Becoming Ellis: The Story of a TransMale as Relayed by His Therapist

Abstract

The chapter describes the author's experience as a counselor working with a transgender-identifying teenager named Ellis. The goals of the counseling relationship included exploring transgender identity, managing feelings of depression and anxiety connected to gender dysphoria, and helping Ellis process and cope with life struggles that he experienced. The author provides an in-depth description of Ellis's experience in counseling, as well as a follow-up interview conducted five years after termination of the counseling relationship. This chapter depicts the experience of Ellis's transition and his perspectives about what his transgender identity means to him. The author provides insights on how to best work with transgender clients that emerged from her experience of working with Ellis.