Dealing With Gender Dysphoria: Will Counselling Help?
If you have gender dysphoria, then your doctor may be helping you to manage your path through life from a medical perspective. While you may be relieved to finally get some help, you still may not feel completely happy and at ease with yourself.
Your doctor may have recommended that you investigate gender counselling services. How will seeing a gender therapist help?
Talk to Someone Who Understands
Some people with gender dysphoria don't get support from family and friends. For example, your loved ones may not accept the condition and may react negatively to the changes you are trying to make in your life.
Even if your family and friends are supportive, they can't necessarily understand what you are going through and how you feel. You can talk to them, but they may not be able to truly connect with your feelings and experiences.
A gender therapist has experience with dysphoria and how it affects individuals. You get counselling from someone who relates to your condition and who understands what you are going through. It is likely to be a huge relief to finally have the chance to talk freely and openly to someone who actually gets it.
Get Targeted Help Through the Process
You may not yet know what you plan on doing about your gender dysphoria. Or you may have chosen to simply live with it, to make changes to your gender identity or to have medical treatment.
Whatever choices you have made or are making, you may feel uncertain about what you're doing. This is a new time for you, and you'll have to make decisions that you've never made before. You may not know what all your options are.
A gender therapist can support you through this process. You can use them as a sounding board. While they won't tell you what to do, they may be able to help you find other useful sources of help, such as support groups.
Deal With Underlying Well-being Issues
While gender dysphoria isn't a mental health condition, it can impact on your general well-being. Years of hiding who you really are or of dealing with negative reactions in society may have left you anxious, depressed and lacking in self-confidence.
On a general level, gender counselling can help you work through these issues. Your therapist can help you understand why you have these problems and find ways to manage them more effectively.
To find out more about the benefits of seeing a gender therapist, contact local counselling services.