Of the 10 feelers I sent out to therapists, so far I have received 3 emails in response.

One has TG experience.
One does not have TG experience, but is active in the LGBT community and has two FtM friends who have transitioned.  I believe I am MtF.
One does not have any experience with TG, but offered the first visit free as a "get to know you" meeting.

So, what, if any, follow up questions should I ask these folks.

Hmmm, off the top of my head:

• Ask what their thoughts are on the WPATH Standards of Care, and how they use them.
• If you think HRT might be important to you, ask what their requirements are before they would be willing to recommend you.
• How long have they been practicing? and what do they specialize in?
• Why do they work with TG's? Is it curiosity or can they relate on a more personal level?
• Research them online and download (might have to pay) any professional papers they've published to get a feel for their focus and beliefs. Alternatively, you can ask them to provide you with copies of any published papers you find, which should be without cost.
• Ask for some book recommendations, then read the books and see if you agree with their thesis and think they are worthy of professional recommendation

Also, do some research to determine the current clinical understanding of certain things which are of interest or concern to you and ask your potential dr about them. For example, when I was looking for my psychologist I asked what their personal opinions were on things like  ->-bleeped-<- and bigender identification. I did this because these are things I had put a LOT of thought into and I would be able to feel any disconnect if their answer was something that I truly didn't agree with. If they do give you an answer that you don't expect, ask them to elaborate on their reasoning and you will have a window into their mind.

If they share stories about other patients in an attempt to illustrate some point, pay close attention to how much they are willing to reveal about the person they're talking about. I had one doctor accidentally use another patients real name, needless to day he got crossed of the list.

One more thing, I would suggest meeting each of them in person for an initial consult and asking your questions there - they are usually free. This will give you a subjective experience from which to gauge how comfortable you would be talking to them, something that is hard to do in email and phone calls.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

Quote from: Th!nk on July 10, 2012, 01:40:40 AM
One more thing, I would suggest meeting each of them in person for an initial consult and asking your questions there - they are usually free. This will give you a subjective experience from which to gauge how comfortable you would be talking to them, something that is hard to do in email and phone calls.

Yes! Listen to your women's intuition. If you are planning to open yourself up and be vulnerable with this professional, then your gut is going to tell you if you feel safe doing so with them, within 5 minutes of sitting down and talking to them.

If you're not experienced in listening to your gut, then recall a time when you decided to trust someone, and later it turned out to be a really a bad idea. What were you feeling at the moment you decided to trust them?
Then recall a time when you decided to trust someone, and later it turned out to be the best thing you ever did. What were you feeling at the moment you decided to trust them? Now you have an idea of what your gut feels like when its talking to you.

Thanks for the advise.  I have just setup initial consultations with four therapists to see if any of them will be a good fit.  I am a little concerned that only one of them has any TG experience, but I can only work with what I've got right?  A couple did give recommendations of other colleges of theirs, but I will see how these first four workout and than go from there.

Wish me luck.  From what I have read here, this is going to be a bumpy ride.