b/c your post code is xxxxx. theres very likey 3 or more in most towns and many more in our larger citys.

althought this is either coverd by private insurance or totally out of pocket.
i hope this helped.

[tinkerbell]

I think it depends on the kind of person you are.  Clearly, it's possible to transition without therapy.  Lots of people have. 

Perhaps, but if you need hormones, letters of recommendation, approval for SRS, you DO need to see a therapist who is familiar with the SOC; otherwise, no reputable doctor will adhere to your needs without a therapist authorization.

tink

[Sheila]

Therapy is very good. I didn't start out in therapy for my GID but rather for my suicidal tendacies. That led to my GID problem. I went for over 4 years, started out once a week then once a month for the remainder of the time and I went back just before my GRS date. Mine was 90 for 45 minutes. I had insurance and paid a co pay. I don't remember what that was. Pat paid it. I had a nervous break down and tried to kill myself. It all led to my GID, but I was on Paxil for a while and it didn't work that well. When we started discussing TS'ism and I got my hormones, my anxiety went down and I was better. This was my treatment. It's not for everyone.
Sheila