Transgender or two-spirit people are individuals that do not identify with their biological sex. They feel that they were born the wrong sex and thus have a feeling of being trapped in their own bodies. While a person may feel that their biological sex is wrong they may not seek to transition to the gender they feel more comfortable with. The transition is what makes an individual transgender as well as what they themselves want to identify as. A male that lives his life as a woman or a female that lives her life as a male are often the image that we get when we think of a transgender but this is only a very small sector of things. Most people think that sex reassignment is the ultimate goal of a transgender individual, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Most do not want to have their sex reassigned; they often keep their male or female parts and opt to transition cosmetically only. A male will live his life completely as a female and get very offended of you refer to her as a him. The agency I work with has a transitioning male to female transgender that has remained married to his wife and she is very supportive of the transitioning. He has gotten his testicles removed but will go no further than that. She stated that she only needed to remove the testosterone for her facial hair would stop growing but did not want to lose her “other” parts. Another transgender individual that we work with “Charlie” is a female to male transgender that is attracted to the male gender and thus does not want her “girly” parts replaced with male parts. The transgender community is one that is grossly misunderstood, especially by a society that praises conformity and punishes those that do not conform. Transgender individuals face discrimination in the workplace, often harassed by their bosses when they show up in the clothing of their gender-identity and not their biological sex. They are often harassed about which bathroom they can use. We worked with a M to F female who was physically removed from the female restroom and told that she could get expelled from school if she didn’t use the right bathroom. The problem with this is that M to F are often physically assaulted when they try to use their biological restroom as well as their gender-identity restroom. This can cause a lot of anxiety and lead to panic attacks when something as simple as using a bathroom is involved when they are out. I had one young M to F tell me that she will not eat or drink anything when she goes out so she will not have to use the bathroom. Parents are often disappointed when they are told by their daughter or son that they feel more comfortable in the opposite genders lifestyle. They are often disowned and forced to become homeless at a very young age. Most turn to commercial sex work to support themselves because it is very difficult to gain employment when one doesn’t conform to society’s standards or “normal”. They are at greater risk for sexually transmitted infections especially syphilis and HIV. They are often bullied in school, discriminated against by parents, religious groups, caregivers and shunned by society. When they are homeless they have a hard time finding a shelter because women shelters won’t take them because they are biological male and men shelters won’t take them because they live their life as a female. This has been an ongoing issue with no resolution in sight. I personally feel that a shelter that is dedicated solely to transgender individuals may be a better answer. The research that I used with this assignment varies. I work in an agency that is very trans friendly and therefore I have a vast amount of anecdotal information. I used internet search as well as ebsco article database.
Transgender individuals face so much adversity in their lives that they often have a very hard time trusting others, especially medical and mental health professionals. In a study conducted by Virginia Wyatt Wharton (2007) 300 transgender individuals from Washington, DC and 39 different states across the US were recruited to participate in a research project. Participants experienced a range of different types of trauma across the lifespan, and one in four participants in this study met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Wharton, 2007). Most participants had talked to a mental health care professional about an experience of trauma or violence, and many chose not to disclose trauma history to a therapist for a variety of reasons including lack of trust and fear of not being granted a letter of recommendation for gender reassignment services (Wharton, 2007). PTSD seems like an adequate response to the trauma that they face on a regular basis.
When treating an individual that identifies as transgender can and will be a challenging process. They have usually encountered so much discrimination and hate that they do not trust professionals at all. Rapport building in an extremely non-judgmental manner should be a main focus until it has been established. I also feel that this is a difficult population to treat because even though you may have a non-judgmental approach society has their own views of this particular group and they may face this discrimination on a more regular basis than other groups. Difficulties in finding work, a residence and even a college education can be quite difficult and thus problem-solving skills and stress-reduction techniques will have to be taught and affirmed. I also feel that professionals should educate themselves on the diverse culture that transgender people usually belong too and must realize that they often face discrimination within these groups as well.
References
Wharton, V. W., (2007) Gender variance and mental health: a national survey of transgender trauma history, posttraumatic stress, and disclosure in therapy, Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass
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