Transgender Therapy for Gender Affirmation
Virtual and In-Person Transgender Therapy for San Diego Residents at Our Oceanside and Mission Valley Offices.
What Is Transgender Therapy?
Transgender therapy is the therapeutic stance that focuses on affirming a patient’s gender identity. It does not try to “repair” it. Instead, we focus on your social, mental, and emotional needs for those who are:
- Questioning their gender
- Experiencing gender dysphoria
- Are seeking gender-affirming interventions
In short, we give gender-affirming mental health support to lower gender dysphoria and increase self-esteem and acceptance.
Growing up as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community with a transgender brother, our founder, Jennine Estes Powell, LMFT, strives to bring affirmative care for transgender individuals in San Diego, California. At Estes Therapy, our affirming care aims to improve the mental well-being and quality of life of people who want to explore gender concerns and ease gender dysphoria.
Gender Affirming Therapy Tailored to You
Transgender therapy is gender-affirming therapy tailored to address your needs. Through therapy, you can explore your gender identity, manage dysphoria, navigate transitions, and maintain your mental health.
Explore Your Gender Identity
Explore your gender at your own pace. Gender-affirming therapy helps you be comfortable expressing gender identity and explore healthy sexuality.
Manage Gender Dysphoria
Gender dysphoria can be described as a sense of unease regarding the mismatch between assigned sex and identity. It can occur at any point in life. Through gender-affirming therapy, transgender individuals can learn techniques to manage dysphoria and improve well-being.
Navigate Life Transitions with Support
With gender-affirming therapy, you have a network of support for the emotional and mental health challenges during social, medical, or surgical transitioning. Therapy provides a safe space to prepare for the social changes of coming out as well as plan your transition.
Addressing Mental Health and Well-Being
Trans people face the highest rate of mental health challenges than other LGBTQIA+ groups. Alongside lack of societal support and gender dysphoria, they face gender minority stress. This stress comes from discrimination and stigma, leading to trauma, depression, and anxiety.
Gender-affirming therapy is designed with the trans experience in mind to optimally support the individual to better mental well-being and quality of life.
How Our Therapists Support Transgender Clients
At Estes Therapy, we approach Transgender Therapy with inclusive and affirming care. Our licensed team of therapists includes members of the LGBTQIA+ community. With a perspective of the lived queer experience, we tailor therapy plans based on the individual needs of our transgender clients.
Mental Health Care for the Transgender Child
For the transgender child, we find healthy ways to help them express their identity. We start with what they are comfortable with and support their journey of gender expression. We also offer support in navigating experiences that may or may not be related to their transgender identity:
- Family dynamics
- School pressures
- Bullying
- Trauma
Creating a Safe and Inclusive Space
Your assigned, licensed therapist in Estes Therapy provides a confidential and inclusive space for you to explore your gender identity. In each session with your therapist, you are free to:
- Reflect on your gender and address challenging feelings.
- Plan your transition with zero judgment if you are going too slow or fast.
- Find evidence-based methods to manage dysphoria that work for you.
- Foster emotional resilience and heal from experiences that bring anxiety, shame, and anger.
Personalized Therapy for Your Unique Journey
They say self-discovery isn’t a destination but a journey. At Estes Therapy, we personalize LGBTQIA+ Individual Therapy to your unique journey. After the first session or two of understanding your concerns, we put our heads together to establish gender health goals of what you want to change.
Perhaps you already have transition goals in mind, or you may still be exploring and getting comfortable with gender expression changes. Whichever the case, we do your journey at your pace
Navigate Relationships After Coming Out / Transitioning
Through the lens of the queer experience, we provide support to our transgender clients when they choose to come out to their friends and family. We help you with the following:
- Plan how to come out to the people that mattered.
- Navigate personal and work relationships after coming out.
- Learn healthy coping strategies for rejection and social stigma encounters.
- Find support groups, transgender healthcare providers, and other helpful community services.
We also offer LGBTQIA+ Couples Counseling for mixed-oriented couples.
The Estes Therapy Support for Social, Medical, and Surgical Transitions
At Estes Therapy, we provide mental health support to social, medical, and surgical transitions.
Social and Legal Transition
As an LGBTQIA+-friendly clinic, we provide resources on safely changing gender expression under social transition:
- Changing names and pronouns
- Dressing
- Hairstyle and makeup
- Voice Training
- Mannerisms
- Hair removal or hair transplants
- Genital tucking
- Chest binding
- Breast padding
- Genital packing
Medical Transition
While we cannot prescribe hormone therapy medication, we provide a diagnosis to help you meet the criteria for gender-affirming hormone therapy. We also prepare you for “second puberty” symptoms you may experience while undergoing medical transition and provide support along the way. Medical transition may involve the following:
- Puberty Blockers
- Feminizing Hormone Therapy
- Masculinizing Hormone Therapy
Surgical Transition
If our clients feel ready to transition surgically, we provide a letter of support to your surgeon to clear you to be eligible for surgery. The letter contains our evaluation of your readiness for surgery as a licensed therapist. We also provide a letter of support for your insurance company to confirm that your gender-affirming surgery is medically necessary for your transition-related care. These surgical procedures can be:
- Facial Reconstructive Surgery
- Vocal Surgery
- Genital or “Bottom” Surgery
- Chest or “Top” Surgery
Why Choose Estes Therapy for Transgender Therapy
At Estes Therapy Oceanside and Mission Valley, we use evidence-based therapy techniques to process your emotions, foster personal growth, and embrace who you are.
For a person to live with optimal mental well-being, they need to live authentically. To live authentically, they need to be safe to do so.
As a clinic owned by a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, we strive to be a safe space for queer people to start claiming their identity and living as they are. Our licensed therapists are here to support you in every step of your transition journey.
Frequently Asked Questions About Transgender Therapy
What is Gender Dysphoria and How Does It Feel Like?
Gender dysphoria is a sense of unease that an individual may have at being out of alignment between their gender identity and their assigned sex at birth.
Gender dysphoria can manifest in many ways:
- Intense or overwhelming need to obtain or get rid of particular physical characteristics that culturally translate as “masculine” or “feminine.”
- General or extreme sense of body discomfort
- General sense of missing something from one’s bodily experience.
- Social anxiety of being perceived and assumed of one’s gender
- Disinterest or avoidance with presenting (dress, mannerisms, societal expectations) with one’s assigned gender.
How Do I Cope with Gender Dysphoria?
While it’s vital for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria to find a healthcare professional who has expertise in the care of gender-diverse people, here are everyday things you can do to help cope with dysphoria:
- Express your feelings through creative means.
- Talk to someone who understands, like a supportive friend or an online trans community.
- Use items for gender expression that make you feel more confident about yourself, like binders or packers.
- Do things that affirm your identity, like styling your hair or telling your friends your pronouns
- Research and plan small and long-term steps to transition socially, medically, or legally.
- Affirm to yourself that your body does not define your gender.
- Find daily ways to decrease your dysphoria, like covering bathroom mirrors or mastering makeup contouring.
- Pay attention to a few positive things you love about your body in general.
- Forget beauty standards and gender stereotypes, and take time to figure out gender expressions that feel right for you.
- Choose a sport or game you enjoy to get a healthy amount of exercise to improve your mood.
- Remember to eat the rainbow to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet and help your mind and body feel their best.
- Practice breathing or mindfulness techniques to center yourself when you feel stressed.
How Do I Support My Transgender Child and Care for their Mental Health?
It is vital to support your child and listen to their needs. If your child experiences gender dysphoria, you can help them find comfortable and healthy ways to express their identity. Contacting a healthcare provider who provides gender-diverse care can help your child explore their feelings, lower dysphoria, and transition safely and comfortably.
Book Your Free Matching Appointment Today in Oceanside and Mission Valley
Estes Therapy provides comprehensive Transgender Therapy, from exploring your gender identity to achieving your transition goals.
We provide a free matching appointment. This appointment helps you save time and effort interviewing for the right therapist. In the matching appointment, our care coordinator asks a series of thoughtful questions to match you with the therapist you need.
Ready to have someone have your back in your transition journey? Book an appointment with us today or call us for a free matching appointment.