Consultations for Transgender Clients & Family

Consultations.  If you are considering transition and have never met a transgender person before, then I am happy to sit down and visit with you and share my journey with you.  I help clients regularly on how I was able to answer the big question “Should I transition?”  It is a hard one to answer, but there is a way to get there if you are ready to really face up to your truths and sit with your feelings.  The joy is that each time you are able to take a step, peace begins to set in.  The challenge is that our feelings can be confusing and we aren’t sure what to do about them.  This is so true when we are letting go of pieces of our old persona and developing a new one.  The old one doesn’t always want to let go, and this causes pain.  Somehow, we have to work through this identity related pain.  Not many people understand this type of pain and the related depression.  I am able to share what I went through at a deeply personal level, including my sexual feelings and gender feelings, so you can help sort out the confusion.  I offer this service as members of the medical community still continue to misunderstand us and pathologize us as a whole.  It is definitely time for transgender people to stand tall, become active and overcome the shame we have been taught to feel. 

Though I do offer consultations, please understand quite clearly that I am NOT a licensed counselor and do not offer professional counseling.  Surgeons and medical doctors would not accept letters from me supporting your transition.   You will have to go to a licensed counselor for that.  (See the Resources link for counselors I know and recommend.) 

I am of course happy to talk to you about matters that you are not comfortable talking to your counselor about, such as gate-keeping and unwanted or confusing sexual feelings or issues with your counselor and so on.  Or if you are not ready to meet with a  counselor, I am happy to meet with you first.  Many individuals need help with how to approach therapy before they go into it and I’m happy to answer any questions about that.

Family or Friend Consultations.  Sometimes it helps a family member meet someone that has gone through transition.  Our families are usually concerned for our well being and meeting someone who has found happiness beyond transition can be reassuring.  So, if you are a family member or concerned friend, I am happy to provide this service

Employment support.  If your company needs help with discussing equal opportunity issues for transgender individuals, I am glad to go to your company for a visit.  Generally, the company should pay for this service and not the employee.  See the Corporate Training page for transgender diversity training.

Medical support.  If you are having surgery or need some support in going to the doctor’s office for any reason, I will be glad to go along with you and help however I can. I am able to travel with you if needed as well.*

Phone Consultations.  I realize not everyone lives in the metropolitan area and so office visits may be too hard to come by.  So for those outside of the Dallas area or for those unable to travel, phone consultations are available. 

Bodywork.  In our journeys to self, we will at some point need to embrace the gift of touch of another.  In my own transition, I found bodywork to be so important, that I decided to get a degree in massage therapy and open my own private practice.  I now work with a regular transgender clientele that are finding the same thing, that the gift of touch is very healing to us.  It can be awkward too as we learn to be touched as we learn to embrace our changing bodies.   We have to learn to stop resisting what we resist and recognize that what we resist is often exactly what we need.

I had to learn to accept that my body was just different and then learn to take joy in my body, that the most important thing was to move freely and without pain.  It has been a joy to learn to feel more deeply. It has been a joy to celebrate my body being gender-queer.

Come and have a massage and be comfortable knowing that your body shape or body size is exactly what it should be.  Come and relax.  Come and let go of unneeded pain.  Let go of that resistance and take a growth step.  You will be amazed at the difference massage makes.  Please visit my private practice website to learn more.

*Notes: 

- I generally require an in-office visit prior to any travel or out of office meetings.  A letter or phone call from your counselor may be required in some cases. 

 

- I am not a counselor and do not offer counseling services.  Please see the Resource link for recommendations.

Gender Power!

Bringing strength to our gender journeys...

Renee Baker, Ph.D., LMT

3530 Forest Lane, Suite 306

Dallas, TX 75234

214-607-5620

renee@genderpower.com

Texas DSHS License MT104375

I believe that we are empowered when we truly reach ourselves.  And when we are empowered, then we can share our love with the world to our fullest.  For transgendered individuals like myself and perhaps you, our power lies in expressing our gender in its freest form.  It is really true for all of us.

This is why I believe it is necessary for so many of us to transition, so we can fully love.  

It is a challenging journey and in that we are forced to grow rather rapidly.  Usually we run out of energy and can’t do it alone.  I had many others help me and that is why I spend so much of my energy helping transgender friends as best I can. 

To me, in the end, I find my joy in my service work, in helping.  So if you are in need of help outside of the counseling environment, please do contact me and bless you on your journey.