Meral Crane, or other gender specialists around Columbus, Ohio?

[long.897]

Hey.  I used to have an account on Susan's, but I formated my computer and lost the autologin.  I don't remember the name that I used, so hey, new account here.

In Dec 09 I started seeing a psychologist, and around March '10 I visited a therapist claiming to have some experience with LGBT issues.  This past week, I finally got up the nerve to ask her "so when would you feel okay about writing me a referral?"  Her response was completely unexpected; we'd spoken extensively about it, and had agreed that transition would ultimately be the best option for me.  She seems to have done a complete 180; she says that I need to at least finish college and grad school before beginning my transition, because dealing with the stress of both at the same time wouldn't be ideal.  She also thinks that I need to try entering a serious long term relationship in the male gender role before coming to a conclusion.  Nooooo thank you, the idea of entering a relationship as a masculine/insertive/whatever partner is kind of horrifying to me, and I'm not all that attracted to guys so being a gay bottom is out.  I'm 20 years old, and I really want to start HRT and whatnot before I get all my body hair; right now I just have a little patch from my pubic area to my belly button, and if I'm anything like my dad, I'll look like a bear in 10 years.  Also, I've known about my gender dysphoria since I was 6, and I've (off and on) pursued the issue with therapists since I was 12ish, so it definitely isn't some impulsive or fetishistic type thing. 

Long story cut short, I'm looking for a new gender therapist, hopefully one who actually focuses on transgender patients.  I haven't been able to find a lot of links; there was a short list on a site that I found through Google, but half of the links were broken, and most others were just too far away.  Meral Crane seems to be the only specialist that I can find in Columbus, but I can't find very much information on her online.  Does anyone have experience with Ms. Crane?  Is she nice, rude, clueless...I just want to find out more about whatever therapist I'm seeing so I can either get this show on the road, or get the dysphoria under control (unlikely.)  Also, (if Ms. Crane doesn't work out,) does anyone know of a good gender therapist within an hour or two of Mansfield, OH?  It's about an hour north of Columbus, but I think Columbus is more geographically known so...yeah. 

Any help/advice/knowledge that you can offer to me would be greatly appreciated!

[aubrey]

If I could private message you I would. That's around 15 posts I think.

[long.897]

Blech.  I don't want to pad my count by making stupid, meaningless posts, but I'll see what I can do.

[lilacwoman]

Hi long.897
you certainly need a new therapist who lives in the 21st century not a disciple of John Money like that one is.

ask at college counselling service if they know good therpists.  any large college shoudl have a few transitioners theses days?

[long.897]

Well I was at OSU and originally found my psychologist through them, and she was fine.  She referred me to a sex therapist, who admitted that he'd had very little experience with transgender patients, and referred me to someone that he'd met at a conference who he thought was a bit more familar with everything that GID would entail.  As I said above, she isn't working out for me.  The first woman that I was seeing I still see for depression/personality disorder stuff, but she doesn't really want to focus on the gender dysphoria because she's not familiar with it, and wouldn't feel comfortable making an endo referral. 

[aubrey]

No I wasn't suggesting you make meaningless posts lol. Whatever the disciple thing is about Lilacwoman I have no clue but she's the most progressive and kind therapist I've had. Most therapists in the area are still stuck on standards of care volume 1 if they even have any experience dealing with trans patients. This is from experience not hearsay like some others. The rest is up to you to decide I don't have anything else to say to each their own.

[long.897]

Well that's kind of reassuring.  I found a post on here by an FTM saying that she's very hung up on traditional gender roles, and I was a bit concerned; I definitely feel girly, but I'm also in love with science and math, and want to be a professor of biology (or MAYBE physics) someday.  She's pretty expensive too, so i was a little worried about wasting my time, and 150 dollars/hour that I don't know if my insurance will cover.

[long.897]

I just wanted to post and say that I had my first session with Ms. Crane last night, and she was really great.  I definitely didn't have any sense of forced confirmation of gender roles with her; she seemed very open and friendly, and I thought that we got on very well.  When I first came in she actually thought that I was an MTF who had been on hormones for a while, because I do have a very feminine appearance, so I got a kick out of that.  I'm sure that she wants a few more sessions first, but she said that since I've been working on this for almost a year with other therapists, she might use the SOC 3 month period as more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule, so woohoo.

[long.897]

I just had to post an update because I'm all excited, but I had my third session with Meral Crane today, and I got my endo referral.  I actually called the endo that she recommended just after leaving the office (expecting a huge wait,) and with Ms. Crane's recommendation, I'll be going in for my first appointment tomorrow; pretty awesome.  I had to schedule 3 months out with the dermatologist, so this is amazingly expedient to me. 

[lilacwoman]

Hi long.897  glad you've had positive treatment from this therapist.
that first therapist's idea of you having a serious relationship only makes sense to someone who doesn't believe that TSism is real.  If you'd followed the advice and gotten a girl you might have done all the wasted years so many of us others have done.
How can we do the male gender role when we aren't male gender?