Whether you are seeking emotional support for a significant life transition or you want practical tools for a specific issue, therapy provides a secure place to process your feelings and explore new ways of coping with distress. Everyone benefits from a unique therapeutic approach, and your therapist will consider several factors when developing an appropriate treatment plan for your care.
If you identify as transgender, it’s important to feel safe and supported by your therapist. Let’s explore the best types of therapy for transgender adults.
What Are The Best Types of Therapy for Transgender Adults?
When it comes to getting the most from your therapy experience, everyone has different needs. The overarching best practices for individual therapy with transgender adults typically include:
- Understanding that gender is nonbinary and does not inherently align with one’s assigned sex at birth
- Exploring how gender identity intersects with other identities
- Discussing how prejudice and stigma can inhibit one’s well-being
- Advocating for social change
- Diagnosing and treating co-occurring issues like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, or body dysmorphia
- Discussing and referring resources for prosocial support
- Discussing the various roles and definitions of parenting and families
The best types of therapy for transgender adults may also include specific interventions related to one’s identity as being transgender. Some people may be very comfortable in their identities; others may feel more ashamed and humiliated.
Relationship Between Therapist and Client
Typically, the best types of therapy for transgender adults are inclusive, compassionate, and supportive. However, therapy can also be confrontational and assertive; it may entail difficult conversations, which can result in uncomfortable feelings.
The relationship between the therapist and client is sacred. That said, it’s common for clients to have intense reactions to their therapists. For example, a therapist may resemble an ex-partner. The therapist may be like the mother the client wishes she had. These reactions can provide useful clues into the client’s unconscious self, and processing them can tremendously improve a client’s self-awareness.
Free Association
Free association is one of the best types of therapy for transgender adults. Free association is a simple but powerful therapeutic exercise where clients lead the session with whatever material they desire. This open-ended processing sheds light on patterns of thinking and feeling, and it can reveal unconscious sources of distress.
Dream Analysis
Some clients find it helpful to share and learn more about their dreams in therapy. In doing this, therapists guide and collaborate their clients into sorting various content and themes exhibited in their dreams. This is one of the easiest but best types of therapy for transgender adults. That’s because the work isn’t about the therapist making interpretations for the client; instead, it’s more about the client finding their own meaning from their dreams. By making these meaning
Final Thoughts
The best types of therapy for transgender adults may vary from person to person, but it’s vital that you feel empowered by your process.
At Lumos Counseling PC, we pride ourselves on adhering to transgender therapy best practices with all of our clients. We believe in providing a respectful, warm space for anyone who wants to be heard and who wishes to improve their quality of life. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.