However, some people have questions and concerns about their "male" and "female" characteristics. These people may be referred to as transgender. Many people admit to feeling confused about transgenderism, including people who themselves identify as transgender. Briefly stated transgender means that the person does not feel that they fit into the confines of the male or female body that they have been placed in. Sometimes this means that they identify as transsexual and which to have their sex "reassigned" to the "other" sex and sometimes they identify as cross-dressers, people who do not wish to change their bodies, but enjoy dressing in the clothes assigned to the "other" sex. Often they identify simply as "transgender" -- an umbrella term that signifies a crossover or transgression of accepted gender norms.

Although the mental health field has pathologized transgender people, there is little evidence to prove that transgender people have more significant mental health problems than the rest of the population. However, the distress of living with being "differently gendered" within a culture with limited and proscribed acceptable gender roles can be traumatic

I provide psychotherapy, support and resources to partners and families of crossdressers and transgender individuals.

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