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My regular readers know that I write "wow" a lot. The world often surprises and boggles me, and I like to note the fact. But it does leave me at a bit short when I want to really, really say "wow". Wow. WOW, even. Seattle Counseling Service impressed me a lot.
The woman who did my interview has a classic casual style, but completely professional manner. Parts of my experience with systemic illness were unfamiliar to her, but she had a frame of reference that anchored her well enough to provide incisive questions that helped me make important distinctions. She's the first person I actually said a lot of these things out loud to, rather than writing them out as previously. They sounded strange to me, some of them, but...right. Knowing myself, I imagine I'll have bouts of self-doubt for a long time to come, but I feel a lot more firmly set in the rightness of my wishes after having laid them out for someone else.
As for the help they can offer me..."all of it" seems a pretty fair description. I have here on my desk a referral to a physicians' practice that takes Medicaid and works with SCS on a regular basis, so they're prepared to deal with the medical side if and when. I've got a push to go follow up on the dentist lead I already have. And SCS will do the paperwork so that I can get disabled people's bus passes again. Within their own practice, they're set to help with the grief, depression, and anger I've got built up, as well as with sorting through my gender identity better, working out a plan of action, and then putting it into practice. Medicaid in my flavor entitles me to 33 hours a year of counseling, so I'll have biweekly appointments, with a scheduling call this week or next to set them up.
One last thing: she volunteered the suggestion, when we got to that question, that the obviously right answer to "Gender?" for all their internal paperwork is "Female." Whatever I can or can't do and choose to do or not about it, as far as they're concerned, I start off as female, and only the expression of it changes. I could get used to this.
The woman who did my interview has a classic casual style, but completely professional manner. Parts of my experience with systemic illness were unfamiliar to her, but she had a frame of reference that anchored her well enough to provide incisive questions that helped me make important distinctions. She's the first person I actually said a lot of these things out loud to, rather than writing them out as previously. They sounded strange to me, some of them, but...right. Knowing myself, I imagine I'll have bouts of self-doubt for a long time to come, but I feel a lot more firmly set in the rightness of my wishes after having laid them out for someone else.
As for the help they can offer me..."all of it" seems a pretty fair description. I have here on my desk a referral to a physicians' practice that takes Medicaid and works with SCS on a regular basis, so they're prepared to deal with the medical side if and when. I've got a push to go follow up on the dentist lead I already have. And SCS will do the paperwork so that I can get disabled people's bus passes again. Within their own practice, they're set to help with the grief, depression, and anger I've got built up, as well as with sorting through my gender identity better, working out a plan of action, and then putting it into practice. Medicaid in my flavor entitles me to 33 hours a year of counseling, so I'll have biweekly appointments, with a scheduling call this week or next to set them up.
One last thing: she volunteered the suggestion, when we got to that question, that the obviously right answer to "Gender?" for all their internal paperwork is "Female." Whatever I can or can't do and choose to do or not about it, as far as they're concerned, I start off as female, and only the expression of it changes. I could get used to this.