I just had my first session with my new therapist. I was unhappy with my last therapist and stopped seeing her in April. I was getting ready to go fulltime soon, so I decided see see a new one that were within my constraints of location, cost, and scheduling. He met all 3 and was recommended by other members of the community. He is FTM himself and transitioned about 11 years ago.
Beforehand, I had typed up a 3 page outline about my history and that came in useful. I wanted to make sure I was able to talk about everything. I had made an appointment with him using my best female voice, so I'm not sure what he was expecting. When I got there, he said that until he noticed me up close, he thought I was already female, so that answers that question about how other perceive me from a distance.
I told him about why I was there and who I was, then I handed him the outline, which he went over. I told him, I was pretty much there for the letters. His only concern usually is with the hormone letter, but since I already had that, he said the others wouldn't be a problem. I went over some issues I was having still like with my parents not accepting me and my marriage ending. I also went over coming out at work, since I wanted to do that soon. He gave me a couple of pointers and agreed that my strategy sounded good.
So, how did this compare to my last therapy session, it was like night and day. The sessions with the old therapist were very formal and was me talking 98% of the time. With him, it was much more conversational. Words came much easier and I felt much more at ease. He wasn't just sitting back and saying "...and how do you feel about that?". In one session ($60), I'm getting my carry letter, Gender Marker change letter, and I have a plan for coming out at work. My old therapist was very resistant to me coming less often than weekly. He was like, "just call me if you need a session". I don't have to see him on a regular basis or anything and when I'm ready he'll write the surgery letter. Also, for the second letter, he'll refer me to somebody who will write the second one without having to get to know me. He figures that if you've already gone through hormones and RLT and all that, then you would most likely be pretty sure of yourself at that point.
So, now it's fullspeed ahead with transition. No brakes from this point forwards. I mentally and physically ready and once I am logistically ready, then it's fulltime. I just need to prepare my "coming out" package for HR and schedule to meet with them as soon as possible.
Melissa
