What Clinicians Get Wrong About Trans Clients (And How We Train Ours to Do Better)
Most clinicians don’t set out to harm trans clients. But good intentions aren’t enough — especially in a field that has historically misdiagnosed, erased, and pathologized us.
At The Source, we’ve seen firsthand how even well-meaning providers can retraumatize trans people — and how the right training can make all the difference.
What Clinicians Often Get Wrong
❌ Assuming gender is “not relevant” to the presenting issue
❌ Treating gender identity as a diagnosis instead of part of a person’s context
❌ Forcing a narrative of linear recovery when trans people are navigating complex, layered trauma
❌ Failing to connect eating disorders, substance use, and trauma to structural harm
❌ Expecting trans clients to explain themselves, justify their gender, or educate the clinician
These aren’t just awkward moments — they’re clinical failures with real consequences.
The Harm These Mistakes Cause
Trans clients disengage from care or avoid it entirely
Symptoms are minimized or misinterpreted
Crisis moments are mishandled
Healing is delayed because trust was never built
This is why inclusion after the fact doesn’t work. Clinicians need to be prepared before the first session — not after a rupture occurs.
How We Train Differently at The Source
All of our clinicians and staff are trained in a trans-centered, trauma-informed care model that includes:
Intersectional frameworks for understanding how racism, fatphobia, ableism, and transphobia shape mental health
Clinical skills for working with gender-expansive clients, including in eating disorder and substance use contexts
Supervision and accountability from trans peers and community advisors
Ongoing education and unlearning, not a one-and-done training
We also prioritize lived experience leadership in every aspect of our care model — because no amount of textbook training can replace what it means to be truly seen.
You shouldn’t have to shrink, translate, or over-explain yourself to get care.
We train our team so you don’t have to.
