practicum

A Meditative Approach to Gender Dysphoria

Notes on Gender Role Transition
Anne Vitale Ph.D. Editor
Editor's Note:

By Lawrence M. Tunis Ed.D. LMFT

The term "gender dysphoria" probably means something different to almost everyone who experiences at least some level of discomfort with the gender to which they were identified at birth. For some individuals on the less intense end of the gender disturbance spectrum, there may simply be an undercurrent, a discomfort, a vague longing or an infatuation with a different gender expression. Yet for others situated toward the other end of the gender scale, the phrase "gender dysphoria” may actually sound much too tame. It may be that this latter group experiences gender discord as extremely intense and disturbing feelings, perhaps bordering on an overwhelming and growing desire to change their sex or an extreme preoccupati...
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Gender Transition in the Workplace Advice for the Transitioning Employee

Notes on Gender Role Transition
By Anne Vitale Ph.D.
Gender Transition in the Workplace: Advice for the Transitioning Employee
Originally Published November 10, 1996
References Updated September 10, 1998

Everyone facing the prospect of sex reassignment, or transition, as I will be referring to it here, speaks of two overwhelming concerns: What will transition do to my family? And... Will I be able to earn a living again? In this essay, I will address the workplace aspects of transitioning. Although no transition is easy, transition in the workplace has a history of success when handled properly.

Basically, transitioning individuals have two choices. They can quit their old job and start over again -- stealth like -- in a new job, or they can announce their change of sex in their current workplace. I understa...
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Preparing for Gender Reassignment Surgery

Notes on Gender Role Transition
By Anne Vitale Ph.D.
Preparing for Gender Reassignment Surgery
January 29, 1998 Genital Reassignment Surgery (GRS) --as it is referred to in SOC 7-- has a way of being safely in the back of most people's minds when they start transition. That is as it should be. However, as one problem after another is resolved and people get into the seventh or eighth month of living the Real Life Experience, a time comes when what was once a faraway dream becomes "The Next Step."
Sex Reassignment Surgery in the male-to-female (MTF) transsexual means the removal of the testes and the reconstruction of the penis or a portion of the bowel into a vagina. For female-to-male (FTM) transsexuals, GRS may mean any or all of the following: breast reduction (reduction mammoplasty) or complete removal of both breasts (double mastectomy) with chest contouring (top surgery), removal of the ovaries (oophorectomy), removal ...
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