We know how hard you’ve had to work to get this far. Financial logistics. Insurance hoops. Doctor appointments. And countless conversations explaining why you need the care you need and why you are who you say you are.
The thing is, you deserve easy access to gender affirming care.
We practice from an informed consent model–trusting in your ability to make informed healthcare decisions. We believe you shouldn’t have to see a therapist at all in order to access the medical care you need.
We are uncomfortable (to put it lightly) with the way our “voice’ as therapists counts more than the voices of intersex, transgender, and gender non-conforming individuals seeking treatment when it comes to deciding what therapies are needed.
We also recognize that in order to get many of the therapies you need, your doctor or insurance company may require a letter of support from a licensed mental health therapist or other licensed clinician. As such, we offer gender affirming care consultations for adults seeking letters for surgery or other care.
We try to make the process as simple as possible and approach our role with humility. You complete paperwork in advance of your appointment via our patient portal. We meet and are usually able to wrap up the consult in one session. We try to get the letter back to you as soon as possible for you to review and approve before sending it along to your doctor. We can do telehealth or in person consults.
If your insurance doesn’t cover the cost of this consult, then we don’t want you to pay for it. We refuse to profit off of a system that marginalizes you. We reserve slots each month for free, gender affirming care consults. (We’re proud to be part of The GALAP, a group of mental health professionals that believes in improving access to gender affirming care and resists clinician gatekeeping around gender identity.)
If you need therapist support for chest surgery, gender affirming genital surgery or any other medical care, please reach out to us today using the form below or email us at hello@wholevalleytherapy.com
Note: Many doctors are now willing to provide hormone therapy with a patient’s informed consent and without a letter from a mental health therapist.