I am having an appointment with a psychologist soon to start dealing with gender-related issues after a really bad episode of of dysphoria/depression last week. He seems to be the equivalent of a "general practitioner" in the psychology world, but also seems focus on LGBT patients in addition to cis-hetero patients. He is one of the few psychologists in the area who deals with transsexual issues, although he is not specifically a gender therapist. He also happens to be gay, so he can probably understand the stigma we face for being ourselves. I am wondering whether a psychologist can competently act as a gender therapist, or my next step should be getting to an actual full-time gender therapist?

I have both, the counsellor is free though so that helps. I'm keeping with the psychologist since I'll need him for referrals around surgery which my counsellor won't be able to provide.

Quote from: Ms Grace on December 14, 2014, 02:09:31 PM
I have both, the counsellor is free though so that helps. I'm keeping with the psychologist since I'll need him for referrals around surgery which my counsellor won't be able to provide.

Same here, and I am using both of them to get the SRS letters. I am forced to keep going with both the general therapist and the gender therapist if I want to keep having access to cheap HRT and a few surgeries, so at least I get something useful from them.

So seeing the psychologist will help with access to HRT and surgery, but what exactly does a gender therapist do that is different from what a psychologist does?

@Rachel89
Did you mean psychiatrist or psychologist? Normally a psychiatrist would be responsible for medication, referrals for surgery etc.

If he's a psychologist then I, too, am curious what services he can offer over and above a therapist.

He is a psychologist and not a psychiatrist, so he can prescribe talk    However, I thought a psychologist could refer me to an endocrinologist who would do the prescribing.

In the US, at least, even a therapist can give you an HRT letter for an endo, let alone a psychologist. It's more of an introduction and affirmation that you're trans than a referral. If your insurance requires a referral you'll need a doctor for that.

My therapist is neither a PhD nor an MD.  She had no problem whatsoever referring me to an endocrinologist for HRT - her intro letter worked just fine, and they have a good working relationship.

Cheaper, too.  And better.  An amazing woman, my therapist.

Quote from: rachel89 on December 14, 2014, 03:42:59 PM
So seeing the psychologist will help with access to HRT and surgery, but what exactly does a gender therapist do that is different from what a psychologist does?

What makes a person a "psychologist" is that they have a doctorate in psychology.  They can work as therapists, just like a licensed clinical social worker can work as a therapist.  A "gender therapist" is a therapist who specializes in working with people who have gender "issues", it doesn't speak to what the person's degree is (they may have a degree in psychology, social work, counseling, etc).

A "licensed therapist" of any degree can be one of the people who writes a letter for bottom surgery.  The main expectation is that the letter writer perceive themselves to be a specialist in treating gender issues.

I have never heard of a person going to more than one therapist.  I suppose if you already have a therapist you like and need help with gender issues you could carve that part out of your therapy from your regular therapist, but I have never heard of someone who has done this.  I only know of people who leave their general therapist to work with a therapist who specializes in gender.

The way I understand it, if working with gender issues is one of the psychologist's areas of expertise, then he or she is basically a gender therapist. My psychologist specializes in gay-related stuff, coming out, aging (especially in the gay male community, I imagine), and some other things. One of his areas of specialty is transgender issues. Therefore, I consider him to be a gender therapist.

I am continuing to work with my therapist who is a clinical psychologist. He specializes in life transitions among a few things, but not gender transitions in particular. I may see about visiting someone who focuses on gender issues at some point, but the relationship I have with the current guy is so strong and well established that I have no interest in changing therapists. At this point, certainly, I really just need support in general. I have a very good idea of who I am and what I want (finally!). I could imagine when big changes start happening, I might find a need to talk to someone who is familiar with the particulars, but until then I am quite happy.

Six years ago when I realized I really had to do something about being trans I got the name of a local therapist known to be TG friendly and had some, albeit limited, experience with TG's. Since this was a rural area and 'Local' was already 90 miles away I used him. Primarily the sole purpose was about all the ancillary baggage I was carrying around. Transition was the last thing on my To-Do list. Been there, tried it twice 30 years earlier.

As it is with life, things change, circumstances changed, and I especially changed over time. I started sheding a lot of the excess baggage, started to be at peace being me and who and what I am. And I do mean only started. I also got a job offer from my old boss back at the most fun job I had, which also meant moving back to the metro NYC area, back to with my wife, back into an area, my wife dubbed "Trans-Central", where a for real gender therapist wast a 2-3 hour drive away.

A few months after I moved back I had to get over my fears. Seeing a gender therapist, to me, was a MAJOR escalation. It meant I was really throwing in the towel on maleness. Sure, 4 years on HRT already, living part-time for three... just dabbling. Initially, as in the first 6 months or so, a ton of stuff was changing in my life, all at once. Moving back in with my wife after a long distance marriage the last 5 years, a job where I can be a real engineer again but also carried a lot of worry about a favorite trans lifestyle issue "Living up to expectations". Plus and end to living part-time as female thanks to the very closed minded hate filled suburban town we are in. So a whole new load of crap.

But what a difference there is between seeing a for real gender therapist and a generalist that is T friendly. She knew very about how so many things, our fears, our view of the world and ourselves are all intertwined with the GD. I grew a lot thanks to her. Still am. Our sessions are probably a tad more towards a lot of the other crap going on in my life but a lot is tied into side issues for me and being transsexual and what I need to do today and tomorrow.

My therapist is with a group started specifically to serve the LGBT community in the NJ NYC area. The Psychologist Today mag has a doc find with Gender Identity as a search option as well as LGBT. I think the best way to do things is asking around, especially with TG groups or organizations for references or feedback. Any LGBT publications in the region are also usefull for leads where the therapist is actively involved. It seems a common complaint that many therapist "need to be taught". Yea, they "know about transgender issues" as much as I know about Laplace Transforms. We both once took a class that covered it.

Quote from: Brett on December 15, 2014, 10:00:40 PM
I have never heard of a person going to more than one therapist.  I suppose if you already have a therapist you like and need help with gender issues you could carve that part out of your therapy from your regular therapist, but I have never heard of someone who has done this.  I only know of people who leave their general therapist to work with a therapist who specializes in gender.

I do this actually. I had been seeing my therapist ( a psychologist) for almost two years for other issues. Issues that didn't suddenly dissapear when I realized that I wanted to transition. However my therapist didn't have any experience with transpeople, and altough he was great he couldn't really help me in that process. So I'm seeing a psychiatrist (who works as a psychotherapist as well, and who I get paid back almost fully by insurance unlike my therapist) for the genderstuff. I see him maybe once in three months because of waitinglists. And only talk about genderstuff to him, my old therapist still is my main therapy and with him I'm still handling other issues . Seemed like the best way to go for me.

The psychiatrist knows so much more about gender and has been able to help me much more in that respect. My therapist knows me for more then two years know and we have an amazing workingrelationship that still helps me grow everytime I see him. I couldn't have dropped him for the psychiatrist and be where I am now. They both have their own significance and issue they help with.

Quote from: JoanneB on December 21, 2014, 10:23:06 AM
A few months after I moved back I had to get over my fears. Seeing a gender therapist, to me, was a MAJOR escalation. It meant I was really throwing in the towel on maleness.

This is exactly how I feel. When I needed an intervention, I knew stuff just got real. Never mind cross dressing and self medding, but when I decided to talk to an actual professional about my issues, my thoughts were... "holy cow... this is how far it's gotten now, hasn't it? You're really at the edge of the pool, and you're preparing to jump right in, are you?"

Not for nothing it brought structure to a process that actually did not exist for me. This is why I see a therapist. I would otherwise be lost.

As for my therapist, she is a LCSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She is a committee member of WPATH as well. I haven't seen an actual psych yet but I will probably need to see one prior to SRS, whenever that happens.