When is it time to see a feminine gender expression therapist?
First, gender questioning feelings may arise as young as three years old. Sometimes, people born male have a desire to cross dress in female clothes like dresses, wigs, and put on make up. Now, everyone may use a different term. One man, may find the term cross-dressing positive. On the other hand, another man or woman may find cross dress phrase offensive or derogatory. If you just found out your spouse cross dresses, you may feel scared, worried, rejected, and confused. In therapy for gender questioning feelings and gender exploration, all these feelings can slowly be discussed. At Wisdom Within Counseling, cisgender, transgender, and sexuality therapy is a counseling specialty. Learn more about working with a feminine gender expression therapist in Connecticut on this page.
When does gender expression happen?
For others, adulthood is when gender expression comes out. If you or a loved one has questions about sexual orientation or gender identity, counseling can help you can gain clarity. Therapy can help people who are interested in learning more about gender and sexuality find how they identify. Often, labels and rigid gender roles can be inaccurate for most people. There is more to gender than just biological sex.
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What does it mean to be transgender?
Children and adults of all ages come out as transgender every day. When children or adults question their gender, it means, they may not identify with the sex assigned at birth. There is no one to blame if a child realizes they are transgender. Transgender therapy in Connecticut can help families who feel uncomfortable with aspects of their loved one’s gender transition. Maybe, there are fears from religious backgrounds or generationally. When your loved one is transgender, they need a therapist who is educated and familiar with transgender people. At Wisdom Within Counseling, transgender therapy is a specialty. Now, many people experience gender dysphoria and body image issues, which go hand in hand with gender questioning feelings.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, the team of therapists helps people seeking gender-affirming interventions.
To add, some people who identify as transgender go on to have top surgery and gender affirming surgery. Other times, people who identify as transgender choose to wear gender affirming clothes and forgo surgery. Sometimes, gender expression and gender questioning feelings evolve over time.
Transgender affirming therapist specialty at Wisdom Within Counseling
For instance, as a teenager, a person may identify as just gender questioning or nonbinary. Then, over the next ten years, this same person gains more clarity and comes out as transgender. In the ten years following that, they move to a town that is gender affirming and takes steps to live an affirming life.
Does therapy help gender dysphoria?
Gender questioning and transgender people don’t exclusively identify with their designated sex at birth. In this case, family members and a spouse may have feelings around this. Counseling can help a spouse who is married to a transgender person explore acceptance and fears. Transgender therapy also helps parents understand how to be affirming to a pansexual, bisexual, or gay child. For families, transgender counseling can help with understanding gender diversity, including nonbinary identities. Many times, teenagers come out as nonbinary, which can be confusing for parents who grew up in another generation. In counseling, you can have a safe place to talk about medical and nonmedical gender-affirming interventions. Anxiety, worry, anger, loss, grief, shame, guilt, hope, clarity, confidence, and excitement are all part of the coming out process. Guided by a therapist, families can talk about transgender rights. Counseling can also help with navigating gender in all aspects of life.
How can support for gender questioning feelings help a marriage?
When a spouse comes out, it can feel overwhelming and scary for the cisgender spouse. It can be shocking to find out your spouse wants to dress up. Maybe, this is a side you have never seen before. Often, the transgender person has fears around rejection from their spouse. And, this can perpetuate shame and fear around honestly sharing feelings. Therapy for feminine gender expression can help your marriage grow in a positive direction, rather than creating conflict.
Click the pink button below to book a phone call to begin with a gender dysphoria specialist and feminine gender expression therapist.
Therapy is a safe place to talk about when to share with others about gender expression and gender identity.
Also, you can talk with your therapist about disclosure to which friends or family members you will tell first. There may be fears, worries, and sadness family members may experience who may want to be invited in for family therapy. The timing and extent of transition as well as the impact of the coming out process are important to discuss. Your therapist will also help you make a plan for moving forward in relationships with current partners, a spouse, and children. For adult transgender persons, coming out at work may not be safe or possible. LGBTQ counseling offers support. Therapy is a safe place to bring concerns about passing as the gender with which you identify. Your therapist can help you pick your first public place to go to embark in the world as your true self. Counseling can help transgender people prepare for and process reactions from employers, school, religious groups, and peers at work or school.
Also, it can be helpful to work with a feminine gender expression therapist to have a plan around family relationships, in-laws, and coming out to others.
As a feminine gender expression therapist, a couple can benefit from having a safe place to talk about gender and sexuality. Also, your transgender affirming counseling can help you have a plan for safely talking outside of counseling too. A feminine gender expression therapist is knowledgeable and educated in gender roles, gender stereotypes, and cultural shame. In therapy, you and your spouse can build a meaningful, playful connection.
How does gender and sexuality therapy work?
Working with a feminine gender expression therapist can allow a male to feel support. Often, males don’t get support emotionally in the American culture. Messages like, “Men don’t cry,” have done a disservice for boys and males. More men that you may realize find pleasure, enjoy, and like dressing up in female clothes. Many times, men desire to wear dresses, high heels, make up, mascara, and blouses. Often, gender expression in a feminine way is completely desperate from sexuality. So, a male who cross dresses may identify with straight, bisexual, pansexual, or gay. Not all males who cross dress are gay. And, this is an awful stereotype that only leads to more cultural shame. To note, men of any sexual orientation may find enjoyment in dressing up in female clothes. But, this can be challenging for spouses and children. It can also feel like something a man must hide in secret because of the fear of rejection from friends and family.
Click the pink button below to book a phone call to begin with a gender dysphoria specialist and feminine gender expression therapist.
Gender and sexuality in the American culture
A long time ago, gender dysphoria was thought of as negative and bad. Gender therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling use a gender-affirming approach to support children, teenagers, adults, and couples. In transgender therapy, your therapist recognizes that gender diversity and sexual expression is an organic part of being human. Counseling is a place where you’ll be completely accepted. Gender questioning feelings and gender fluid expression is not an indication of mental illness. However, a person who has a diagnosis of gender dysphoria may also have a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or ADHD. Lastly, counseling that is LGBTQ affirming can help provide holistic coping tools for anxiety and depression.
Often, anxiety and depression can occur due to the culture bullying, shame, and prejudice for being different.
Sometimes, teenagers who come out and who don’t receive family acceptance, turn to teen drinking, self-harm behaviors, and cutting due to the shame. On a positive note, many religious organizations are now becoming more open to transgender people. Feminine gender expression therapists will help you and your loved ones find a healthy, nurturing path in life to reach your gender and sexualtiy goals.
Counseling transgender people and their families
A feminine gender expression therapist will tell you that there is no one right gender. For parents, having a transgender child can feel like a mix of excitement as well as grief and loss. As a parent of a transgender child, you may be dreaming of their wedding day and confused about your teenager’s choices. In that case, working with a transgender affirming LGBTQ therapist at Wisdom Within Counseling can help parents feel support and gain education. Plus, counseling for the young adult can provide the teenager with positive coping tools.
Also, there is no right way to be a man or a woman.
Therapy can help people all genders build a positive life. So, let go of any negative, rigid messages you have heard about pink being a girl color. In reality, a man wearing pink or having long hair are signs of confidence. Creative gender therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling will focus on supporting your personal experience. In addition, you can learn skills for overcoming childhood shame and build a healthy, loving relationship with your body.
Katie Ziskind offers an online course, Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy For Clients, for therapists to be more transgender educated. Learn more by clicking this link.
We offer in person and video counseling to Connecticut towns including Fairfield, Cos Cob, Darien, Colebrook, Woodbridge, Old Greenwich, Rye, Watertown, Greenwich, Southport, Cornwall, Easton, Darien, Byram, New Canann, Essex, Weston, Barkhamsted, Fenwick, Hamburg, East Haddam, Norwalk, East Lyme, Simsbury, Westport, Redding, Greenwich, Middletown, Bloomfield, Stamford, Washington, Madison, Monroe, Glastonbury, Ivoryton, Washington, Danbury, New Haven, Bethlehem, Morris, Middlebury, Sharon, Kent, West Hartford, Colchester, Columbia, Milford, New Milford, Griswold, Guilford, Tolland, Stonington, Goshen, Salisbury, Killingworth, Bloomfield, Rye, Plymouth, Enfield, Lyme, Madison, Clinton, Litchfield, Warren, Avon, Wilton, Bridgewater, Chester, Deep River, Hartford, Colchester, Old Lyme, Deep River, Mystic, Ridgefield, Shelton, and West Hartford. We also offer counseling to residents of Massachusetts and Florida.
