So I just wanted to know if any of you Transmen out there had any experience with Gender Therapy.
How many sessions did you go to?
How long was it until you started taking T?
Did they go by the book? Or did they just wing it?
Let me know your experiences, I'm stoked to hear about them :]
I don't feel I had any "therapy".
I just went and told the psychiatrist what I wanted.
My therapist is Michelle Angello, she is pretty well known so she is pretty by the book. I went to her every other week for 3 months and then she said that she would write my letter. It took me another month to get an appointment with my endo(Dr. Christine McGinn) and I kept going to therapy with Angello during that time. Angello sent the letter no problem and I started T as soon as I had my blood work and such finished for McGinn. I started T 3 months ago and have only had I think 3 or 4 appointments with Angello since. She doesn't want to just stop our sessions just incase I have an problems with T and also because I am still working things out with my family but I don't have to go if I don't want to.
I did, but mainly to jump through the hoops for a T letter. I was already full time with legal name change and such for close to a year before hand.
I also wanted to get "checked out" by a professional in the field with many years experiance, who might bring up points or spot any issues that I didn't notice.
I saw a clinical psychiatrist with experiance in treating people with GID, and it took about 6 weeks for me to get in.
It did not take me a large number of sessions to get the T letter. I am not going to disclose the exact number, or the timeframe.
The psychiatrist I went to used the SOC ("the book") as a guideline only. He took my history, transition progress, and, well, the whole picture into account and wrote the T letter when he felt comfortable doing so (ie, when there was "no doubt" in his mind - his words not mine).
Let's just say this guy has enough experiance in seeing people with GID that I would NOT call his judgement "winging it". I value his opinion more than I would a therapist that shoves everyone into a "standard" timeframe. At least I know I'm being listened to and I'm being looked at on an individual level.
From the time I got the "T letter" (referal to the endo), it was about 2 1/2 weeks until my first shot.
I didn't/don't need a letter to get on hormones, but I will be starting fairly soon to get my top surgery letter. For most surgeons, I actually wouldn't need one (full time since 2004), BUT since I want Dr. McGinn I'll need one.
Dr. Angello seems nice but I'd have to do phone therapy because of the distance. Definitely considering her for a letter, but hope it doesn't take forever. I'm going into psychology, but it sure seems expensive when I'm not making much money! ;)
Quote from: Griffin on April 01, 2010, 11:39:01 PM
I didn't/don't need a letter to get on hormones, but I will be starting fairly soon to get my top surgery letter. For most surgeons, I actually wouldn't need one (full time since 2004), BUT since I want Dr. McGinn I'll need one.
Dr. Angello seems nice but I'd have to do phone therapy because of the distance. Definitely considering her for a letter, but hope it doesn't take forever. I'm going into psychology, but it sure seems expensive when I'm not making much money! ;)
Angello is pretty good, I'm not gonna lie, and it won't take any longer than 3 months I imagine, she doesn't drag things out. She also doesn't take insurance, don't know if that factors into your decision.
My therapist tends to meet people once a week. I suspect that he would be pretty conservative for most or all clients; let's face it, transition is a huge step. I don't know if he "goes by the book" and insists on three months for an HRT letter, but he is not a gatekeeper. To me, he made it quite clear that a T letter would be provided when I was sure that it was what I wanted. He would write the letter when I asked for it. I think he knew that I wouldn't ask for it until I was sure, because he knew that I was there not only for letters but to work through my demons. But I am also confident that if he thought I was jumping the gun, he would have asked me to do some more internal work before getting the letter.
I was in a bad way when I first started seeing him, so I was seeing him twice a week. This was my request, not his. And it was a little over six months before my first T shot. That was simply how long it took me to travel my arc.
Parker, you should know that some therapists are more conservative with really young clients. I think this is entirely understandable, but some young guys find it enormously frustrating.
Edited to correct "Carson" to "Parker."
Quote from: Arch on April 02, 2010, 01:08:57 PM
Carson, you should know that some therapists are more conservative with really young clients. I think this is entirely understandable, but some young guys find it enormously frustrating.
Oh I completely understand that, and agree with it. I don't really think 3 months is that long of a time period to make a person wait, even longer for a really young guy. I can understand it being frustrating but at the same time young guys have a lot longer to live as a man than someone who transitions later in life and they really aren't as pressed for time.
Quote from: Carson on April 02, 2010, 02:08:45 PM
Oh I completely understand that, and agree with it. I don't really think 3 months is that long of a time period to make a person wait, even longer for a really young guy. I can understand it being frustrating but at the same time young guys have a lot longer to live as a man than someone who transitions later in life and they really aren't as pressed for time.
Sorry, I meant Parker--I was responding to the OP, but your reply was right under my nose. Guess I got mixed up. But since you apparently don't have the T letter yet, I suppose my post could apply to both of you!
Post Merge: April 02, 2010, 01:26:40 PM
Quote from: Carson on April 02, 2010, 02:08:45 PM
I can understand it being frustrating but at the same time young guys have a lot longer to live as a man than someone who transitions later in life and they really aren't as pressed for time.
Not to mention that young folks usually have a little less perspective, life experience, etc. And sometimes unrealistic expectations. But that sure isn't true all across the board.
Carson (yes, I really mean Carson this time!), you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, though. I suspect that you'll get what you need in a timely fashion.
I chose to do my three months at place that specializes in "Sexual Minorities", so I went in knowing that they had experience dealing with transgender issues (and my therapist ended up being trans himself). I had previously gone to a couple of other therapists who didn't really know how to help me, or refused to, which was a huge waste of time (and money)--so I wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Overall, it took about four months to get from starting therapy to starting T, some of the extra time was unavoidable, some of it I could have alleviated with better planning. I went to my sessions every other week for three months, because of this schedule I ended up getting my letter a week after the three month mark. For the last of those months I was attempting to get an appointment with a doctor locally, which didn't work out. My first appointment with the doctor that I managed to get, I had my blood drawn for my labs, and I went back a week later (two days ago) and did my first shot.
Regarding the content of the therapy sessions, they pretty much went by the book. I went in completely sure of what I needed to do, and was told on my first session that I was going to get my letter at the end of the three documented months. Most of the time we discussed non-gender related issues, by that point I had been thinking about and rehashing all of my trans qualms with other therapists and in my own head for so long that after talking about it for the first appointment, it became a moot subject.
Quote from: Arch on April 02, 2010, 02:24:34 PM
Carson (yes, I really mean Carson this time!), you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, though. I suspect that you'll get what you need in a timely fashion.
Thanks Arch, I am actually already on T though.
Quote from: Carson on April 04, 2010, 07:35:34 AM
Thanks Arch, I am actually already on T though.
Yeah, but I was also assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that you were looking for a surgery letter as well. If you're already covered, then great!
I went to my first Gender Therapy appointment yesterday.
She basically said that she's not there to judge me,
just to help me through my transition,
and make sure I'm happy,
and don't want to kill myself or something, lol.
Hopefully I'll be starting T soon,
because it seems like she has full confidence in me.
Quote from: Parker Lane on April 04, 2010, 08:34:05 PM
I went to my first Gender Therapy appointment yesterday.
She basically said that she's not there to judge me,
just to help me through my transition,
and make sure I'm happy,
and don't want to kill myself or something, lol.
Hopefully I'll be starting T soon,
because it seems like she has full confidence in me.
Good news, Parker. I'm happy for you.
I go to my fifth therapy appointment this week, and I'm hoping to get my T letter. My therapist said she would start working on it, just in case she forgot anything to ask me. I started therapy in January. She's pretty relaxed and just wings it lol. Um...but the nurse practitioner I'm going to go to as my PCP, she uses the informed consent model, but going to therapy has helped me sort through other issues with myself. I'm very pro-therapy.
Quote from: DavisJ86 on April 04, 2010, 09:02:32 PM
I go to my fifth therapy appointment this week, and I'm hoping to get my T letter. My therapist said she would start working on it, just in case she forgot anything to ask me. I started therapy in January. She's pretty relaxed and just wings it lol. Um...but the nurse practitioner I'm going to go to as my PCP, she uses the informed consent model, but going to therapy has helped me sort through other issues with myself. I'm very pro-therapy.
Yeah therapy is really awesome.
I wanted to do that instead of "jumping the gun",
and going to some sort of gender clinic,
or Planned Parenthood or whatever.
Therapy helps sort through the kinks,
and gets you to where you really want to be,
both physically and mentally.
Yeah it does. Hope all goes well with therapy 8)