As I mentioned in my previous thread, it was suggested by the psychiatrist I saw that I try the "Gender Trust" UK helpline which "offers information and support to transsexual, gender dysphoric and transgender people".
Sounds good, right? In fact it sounds great considering that's pretty much what I'm looking for and requires no travelling or time off work.
Problem is I hate using the phone normally, and most especially for sensitive subjects!
For my first appointment with the GP I braved a phone session because they wouldn't give me a regular appointment longer than the usual 5 minutes without the doc's prior consent. I was talking to her okay about life in general etc since's she's the family doc I hadn't spoken to in 7 years, until it came to the reason for the appointment. At which point I was trembling, gained a stutter out of no where and realised what a bad idea the phone thing was. ¬.¬ For some reason it was easier talking to her in person.
I can imagine the trans helpline just being too awkward for me, and rendering me unable to speak.. Of course worrying about it makes it worse, but I don't know how to fix that. :/
So I had a few questions about it and wanted to start a new topic. :3
Has anyone had any experience of this helpline or anything similar?
What kind of information did they give? (The usual stuff anyone with a computer can find, or anything particularly insightful?)
What kind of support did they give? (actually giving intelligent feedback or just being shoulder-to-cry-on etc?)
How helpful did you find them?
Was it awkward for you?
I think that unless the helpline is particularly brilliant and could replace counselling for me (which would be good), I would probably just stick with Susan's, the support group meeting thing and try to find a specialised face-to-face counsellor. :B
