How often have I heard (and believed) the mantra, “There is no such thing as objective reality. We each create our own subjective reality in every situation we encounter.” I have always taken some comfort in this thought, as it absolves me from judging others for their belief systems. Having been raised in a judgmental [...]
Pre-Order: Transition and Beyond: Second Edition
Pre-Order: Transition and Beyond: Observations on Gender Identity, Second Edition by Reid Vanderburgh, MA, LMFT
Available July 2010.
Archive for April, 2010
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
I was 39 years old, living as a lesbian, when I first realized I’d probably be happier living as a guy. I did not take kindly to this realization, for several reasons. First, I had quite a life built up in the Portland (Oregon) lesbian community. I was a founding member of nine years’ standing [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
By this time, most people in the mental health field are familiar with the distinction drawn between gender identity and sexual orientation. When I do presentations, I usually begin by giving the following explanation, as a “jumping off” point for further discussion: Gender identity is about a person’s internal sense of being male or female [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
“She’s a witch” was usually the equivalent of a death sentence, back in Salem, Massachusetts of the 1600’s, whether the accusation was true or not. In the McCarthy era of the 1950’s, “communist” could easily ruin a person’s life, whether true or not. “Dyke” or “faggot” were deadly insults in the 1960’s, and the mere [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
My degree is an M.A. in Counseling Psychology, with a specialization in Transpersonal Psychology. I call myself a holistic psychotherapist. Many people have asked me what transpersonal psychology is, and what “holistic psychotherapy” means.
Transpersonal psychology is the fourth major wave of psychology. First came psychoanalysis, developed by Freud. In a nutshell, psycho-analysts (and psychodynamic therapists [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
During the first stages of my transition, I saw three therapists. The first was clearly out of her depth, the second was mediocre but thought she was doing a good job, and the third understood pre-transition issues much better than the other two. None was trans. However, I don’t believe a therapist has to be [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
For partners only? Well, no, not really. However, partners’ issues are given such short shrift, it seems appropriate to give them center stage and exclusive attention for a time. The focus of this article is on the experience of the non-trans partners of people who consider and/or undergo transition from one sex to another.
If this [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
In early 2002, the question arose on an academic e-mail list I subscribe to, “How can I respond when a colleague questions my decision to have surgery, her argument being that trans surgeries are no different than liposuction, breast augmentation or any other form of body image-based cosmetic surgery? Her point is that women don’t [...]
by Reid Vanderburgh MA, LMFT
When I was 39, my then-partner came out to me as trans, saying, “I’ve always felt like a man inside, and if I had the money, I’d have an operation tomorrow.” I had not yet realized consciously that I had gender issues of my own, and this remark began a process of my coming to [...]
