I just got back from an appointment with a lovely therapist who is experienced in working with transgender patients (but is not a gender specialist)~ not only is she awesome, as it turns out, she happens to work with another counselor who is a gender specialist. I didn't even know we HAD any gender specialists in my city! And the best part? This gender specialist isn't covered by insurance... but she's offered to let me see her for a reduced fee (the amount I would pay if it was covered under insurance)!
The nervewracking part is that my mom is under the impression that this is "career counseling with an LGBT focus" (not a lie, since a big concern of mine is getting a job despite my gender identity, but obviously not the whole story), so I have to find ways to answer questions like, "So, what did you talk about at your appointment?" without sounding like I'm hiding something. However, my mom is paying for this, which is a huge relief!
awwww yay =)
WOW! thats awesome! If only i could find a therapist T_T
Thanks!
It took quite a bit of digging to find a therapist here-- I didn't think I'd be able to find one at all! I started by seeing a free short-term counselor at my college, who gave me a list of counselors he thought might at least be trans-friendly, so I called all of them to ask about their experience/willingness to work with trans patients (as well as their costs and such) and ended up finding the lady I went to on monday, and lo and behold-- she knows an actual gender specialist in town, who's willing to see me for a reduced cost! It took almost half a year of actively digging around to get this far, but I'm finally getting somewhere~
That's excellent, Crow!! It's great that things are moving along for you. :D