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off drugs, and ‘there’s so much more going on besides them being
trans’. But we tend to focus on that and place people in a box – ‘all
trans people are angry, all gay men are entitled and bitchy, or
whatever. We like to lump people into all these identities and that
does a disservice’.
So he tries to come in as being a person in recovery, as being
trans, and as being a clinician. ‘I don’t speak for the community –
I try not to – but I want people to have a good first impression.
And when I talk to families, especially of young people, the fear
of their kid being trans or whatever can lessen a little bit when
they see one that has had success, has been to college, who’s
married and who’s in recovery.’
And taking away the fear – of the unknown, of messing up,
of getting even the acronyms wrong (‘Is it LGBTQ? Do I put the
“i” in? Do I put the plus? I’ve changed my own website five
times!’) – is a great big part of the message.
‘We need to make this a place that is safe and open so people
can express themselves in a genuine way,’ he says. ‘When we talk
about recovery, we talk about honesty. And if we can’t get honest in
this setting, then we are of course at risk of relapse.’
A
t his forthcoming workshop with Adela Campbell, a psycho-
drama therapist, he’s relishing the thought of involving his
London audience in exploring language, relationships and
plenty of experiential work. He talks of ‘diving deeper’ into
each subset community – gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and
intersex – and exploring the issues that arise.
‘I really like to challenge people’s comfort levels – make them a little
uncomfortable, but also walk with them through that discomfort so
they know they’re not alone,’ he says. ‘When they leave they’ll be
more comfortable in working with this community and have
some resources.’
If it’s anything like the experience of chatting to Gee-Cohen,
it promises to be an enlightening day and a real opportunity to
embrace a more open-hearted approach to treatment. DDN
‘Healing trauma in the LGBTQ+ community’, presented by Beck
Gee-Cohen and Ad