I would like to let everyone know that I have a free consultation with two different therapists, one today and one Thursday morning. I am excited to meet them both, but I am especially happy about the one I am meeting today.

The one I am meeting today does not have extensive experience with the transgendered community, but she has dealt with a lot of people from the LBGT community as a whole. I can tell from the e-mails that she has been sending me is that she is very supporting and very eager to meet me. It sounds like she is excited, I wonder if she knows what she is getting herself into. In more than one of her e-mails to me she said that there are plenty of people that can help with my journey, including her. I was quite shocked by this comment... maybe she has more experience than her online profile said. Another great thing about her is that she is literally 3 blocks from my house.

The one I am meeting Thursday morning lives about a 30 minute drive from here, but she deals almost exclusively with the LBGT community and she has a lot more experience (or so her profile says) with transgenders. Although I am happy to be meeting both, free of charge for the first visit, I can't really tell if she is as excited to meet me. I will only be able to tell though when I meet them.

I will keep you all informed on how my consultation goes today. Hopefully I have a winner.

My fingers are crossed for you!  I hope you like them both, and I hope you find the one that is the right fit for you. 

I do recommend that, if your therapist isn't a specialist in trans issues, that you make certain she or he is the type that is happy to consult with other, more experienced, therapists.  There are interesting quirks and hurdles in transition that are quite different from lesbian, gay, or bisexual issues, and s/he will need to work hard to understand them so s/he can support you properly.

Congratulations on getting the ball rolling! 
*hug*

I just had my consultation and I am completely in love with the idea of having her help me through my transition. She actually has a lot of experience with GID and actually has some friends that are transgendered as well. Everything went great, and it was not hard for me at all to talk to her about my thoughts and feelings. I felt completely comfortable talking with her.

She just moved here a couple months ago, and I am greatful to have found someone like her. She is very loving and compassionate. She was actually surprised that I already knew so much about the topic, and she was worried that she would have to explain a lot of things to me. She is so happy to be helping me (she told me) with this decision.

At one point in the consultation she asked me, "Is transitioning something that you would want to work at over time possibly with me, or is it something that you feel you have to do ASAP?"

My response to her was, "I feel like I need to take my time with this, transitioning isn't something that anyone should jump into without having the proper help. If I didn't want someones help, I would be self medicating now."

She was extremely pleased with this answer and we scheduled an appointment on the 9th next month. She prompted several times that she is impressed at how confident I am, and that I have a good head on my shoulders.

What sold me on her was when she said, "Transitioning isn't about fixing something that is wrong with you, in my eyes there is nothing wrong with you. Transitioning is about you finally being able to be your true self." I almost cried because I was so happy to hear her say that. I am completely astonished about how comforting she was, and I feel that she is the therapist for me.

I am still going to meet with the other therapist on Thursday just to see what I think about her.

Congratulations, it sounds like you found a good one!  My eyes teared more than a little reading this; I felt the same validation and hope with my own therapist. 

*hug*