I have been undergoing therapy with a licensed counselor since mid-January. This psychotherapist was chosen for me by my parents, via the church. But being a professional, my therapist is legally bound from reparative attempts (e.g. telling me I'm not trans or how to seek treatment). That said, she (the therapist) is a family/marriage counselor and obviously isn't experienced with trans issues. The help I get is more commonsense, general help in regard to coping with depression or panic attacks caused by my dysphoria. Talks about mindset and whatnot. Not a lot of help with the actual gender issues. Anyway, my parents have been paying for these sessions out of pocket and so I know that's a financial burden. And they did this because they wanted me to get help with my gender issues, by coping with my "decision" to NOT transition (long story). The point is, I don't want to go to (this) therapy anymore. If I cut it off, which would technically be easy, my parents will ask me why and I'll have to answer that (???) without tipping them off to the fact that I still intend to transition, which was the whole reason for putting me in therapy in the first place - to "undo" my gender identity. I'm not sure how to approach this. Advice?
I don't know if this is good advice, but maybe I would talk to your parents about the expense, explaining that you know it must be a burden and that you'd like to try and find a cheaper therapist.
Saying that you want to find a cheaper therapist is a good idea but it also assumes you'll be able to find a therapist with experience in gender issues that is cheaper. If you can, the best thing to do might be to do the initial search for a therapist on your own—and then go to your parents. You can tell them that things aren't working out with your current therapist without getting into details. How much you connect with a therapist is an important factor. Another option would be to ask your therapist for a referral, although being chosen via the church and not having experience with trans clients, she may not know of anyone.
