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From the Cover
Those in the mental health field who have discovered gender
confusion in their clients often have no background or experience
in addressing it. It is like Alice's venture into Wonderland,
with its own language, rules, ethics, reasoning, and poetry.
This book is the first guide written for counselors of every
description, plus interested laypersons, which gives a practical
map in readable language, for making one's way in this foreign
terrain.
Neila Miller has been working and playing with crossgendered
persons for half of her twenty-eight years as a humanistic counselor/educator. |
Table of Contents
Part I - Engaging with the Gender-exploring Client
- Beginnings - phone styles / the first session: completing
the contract / gathering in formation / involving the partner
/ the couples contract / commitment / setting goals / clarifying
who is responsible / overdependence / overindependence / saying
goodbye
- Understanding the Client's Agenda - initial motivation /
the presenting problem / is transition the answer / summary
- Stages of Development - the crossdresser / signs of integration
/ summary of typical stages for crossdressers / the transsexual
- Contributing Factors
- Problem Areas - unhealthy and destructive patterns / learning
to cope / facing loss and grief
Part II - The Counselor's Process: Know Thyself, Know
Thy Client
- The Counselor Prepares - the centered counselor / bodymind
awareness / no one right way / dealing with feelings / achieving
balance / avoiding the rescue trap / the ebb and flow on contact
/ self-reflection for the counselor
- Client Patterns
- The Counselor's Toolkit: Sensory and Experiential Processes
- visual information (imagery, visual metaphor, dreams, fantasy)
/ auditory information / body signals / tactile information /
role playing
- Group Work
Part III - Relationships
- Family Background
- The Communication Process
- Addressing Gender Issues
- Coming Out of the Closet - telling the partner / telling
the children / telling parents / telling other family / telling
friends / telling an employer / my bias to tell
- Sexual Mythology
- Rights and Responsibilities of Each Partner
- Risk Taking
- Guidelines for Couples - ten steps to working it out / example
of a positive interaction / guidelines for spouses or crossdressers
/ a final word
Part IV - Personal Histories
- A crossdressing husband and wife / Jamie: transsexual / Stephanie:
transsexual
Part V - Future Trends |
