Okay, so I got this referral from my doctor to a place in Toronto called CAMH. I've looked it up, and read some very negative things about the place, and the people who run it. Apparently there were also a bunch of protests against it a while back. Does anybody here, however unlikely, have any experience with CAMH, or know if things have improved recently? I'm kind of scared out of my wits, here. I'd appreciate a response, if only to give me some peace of mind.
If you're finding tons of negative info on it, maybe you could look into another place? Then again you could just try it anyway. What do you have to lose? Just get the hell out if they do something crazy. <_<
One of our board members used to work in mental health in Toronto. I'll email him for you and see if he knows anything about it and/or if he has any better suggestions. What's the reason for the referral? (If you don't want to say publicly, feel free to PM me)
It's a referral to the Gender Identity Clinic there. I would've liked to get into Sherbourne, but there's a 2-year wait list. :dry: I'm just hoping that this place has at least improved in the past year or so.
You might give a call to David Kelly Services in Toronto. It is a clinic that has a lot of focus on psychological treatment for people with HIV, but they also do a lot of gender identity work there. That's the program where Blair, our board member, worked, and it is an excellent one. It also has a waiting list, but last I heard, it wasn't nearly as long.
I just spoke with Blair. He indicated that CAMH has a long history of being really conservative and not very supportive of transitioning people. He recommended contacting David Kelly, which is part of Family Services Toronto. He was a counselor there and worked quite a bit with people transitioning, and said their team is very well equipped, and apparently are able to get people in fairly quickly (there's a wait list, but it's not 2 years.) He also said that he knows some people at CAMH and, depending on the specific services you're after, might be able to make some inquiries there to get you to the right people if David Kelly doesn't work out. You can PM me and I can put you in contact with Blair if you like.
No, no, that's alright. I'll just go and hope for the best. I'll seek out other alternatives if it doesn't work out. Thank you for the help, anyway.
