Summary

This paper describes long-term in-depth talking therapy with 'Josh', a trans man who sought help for severe anxiety after his life fell apart following transition. D'Angelo describes a long stalemate in which hiding, lying and confusion played out between patient and therapist. Looking closely at his own emotional reactions to Josh eventually opened up topics that had been off-limits. The work moved beyond gender to a history of being violated and deeper questions of connection, loneliness and being true to oneself. Marchiano (2021) cites the case as an example of transition used to escape painful feelings. Because it is one case, interpreted by one therapist, with no standard measurements, it raises questions for clinicians but cannot show how often transition leaves distress unresolved. The author is president of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM).

Key findings

• शोधपत्र गहन टॉक थेरेपी में एक मरीज़ की रिपोर्ट देता है: “जोश”, एक ट्रांस पुरुष जिसका जीवन ट्रांज़िशन के बाद बिखर गया था, और जो अत्यधिक चिंता के साथ थेरेपी में आया।
• थेरेपी लंबे समय तक अटकी रही, क्योंकि मरीज़ और थेरेपिस्ट के बीच छिपाना, झूठ बोलना और उलझन बार-बार चलती रही।
• जोश के प्रति थेरेपिस्ट की अपनी उलझन और चिंता ने आखिरकार उन विषयों को सामने लाने में मदद की जो वर्जित रहे थे।
• लिंग के इर्द-गिर्द बने गतिरोध से आगे बढ़ते हुए, काम उल्लंघन किए जाने के इतिहास, और जुड़ाव, अकेलेपन, खुद के प्रति सच्चे होने और क्षति के सवालों तक पहुँचा।
• यह मामला यह दिखाने के लिए पेश किया गया है कि ट्रांज़िशन गहरी परेशानी को अछूता छोड़ सकता है, और दीर्घकालिक खोजी थेरेपी उस तक पहुँच सकती है। यह इस बात का प्रमाण नहीं है कि ऐसा कितनी बार होता है।

Abstract

This paper explores the therapeutic process between analyst and Josh, a trans man whose life had fallen apart after transition. Repetitive enactments involving hiding, deceiving and mystification constituted a prolonged therapeutic impasse. The analyst's struggle with these binds and with countertransference confusion and anxiety, ultimately illuminated zones that had remained off-limits for a prolonged period of time. Where the couple had been snared in a bind structured by gender, they were now able to access a history of violation and to ask more profound questions about connection, aloneness, authenticity and loss.

Conclusion

Through a prolonged therapeutic process involving repeated enactments of hiding, deceiving and mystification, and the analyst's struggle with countertransference confusion and anxiety, analyst and patient moved beyond a bind structured by gender. This gave access to a history of violation and allowed them to ask more profound questions about connection, aloneness, authenticity and loss (summary of the published abstract).