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Ten years ago, at the tender age of 21, Brian needed professional help. He’d been severely bullied as a child, and the messages his father modeled about masculinity didn’t help Brian understand himself or accept his homosexuality. As a tormented young adult, Brian turned to drugs and pornography in futile efforts to escape his depression. A good therapist would have recognized that Brian had a lot to unpack, and made it a priority to help him get off of the drugs that were clearly wreaking havoc on his health and mental clarity. Unfortunately, Brian didn’t have a good therapist; he had… a “gender therapist.”
Brian’s therapist didn’t challenge his drug use, unpack his internalized homophobia, or address his childhood trauma. Instead, she led him deeper into the delusion that he was really a woman trapped in a man’s body, an idea he had gotten from pornography during a very dark time in life. She made dangerous and destructive false promises that taking cross-sex hormones would magically resolve his drug addiction and suicidal ideation. She told him that his body’s own natal hormones were “poison.” Brian even felt that his therapist instilled a sense of urgency, indicating that if he didn’t transition as quickly as possible, he would feel worse, and that taking these life-altering medical steps was the only way to remedy his despair.
Social and medical transition were never right for Brian. He was simply a gay man with depression, trauma, and addiction issues, who was overwhelmed by his problems, and didn’t know what narrative to ascribe to them other than what people on the internet led him to believe during a particularly dark time. He knows this now, and has a good therapist, thank heavens. But a year after making the decision to detransition, his body is still in the process of ridding itself of pregnancy-high levels of female hormones.
At times we go into graphic detail, so this episode may not be suitable for all listeners. This is heavy stuff to listen to, but I hope that Brian’s courage in opening up so candidly is helpful to anyone who can relate to his experience, or who cares about the issues impacting people like Brian.
Brian is a native Californian who had the misfortune of getting wrapped up in drug abuse and gender ideology in his early 20s. Upon getting off drugs, Brian realized he was not trans, and learned to accept himself as a gay male. Brian has decided to speak out about his experience, in the hope of saving somebody from making the same mistakes. You can follow him on Twitter @BriWag91.
Today’s episode addresses the painful topic of gender malpractice. Brian is one of numerous people I have interviewed on this show who has been horrendously mistreated by the mental and medical health professionals that were responsible for his care. If you’re familiar with my work then you know I am passionate about this issue. What you may not know is that I am actively working on developing other resources for detransitioners like Brian. On my blog you will find letter exchanges with detransitioners and an invitation to participate in these types of exchanges with me, toward the creation of a self-help book I am writing for survivors of gender malpractice. You will also find information about how to file a complaint about a “gender-affirming therapist” if you have been harmed. Please check out these projects and more resources for survivors of gender malpractice on my blog at sometherapist.com/read.
Links:
Blog: www.sometherap...
Detrans Survival Guide: www.sometherap...
How to File a Complaint About the Fraudulent ‘Gender-Affirming’ Therapy That Harmed You: www.sometherap...
Twitter for Brian: @BriWag91
The Transition Channel: / thetransitionchannel
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MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com