Jump to content
  • Welcome to the TransPulse Forums!

    We offer a safe, inclusive community for transgender and gender non-conforming folks, as well as their loved ones, to find support and information.  Join today!

I want to be prepared...


ShawnaLeigh

Recommended Posts

This will be my first visit to a therapist.  Any therapist no less a gender therapist!  Next Friday.  I go to talk to a stranger about all my issues.  All my fears. I feel like I have no idea what to expect.  What to say.  What to ask.  
Im not trying to talk myself out of it.  I’m going for sure but I am already nervous...
 

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

The initial appointment will be formalities.  But then you can get down to business of what you hope to attain.  Don;t be afraid to be honest.  That way you get the benefit you wish.

 

 

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

Congratulations!

 

Your therapist won't be a stranger for long. No worries. For me the initial appointment was mostly about outlining why I was coming to see my therapist. The gender therapist was similar. We talked about me, she asked questions, I answered them. It's a safe space. You can say whatever you like in full confidentiality.

 

So yeah, what Jani said. Be honest. There's no judgement. Not being honest only hurts you. Talk about what's on your mind. She'll ... I'm assuming here, all my therapists have been women but that's my preference ... ask insightful, leading questions to help you open up. The atmosphere will be relaxing and maybe a little dimly lit ... that's preference of the therapist, one of my gender therapists had an interview room that looked like your grandmother's sitting room, it was lovely.

 

In any case, relax and enjoy the experience. The more you share, the more your therapist gets to know you and the more she can help. You'll be fine.

 

Hugs!

Link to comment

It’s kind of how I envisioned it to be.  But still nervous all the same.  
I’m not “out”.  I’m not sure what I feel or what I am inside.  On the outside I’m still all “guy”.  Which I know is not terrible but not me.  
I hope I get some answers even if they are not what I wanted to hear.  
Thank you ladies.  You both have been very helpful to me and I appreciate it more then you know❤️

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator
5 hours ago, Nivegnal said:

But still nervous all the same.

I was terribly nervous going in and walking on air on the way out as I had finally unburdened my soul to someone. This will hopefully be a good thing for your too. 

 

Jani

Link to comment
1 hour ago, Jani said:

I was terribly nervous going in and walking on air on the way out as I had finally unburdened my soul to someone. This will hopefully be a good thing for your too. 

 

Jani

I am hoping to feel “the weight” lifted.  
It is nice to know there are those here that understand.  

Link to comment

Back in the early 1990's I was fortunate being in a VA related counseling program for PTSD issues. My counselor was in a long term lesbian relationship, so when I broached the subject of what I intended to accomplish as a trans person, she had no qualms about writing me all the necessary letters. Prior to that I had been seeing Dr. Anne Lawrence, I know some people detest her, but she saw fit to put me on feminizing HRT and she also wrote me a letter of recommendation for SRS. Later it turned out that the endocrine specialist at the local VA hospital knew Anne, and he bought into my plan to transition and set me up for free meds. He also wrote me a letter recommending an orchiectomy and or SRS as I had complained about having to take Spironolactone as a testosterone blocker. So when I hooked up with Dr. Bowers I had both feet in the door but in the finale analysis decided that it wasn't the ultimate panacea for me. The reason I blathered all this past history out is that I felt at the time that if anything that you desire to accomplish is really valid and that important to you, then you will be manipulative and as devious as necessary to achieve what you need to. I am a bit embarrassed by putting all this out there, because in the end I dropped the ball entirely and in retrospect I have to concede that we should take our time going through the process step by step and not try to circumvent the system. It is what it is for our own good.

Link to comment

I ponder what I would really do if it all was just handed to me tomorrow.  Would I jump in both feet or not.  It’s easy to say you want this or that and different when you can actually get it.  I know this well enough.  
I’m not in a hurry to have more surgery.  SRS is not on my scope but seems like a possible step.   Like you I’m more interested in an orchy and shed my T.   But I’m still healing from my last tangle with a scalpel.   
Before I go on with that I want to understand my feelings and place in all this.  I’m hoping the therapist can show/teach/explain what’s what and why.  

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Who's Online   7 Members, 0 Anonymous, 94 Guests (See full list)

    • Kylie
    • MaeBe
    • Thea
    • April Marie
    • Ashley0616
    • Ivy
    • awkward-yet-sweet
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      80.5k
    • Total Posts
      767.2k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      11,940
    • Most Online
      8,356

    Raelyn
    Newest Member
    Raelyn
    Joined
  • Today's Birthdays

    1. **Angela Charlotte **
      **Angela Charlotte **
    2. Carlie
      Carlie
      (63 years old)
    3. Cbxshawn
      Cbxshawn
      (49 years old)
    4. HannahO
      HannahO
      (31 years old)
    5. JustKatie
      JustKatie
      (40 years old)
  • Posts

    • Ashley0616
      Wow that is a high number for Estradiol good grief! Testosterone levels are better than mine. I don't remember my Estradiol level but testosterone was 80. To me that is really high but it was in the two hundreds the check in before last one. 
    • Ivy
      I don't understand why this would make a difference being a "dad" I mean, as far as how they would grow.
    • Ashley0616
      I don't see why not. I have worn forms since I came out. 
    • MaeBe
      I have never worn breastforms, but I assume as long as they don't aggravate your nipples you could.
    • MaeBe
      Every week I've been excited to take my shot, so it's never been an issue. Yesterday, however, I woke up and started my usual "slow roll" and then suddenly realized I had breakfast plans that I had to rush out the door for. After, it was straight into work calls, and then I got the notification from the doctor about things being too high and all the while my mind had completely slipped that I needed take my shot.   Given that I am not asking for medical advice, but sharing my journey, I will note my results: Estradiol at 447 pg/mL and Testosterone was 23 ng/dL, up and down from 26 pg/mL and 526 ng/dL respectively before treatment. Almost flipped the bit! The doc would like my Estradiol closer to 300 pg/mL, so we'll see what Monday's tests state.   Oh, and I teased the dinner with old soccer teammates and never updated the thread! It went well. There were a couple funny moments. One guy, who I was worried about their response, greeted me with "Hey, you've lost some weight!" 😎 And a friend who lives near me picked me up on the way to dinner exclaimed, after we learned one of the invitees might show up with a date, "Wait! We could have brought women?!" To which I instantly responded, "You kind of did, bringing me!" Everyone got a good laugh out of that. 😁
    • Ashley0616
      To me there isn't that much difference other the measurement, which side the zipper is on and men's pants have bigger pockets. 
    • missyjo
      I hope this is not stupid question..I have yet to start n not sure if doc will approve..but once you start growing buds n such, can you still wear forms to get to the size you were?   I'm a dad, so when I start blossoms they will be smaller for a long time n probably need surgical augmented..that's fine. I don't want to go ddd to aa to ddd..   any ideas?   thank you
    • missyjo
      April sounds fun..I keep some boy jeans to visit mom in..fir now   hugs
    • Ivy
      I like them too.  We had them growing up.  But my father's family were Swedes.
    • awkward-yet-sweet
      Oh my!  I guess it just goes to show how different tastes can be. Since we don't live near the ocean, Seafood is a rare luxury. We absolutely love pickled herring! Especially my husband and my GF, I guess it's a Ferman/Russian cultural thing.  But most of the kids like it too, and a jar wouldn't last in the pantry for long 😆
    • awkward-yet-sweet
      I think the key to that is just not minding eating the same thing repeatedly. Since we produce a lot of our own food here, we end up eating what is in season at the moment. So, when the yellow squash is ripening, we end up fixing squash 20 different ways. When the strawberries are ready, we eat lots of strawberries. It's kind of a different mindset to eat in season when it has become such a part of American culture but the grocery store has everything we want all the time. Like grapes in December.  My family does even things out a little bit by having a greenhouse so we have some fresh things in the winter, but it's not a 100% fix.
    • KathyLauren
      My brothers and I had to eat what was on the plate.  All of it, and nothing else.  Pickiness was not tolerated.  Some of our least favourite were liver and onions, sauerkraut, and especially rollmops (pickled herring).  We finally protested enough to persuade our mother not to serve rollmops, though she kept a jar in the pantry for years afterwards, as a threat if we didn't behave.
    • Carolyn Marie
      I'll go first.  My favorite team is the Yankees.  Loved them since I was a kid.  I was born in NYC so, yeah.  I know everyone loves to hate them, and that's OK.  I just love baseball in general.  It's a game of traditions, strategy, power, grace and skill.   Play Ball!!  ⚾   Carolyn Marie
    • Ashley0616
      I guess you do have a good point. It's just hard to try and not have the same meals over and over again. 
    • Willow
      Hi   I’ll weigh in on being picky about food.  Yes, and I was brought up that way.  We didn’t have to eat everything our parents ate.  They had a number of things they ate that they figured we wouldn’t eat, an acquired taste things or one or the other didn’t like them too.   even as an adult there are many things I won’t eat.  In my defense, there are different things my wife won’t eat.   the weird thing is that after being in E, my tastes have changed.  Sweet, sour, salty or bland, if I eat or drink too much of any one thing and I have to counter act it.   Willow
  • Upcoming Events

Contact TransPulse

TransPulse can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: Click Here.

To report an error on this page.

Legal

Your use of this site is subject to the following rules and policies, whether you have read them or not.

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Community Rules

Hosting

Upstream hosting for TransPulse provided by QnEZ.

Sponsorship

Special consideration for TransPulse is kindly provided by The Breast Form Store.
×
×
  • Create New...