Susan's Place Transgender Resources

just curious if when you complete transition or when you feel transition is complete are you also done with therapy. I'm one of the ones that like therapy so my transition is not dependent on my therapy  as far as whether or not I continue with therapy.

Like any other thing, you let it go when you have no further use for it. Kind of like taking the training wheels off your bicycle once you've mastered it.

When you don't need it anymore that is when it goes away. I was out of therapy long before surgery, but back in to deal with sexual assault until I had healed from that. Hugs
Mariah

Which type of therapy? I'll be on hormone therapy for the rest of my days, but I've found psychological therapy completely useless and have only participated in the bare minimum to get the referral letters for SRS, such as talking with the CAMH people.

Quote from: ChloëAri on January 16, 2017, 06:12:45 PM
Which type of therapy? I'll be on hormone therapy for the rest of my days, but I've found psychological therapy completely useless and have only participated in the bare minimum to get the referral letters for SRS, such as talking with the CAMH people.

I was thinking psychological

I guess I just have a lot to sort out

For dysphoria, yes. After my real life experience and SRS, I never seen my therapist again.

But I also have other unresolved issues that requires a low level maintenance.

Do most people continue to got to therapy prior to surgeries? I went initially to get a letter for HRT, stopped, and then scheduled another session to get a letter for surgery just recently (but a few years later). Im just wondering; I didn't have a lot of money and before the ACA I couldn't really afford to continue seeing a therapist.


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The only therapist I ever liked, was the one I saw to deal with issues from the abuse I suffered at the hands of my adoptive family before the foster care system rescued me. The rest did not make me feel OK about anything. It is for that reason, I won't be seeing any therapist after such time as I get SRS.

I drop therapy as soon as I no longer need to complete some requirement, I am pretty well adjusted, and I am confident in my gender. Therapy can be a great thing, but it is kinda pointless to me when I don't need it, and it costs money.

I'm like Hikari, I went to get specifics things done and that's it. I went to a psychologist until there was nothing more she could do for me. I'm working towards getting my SCS. I don't like the term SRS so I don't use it. to get funding from the government I have to go to Psychiatrist that specializes in gender dysphoria so I'm doing that. Once that's completed I won't go back to see him.

I guess the major reason why I see a therapist is that Medicare pays for it. There is no way I could afford it otherwise

I stopped seeing a therapist right after I had everything I needed for SRS.  My therapist was quite helpful in the period leading up the surgery in fact once I started living full time, I started seeing him less and less since most of what I needed from therapy I found in support groups and forums like this.  It has been 13 years since I last saw a therapist, and I think I am pretty well adjusted.

I went once, got on to endo and never went back. Lol

I went 5 times, until I had my HRT letter, then never went back.

In that time, she managed to get 4 or 5 things about my case completely wrong, and caused me many a world of hurt.

But, I got my HRT letter, and my endo only took new patients that were referred from her, so it was what needed to be done.

Six months later I was is therapy again to deal with my spouse's growing abuse, that lead to work on my past sexual traumas, then onto the gas-lighting/mis-gendering/psychological/emotional abuse by my parents and other atrocities I endured as a chld. After I finally grew strong enough, I kicked my spouse out, and we dealt with the emerging reality that I had DID and had been dissociating floridly for years. I then managed to de-transition in pieces while undergoing intense three stage trauma therapy and DID/integration therapy with much success. Without therapy I would likely have been found in a dumpster downtown at some point.

Bad therapy is everywhere, but good therapy saves lives.

I use to see John Parkinson in sydney before this great guy retired ( the BEST psych Ive ever known ), Just before my last session he say you dont need therapy any more as your comfortable with your self and dont have any issues that was good to hear from someone I trusted,
Ive seen 2 other psychs but that was after a accident and she retired as well then sent me to her friend , but having a good psych is handy if you need referal letters and someone that knows your history.
Even though I havent had full SRS just a orchi Id say I've completed my transition as its a money factor and Im completely happy with my self..........

Cheers Tracy

Quote from: stephaniec on January 16, 2017, 10:07:16 PM
I guess the major reason why I see a therapist is that Medicare pays for it. There is no way I could afford it otherwise

I know where your comming from Stephaniec I also see my psych though a medicare care plan cause Im not working at the moment and the fees are crazy prices if I had to pay for them,,,

Cheers Tracy

I never considered therapy until I was gently persuaded into it by my wife to help me deal with my gender issues. While that subject was Job 1 in my sessions for several months, I've since then found therapy very helpful dealing with other long-term issues that I've had in my life. I never thought it'd be so helpful to me. While I probably won't need to attend as often once the bulk of my physical transition is complete, I can certainly see myself benefitting from therapy on an occasional basis for the foreseeable future.

I voted in the majority in this poll.

I started therapy in 2010, as I began transition, I had my last therapist visit one year after my GCS (almost 2 years ago now), I kept the relationship with my therapist open if I ever needed to return. Thankfully I feel quite comfortable today, and the issues of the past have faded...

Cynthia -

I find therapy with a trained LCSW I can work with to be very useful.  I see it as a tool to clarify my thoughts and decision-making process, often on issues that have nothing to do with my transgender nature.

I had my last therapy session 6 weeks post op with an option to return whenever I wanted. At our last session there was not really much to talk about, we had a lovely chat about the world and my experience with surgery and the 3 year relationship we had developed but nothing terribly serious. I have to admit though that I am thinking of going back to see her to get help with some issues around my family which seem to be the biggest issues I had throughout my transition.  I saw My psychiatrist about 3 months prior to surgery and he didn't want to see me again as he could not see the point. I agreed we never really developed a therapeutic relationship like I did with my psychologist.

Even though I still see a therapist regularly for anxiety and depression, I voted "yes" because transition-related items almost never come up anymore. They got me through the gatekeeping involved in medical transition, so now that it's complete there's nothing more to really discuss on that front.

Quote from: phydelia on March 29, 2019, 09:34:18 PM
Even though I still see a therapist regularly for anxiety and depression, I voted "yes" because transition-related items almost never come up anymore. They got me through the gatekeeping involved in medical transition, so now that it's complete there's nothing more to really discuss on that front.

@phydelia ]
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Quote from: phydelia on March 29, 2019, 09:34:18 PM
Even though I still see a therapist regularly for anxiety and depression, I voted "yes" because transition-related items almost never come up anymore. They got me through the gatekeeping involved in medical transition, so now that it's complete there's nothing more to really discuss on that front.

@phydelia
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I think it depends on what you consider 'post transition'  I changed my BC DL Name etc over 2 years ago.  I am definitely post transition.  But I have body dysphoria that I am still working on so I still go to come to terms with that.

I started therapy when I realized I needed to transition, and stopped seeing them about 2 1/2 years in. I had GCS 5 weeks ago- we picked up with a couple skype sessions to help mentally prepare (had since moved to a different city), but we only plan to follow up once more after my 6 week follow-up with the surgeon.

For myself, therapy was something I really only found helpful at the very start of transition, and then on an as-needed basis. Trying to make time in my schedule for weekly or bi-monthly sessions felt like it actually added more stress, in some ways.

I began therapy two years ago after a break of fifty years.   This time it was an immense help in my transition, the complete opposite of what I experienced the first time.  No knowledge back then about what it meant to be a transexual, it was still the dark ages of psychological understanding about gender dysphoria.   At this same time my current therapist has helped me so much with the psychological damage from decades of self hatred and shame from something I could not "control."   So I plan to continue with her for the time being, but do envision a day when I will be well enough not to need her.

The connection with my therapist has been crucial to my sanity. I truly thought I was pretty together... the usual transition challenges etc but nothing significant. I was wrong. That said, I knew I needed someone to talk with but I didn't connect at all with my first three. Finally I found one that is helping me to feel rather than think. I guess I'm not sure when transition finishes. So I'll stop therapy when I no longer need it, transition has little bearing on that I suspect.