Gender Dysphoria has been described in the medical literature as the experience of distress accompanying the marked incongruence between a person’s experienced/expressed gender and their assigned gender. I have had clients  share that along with distress they have experienced such states  as anxiety, depression, dissociation, self-consiousness, self-hate, hopelessness, and despair. It can be difficult dealing with this intense emotional affect on your own and can lead to the use of some unhealthy coping strategies.  I have found it useful to help clients  identify triggers to the dysphoria as well as the resulting thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.  Having a clear understanding of how these interact can help you identify opportunities for change. For example you can learn how to challenge negative thoughts (e.g., “I will never be read as male”)  and identify helpful coping strategies (e.g., reaching out to friends who understand, looking at photographs of your progress, going to the gym, etc.) If you can create a preemptive plan of how you will handle triggers, you will have a greater sense of power over the trigger and be able to resist  being pulled into despair or self-hate.

If you are struggling with gender dysphoria, I can help.  I have worked with many trans people to develop strategies for coping with dysphoria.

Check out this website for ideas of “20 small things to do when gender dysphoria gets you down”.  Some of the ideas my clients have found to be helpful include: cuddling a pet, looking at photos of how far you have come,  writing a blog, and connecting with friends who can relate.