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[–]soundsituation 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

As soon as I mentioned feeling uncomfortable in my body, she started talking about Gender Dysphoria and suggesting I might be non-binary.

Imo this is bad therapy. And I don't say that out of personal bias against gender theism but because therapists, generally, are supposed to help patients generate their own insights. They're not supposed to give out advice unless a patient has already expressed an ambition.

My therapist also keeps pushing me to find LGBT support groups and I just can't do it

This is also weird. It's not odd or bad for a therapist to encourage a patient to expand their support system, but pushiness is just antithetical to progress, and insisting upon LGBT groups in particular is ideological/identitarian. (Btw, Jonathan Haidt argues that woke culture acts like reverse CBT in that it prioritizes group identity over the individual and seeks to aggravate navel-gazing grievances rather than teach emotional regulation and personal responsibility)

What has worked for you

This is overly simplistic but what has worked for me is seeking out therapists over the age of 50

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    [–]soundsituation 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    So glad to hear it! In my experience it's not an easy decision to leave a therapist, as the qualities we evaluate them by are not necessarily as intuitive as they are for friends, partners and anyone else we choose to keep in our lives. But based on what you've shared here it really does sound like your current therapeutic relationship isn't helping you. Have you tried Psychology Today's "find a therapist" tool? It lets you filter by mental health issue, therapeutic modality, age, sex, familiarity with gay and lesbian issues, etc. It also shows therapists who specialize in transgender issues, so if it seems like that's their main "thing" you'll know up front that they're probably not right for you.

    I feel like some support groups have a tendency to focus on victimization, which has just not been helpful for me.

    I appreciate this insight. Emotional support is a necessary but insufficient condition for productive counseling.