Understanding the transgender person is essential to addressing the needs of the client. The following sources and links provide a needed insight into the issues confronting the transsexual and how you and your practice might assist them.

In a greater sense transgender people are basically the same as the rest of your clientele. Depending on the stage of their journey, physical differences may or may not be apparent or relevant to your services. The provider must be able to adjust treatment choices based on their understanding of the physical changes experienced by the transgender client, particularly those who are transsexual. In all cases the transgender client simply needs to be treated with dignity, understanding and professionalism by the provider and staff personnel. All they desire is to be treated with the same respect and professionalism afforded to all of your clients.

We have several options here to help address your information needs.

As a central part of our outreach and education program, we are dedicated to providing up to date and accurate information on transgendered people and our community.

We have knowledgeable speakers available to visit your practice, professional associations or interested community groups. We are able and willing to meet with you anywhere and within any time frame you wish to commit to this education. We have found that our informational sessions answer questions, dispel misconceptions and provide a sound basis from which to structure your interaction and treatment of transgender clients. We provide this service free of cost.

To find information on this website and others the following is provided for your convenience.

If you know little or nothing about transgendered people, click on the tab “Transgender 101.” This section provides the reader with a brief overview of the spectrum of transgender people who may contact your practice for services.

To understand the relevant terminology we also have a glossary of terms used in this website and other transgender information sources.

For academic and professional information, “The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH, formerly known as the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Inc. (HBIGDA),” is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity disorders (WPATH, 2007). This association has a rich collection of empirical research that is specifically related to virtually all types of transgender persons. The articles provide a broad cross-section of thought and research describing specific elements of transgenderism and impacts on their health and social-psychological interaction. Numerous manuscripts extracted from their official journal (International Journal of Transgenderism (IJT), are available on line. For those who have a greater need or desire for more information, membership in WPATH will provide greater access to current knowledge, affiliation with professional peers and entails only a nominal membership fee. WPATH can be accessed using this link: http://www.wpath.org/

The following links provide further information on transgender people and their needs. While a few of these sites provide objective information based on empirical findings, many are anecdotal and illustrative of personal experience or that of a small sampling of others.

Center for Gender Sanity http://www.gendersanity.com/index.shtml

Transition Roadmap http://members.tgforum.com/tpt/my_transition_roadmap.htm

Transgender Law & Policy http://www.transgenderlaw.org/

International Foundation for Gender Education http://www.ifge.org/