Therapy

I think about whether transgender people would ever need psychotherapy if they were simply allowed to be who they are from birth. For example, the system tradtionally set up for transitions was such that you had to go through approvals before being able to access a surgeon or even have access to hormones. That entailed having a letter that you were of sound mind to undertake such a process.

But even if you didn't need or want to alter your body, many people felt that getting therapy was a way with dealing with the emotional weight of hiding or of having been rejected by family or society in general. The effort of trying to fit in would often leave emotional scars which needed tending to.

Aside from my initial exposure at the Montreal General Hospital program, I decided to become my own resource primarily because I realized no one could really help me more than myself. After all, I am of sound mind only that my identity as a transgender person did not fit a predetermined societal script. What I then did over a number of years is remove layers of irrationality that I was exposed to virtually since birth; mostly messaging that said this is the way things are and we must get used to it. But transgender people aren't mentally ill, only their identities and their approach towards them don't align with heavily artificial and illogical societal norms.

In the end I determined that as an extremely rational person I didn't need an accredited specialist to guide me through a journey that only I could intrinsically feel and comprehend at a visceral level. I also did not want to be talked into or out of anything.