Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Okay, the reason I've set up this poll is just to get a good feel for the actual numbers before I go meet the psychiatrist up here.

Sorry girls, but there is no option for MTF's in this poll.

Thanks to everyone who can be bothered to answer. :)

Hey Miniar,

Quote3-6 months Therapy and RLT/RLE both.

It wasn't required here in the UK to be full time before T. Well not in my catchment area anyhow.. I was full time just not passing :P

I know this doesn't help much!

Jay

Quote from: Jay on June 04, 2009, 05:41:34 AM
Hey Miniar,

It wasn't required here in the UK to be full time before T. Well not in my catchment area anyhow.. I was full time just not passing :P

I know this doesn't help much!

Jay

Helps Tons

I just showed up at my therapist's office for the first time and asked if she could write me a letter for T and how many sessions would she require before she would give me one.  She said that she could do it immediately and have it ready for me in a week.  Told her that I would see her next week, and had my letter ;D

i was in therapy for nearly a year with a very uninformed B!+ch.  she never wrote me a letter, but i saw a local doc who works with trans people who prescribed me T with no letter.

I had 3 months weekly sessions with my therapist before he wrote the letter.

I had approx. 3 mos of therapy while dressing and presenting as male, though not sure that was required.  My therapist was wanting to cross her t's and dot her i's for the SOC, but I could have gotten T sooner if I asked for it.


Jay

Thanks again guys for the responses, it's much appreciated and gives me "actual" statistics to take to the psychiatrist instead of "estimates" based on mere "observation".

I do love my "facts"...

I voted for 0-3 months therapy no RLT, because after 2 months of therapy my therapist was talking to me about doctors who can prescribe T and was writing my letter. I ended up deciding not to go on T at that time however, and tried to see if there was any way I could live as female and took some time off of therapy and everything. so I didn't actually get on T until a year after my first therapy session but that was my choice, not the therapist's. so idk haha, kinda a weird situation

I don't really know how to answer your poll, because I just went to a doctor who was skilled in working with trans folk, and said I wanted T; she took one look at me and said as soon as the blood tests were in, she'd hand me the prescription. She told me later that it was pretty apparent I had no doubts about myself being a man, so she had no doubts I could handle T. I had, however, been entirely full-time for over a year prior.

SD

The options I were given weren't up there.

The options my therapist gave me were this:

3 months full time
OR
3 months of therapy

However, I'd already been full time for 10 months.  I went through therapy for 2 months because I have other conditions that my therapist thought would require me having a good relationship with her for.  I think if I'd gotten my T appointment sooner, she would've written my letter a little sooner.  But yeah.

I saw my therapist 4 times over the course of 3 months (with a 3 month hiatus in the middle when I ran out of funds in my HSA  :( ).  I have since learned, however, that there is at least 1 doctor in the area who will prescribe T without a letter.  But, he's completely booked and is no longer taking new patients.  I did no RLE, and in fact at this point I'm only out to my parents.  I'll be going full time in about a month, I expect.

17 responses and no one's had to do over 6 months of anything...

Here's hoping that'll help me convince the psychiatrist that a year is unreasonable...

I didn't do the poll because I didn't like how it was worded (sorry). You asked how much I *HAD* to do, and I wasn't sure what that meant...is it how much I was required to do? If so, my situation is sorta complicated.

For various reasons--but especially because I was in a long-term relationship with my straight male partner--I did not go to my therapist with an attitude of "how long till you write me a T letter?" I knew that I had lots of baggage and issues, and I figured that I would just take as long as I needed to work them out and decide whether I wanted to transition.

I saw my therapist twice a week. After about two and a half months of therapy, I hit a crisis point and fully accepted that, yes, I was really a transsexual and needed to start some kind of transitional process. I wasn't sure when I wanted to start T. I was worried for my relationship and also didn't want to transition on the job. I had good reason to believe that I wouldn't be teaching at my uni after March, so I was thinking of starting T in April. That was comfortably far in the future.

At first, I didn't tell my therapist when I was thinking of starting T. After a good deal of MY deferring and MY avoiding, HE finally asked when I wanted to start. I think that was in November, after about four months of therapy. I told him what I was thinking. And then the landscape of my life and desires started to change. Sometime around Christmas, I realized that I didn't want to wait that long. In fact, I started to feel that I COULDN'T wait that long. I thought, "Okay, maybe March." Then I started thinking March first. Then February. Then early February. I called the endo and got my first shot in mid-February, after a little over six months of therapy.

My therapist is not a gatekeeper, but he does seem to believe that the SOC exist for good reason and that they serve most people pretty well. I feel that once I made my big self-revelation, my therapist would have been quite happy to write me a letter after around three or three and a half months of therapy, but do bear in mind again that I was going in twice a week. (I know it sounds like overkill, but I was in a very bad way for months. I'm a lot better now.)

I didn't really do RLE. I had been presenting in a very masculine way for years, but RLE isn't too practical for most people.

And I should point out that I didn't have to go through therapy at all if I didn't want to. We have an informed consent clinic in my city. And I later found out that there is one therapist in town who is so free and easy with T letters that it boggles the mind. If I had gone to him/her and had been sure of what I wanted, getting a letter would have been a piece of cake. It would have taken a session or two. I know that therapists are trained to spot deception and uncertainty and all of that, but I worry that this therapist, who is still quite young, is not being careful enough.

But that's a different story.

P.S. By the way, your therapist's timetable seems excessively rigid to me if you are going in once a week. I'm no professional, but I think that the timetable should be loosely based on the SOC and strongly based on YOU. I can understand an attitude of "let's go three months and then see." But again, it depends on how often you go in and what other issues you have. For me, since I was going in twice a week, I really did have a year's worth of once-a-week therapy before I started T. But, as I indicated, I seem to be atypical among guys who don't have other mental health issues.

Thanks Arch,
I know my wording is rather specific, but then that's cause I feel like the rigid sounding plan is boxing me in in a "specific" manner.
I really appreciate that you wrote your answer even if it didn't fit in any of my pre-offered boxes.

QuoteAfter a good deal of MY deferring and MY avoiding, HE finally asked when I wanted to start

really good point, Arch. It was similar with my therapist. I was so focused on top surgery and was loath to grow fur while I still had those things. I also was still ambivalent about the effects of T (growing fur, mind changes, etc). My therapist was the one that made me realize I was dragging my feet. He knew I needed it for my well-being. He suggested I get on T, and he was right. I already knew there was no other way, that T was my only hope of ever being seen as male. I was just too consumed with top dysphoria to realize how much my blood was screaming for T. He may have written the letter earlier, had I wanted it earlier.

I voted for over six months both.

I've been living full time for 14 months and have been having therapy for 11 months, I get my first T shot on Tuesday... It's been one hell of a ride. But then I'm UK and NHS, so what can I expect??

Hoooray!
Over 20 responses!

Thanks again to all ya guys.. it's good to see the perspective.

What has bothered me increasingly is that my psychologist is not qualified to make diagnoses.  For that matter, the psychiatrist who does do diagnoses for trans people all the time wouldn't see me because of my age - however, due to my insistence that another year was unbearable, I have her word that she will see me.  However, that entails getting a letter from a GP stating that I have been seeing my psychologist, and thus can see the psychiatrist.  The psychiatrist will be booked until November.  She requires 3 months therapy before she prescribes hormones.  Who knows what will happen after that.

Oh, and for the record, I booked an appointment with the psychologist in March, got in early June.  :o

That is how Canada is sometimes, though.  Luckily, insurance covered quite a few sessions with the psychologist, and sessions with the psychiatrist are free.

I will make an update when I can figure out more about how long it will take to get T.

Quote from: Adrian on August 07, 2009, 04:19:05 PM
What has bothered me increasingly is that my psychologist is not qualified to make diagnoses. 

This seems odd to me, but I'm out of my depth. Why is your psychologist not qualified?

a psychologist is perfectly qualified to diagnose "GID"  (not a disorder IMO) but diagnoses are just more common from psychiatrists.

Quote from: Josh on August 07, 2009, 07:37:52 PM
a psychologist is perfectly qualified to diagnose "GID"  (not a disorder IMO) but diagnoses are just more common from psychiatrists.

I only know of a few trans people in my community who see a psychiatrist--for other mental health issues, not GD/GID. I don't personally know a single person in my community who wasn't "diagnosed" by a psychologist or therapist...

Quote from: Arch on August 07, 2009, 07:29:50 PM
This seems odd to me, but I'm out of my depth. Why is your psychologist not qualified?

Hmm, she never went on to get her PhD?  It's something of that type.  She has never diagnosed any trans people before.  She doesn't have the information or the qualifications, she tells me.  I haven't done any research on this matter, but I understand she simply cannot do it.  She can obviously recognize a trans person, but cannot do anything about it.  Difficult, because she's basically telling me "Oh yes, these issues are deep-seated and you should certainly transition - but I can't do anything about it for you."  :-\

Quote from: Adrian on August 07, 2009, 09:37:24 PM
Hmm, she never went on to get her PhD?  It's something of that type.  She has never diagnosed any trans people before.  She doesn't have the information or the qualifications, she tells me.  I haven't done any research on this matter, but I understand she simply cannot do it.  She can obviously recognize a trans person, but cannot do anything about it.  Difficult, because she's basically telling me "Oh yes, these issues are deep-seated and you should certainly transition - but I can't do anything about it for you."  :-\

Maybe things are different in your neck of the woods. We have a therapist in my city who only has a master's, and s/he writes HRT letters all the time. I don't know about surgery letters, though. But this person has been working with the trans community for a couple of years now, so I guess it can be said that trans is one of his/her specialties.

Quote from: Arch on August 08, 2009, 12:10:40 AM
Maybe things are different in your neck of the woods. We have a therapist in my city who only has a master's, and s/he writes HRT letters all the time. I don't know about surgery letters, though. But this person has been working with the trans community for a couple of years now, so I guess it can be said that trans is one of his/her specialties.

Well, our neck of the woods is more so outside of the woods entirely.  And far, far away.  Out here, there isn't much.  I have to go out of the city to get to the only person who can write letters for testosterone and surgery.  It's probably more about my therapist's experience.  She can't write letters at all for this, and she doesn't see many trans people.  But she is versed in gender issues (more so issues with sexuality) and was someone to talk to - and someone to give me connections.  So, regardless of the annoying fact that she can do no more for me - I am grateful for her.

Quote from: Adrian on August 07, 2009, 09:37:24 PM
Hmm, she never went on to get her PhD?  It's something of that type.

shes not a psychologist and shes been lying her fiery pants off if she doesnt have a PhD.

Quote from: Adrian on August 08, 2009, 12:28:00 AM
Well, our neck of the woods is more so outside of the woods entirely. 

I guess I wasn't too clear--I sort of meant that I don't know much about the Canadian system. But it sounds like you feel lucky to have found a caring therapist.

I hope things start happening more rapidly for you. I don't know about other people, but once I finally realized that I was a guy--not just a woman who wanted to become a man--I needed fast action. The deliberate pacing of certain health care systems that I've heard of--such as in Canada or Britain--would have really sent me around the bend.

Of course, some say I was already there...

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Post Merge: August 07, 2009, 11:48:42 PM

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Quote from: Josh on August 08, 2009, 12:42:38 AM
shes not a psychologist and shes been lying her fiery pants off if she doesnt have a PhD.

I was thinking that Adrian was using the term "psychologist" rather loosely, or that his therapist really does have a doctorate but doesn't specialize in trans issues. Or something of that nature. Because as far as I know, Josh, you are right on the money--you're not supposed to call yourself a psychologist if you don't have the doctorate. I thought this was true of Canada as well, so I wikied it--the Wiki entry backed me up. (Of course, Wikipedia makes mistakes...)

I have no idea whether she is, legally speaking, a psychologist - but it says so on her card.  She may have told me she didn't have her PhD, but she may have also just said she hadn't done the research or had the material to diagnose.  I was probably half asleep, as my sessions are always way too early for me.

Either way, she's gotten me somewhere good.  And she's the only person who sees trans people in my city.  I had to find someone, you know?  She's the whole reason I am able to see the psychiatrist, because otherwise I wouldn't be so lucky.  They all have connections.

I totally agree with you, though, Arch - I want fast action.  The idea of waiting another year just to talk about getting testosterone pains me.  In fact, too much to contemplate.  I met up with a guy not too long ago, and he stressed taking your time with transition - basically, being slow.  It took him years, but I wasn't looking to take so long.  I've already spent my whole life hating this body, why should I feel the need to spend more time wallowing in my misery?  For me, the risk of taking T was less than the risk of not doing so, and I knew it right away.  I knew I was going to get a sex change when I was 10, I just didn't know the specifics.

Seeing as I am basically taking the quickest road possible at this time, I am satisfied to an extent.  There is nothing I can do to get this done faster.  Throughout this whole thing, I keep worrying people won't believe that I'm trans, won't want to diagnose me, or will tell me it's a bad idea.  I am terrified they won't let me do this.  But on second thought, maybe that feeling is very revealing.

I just went to a therapist yesterday and she told me that even though I have been living full time for 7 months I had to be in therapy for 3 months before I could get T according to the SOC.

Ive been living full time for roughly a month..and I can't go to therapy for about another year so if Im living full time for the next year I can imagine I'll get it.

Quote from: Sir Kyle on August 08, 2009, 09:43:11 PM
Ive been living full time for roughly a month..and I can't go to therapy for about another year so if Im living full time for the next year I can imagine I'll get it.

That is unfortunate.  Why do you have to wait so long?

Quote from: Carson on August 08, 2009, 09:34:39 PM
I just went to a therapist yesterday and she told me that even though I have been living full time for 7 months I had to be in therapy for 3 months before I could get T according to the SOC.

You could always email her a copy of the SOC in PDF form where it states it's either rle or therapy for 3 months.