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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2002)
October 18 . 2002 * 13 rTT!TTîïï7nTïneu;s PHOTO BV MAHTY DAVIS L iving L a V ida M edea mp* * - *.*•« ~ «... > * Meet Reid Vanderburgh, Portland's first openly trans psychotherapist eid Vanderburgh’s decision to be come a therapist was inspired by a Hunter S. Thom pson quote: by Sarah Leim ert “When the going gets weird, the weird go pro.” Portland’s first openly trans psychotherapist weighed heavily on Vanderburgh as was a 39-year-old lesbian at the time. His inspir he struggled to find a place for him ing coming-out story has culminated in a suc self in society. “I had some vague cessful career in transpersonal psychology, or equation of ‘transsexual’ and ‘drag what Vanderburgh calls “holistic psychothera queen’ as synonymous, which of py.” He recently received his master’s degree course had made it impossible for me from John F. Kennedy University’s Graduate to recognize myself as transsexual Schixd for Holistic Studies and now is practic earlier in my life. I’ve loathed femi Reid Vanderburgh specializes in working with clients who ing in downtown Portland. nine clothing for as long as I can Vanderburgh specializes in working with remember, which is hardly the attitude of a drag ‘female’ on one side, over an immeasurable clients who are “undergoing major life transfor queen!" chasm, to become ‘male’ on the other side. mations.” He does not limit his services to peo One day in 1995, Vanderburgh’s then- Rather, I have become the bridge.” ple who are considering transition; he also deals partner revealed her own struggle with the same All of Vanderburgh’s trans clients know that with shifting sexual orientations, loss of spouse issue— that she always had felt like a man inside. he, too, is trans before they contact him. “In or partner, addiction recovery processes and This conversation inspired him to change his most cases,” he says, “they contact me because anything else that “requires reinventing who negative attitudes about being trans. I’m trans.” you are from the ground up.” In the two years he “ I would probably still be living in denial had Nontrans clients aren’t specifically informed has been seeing clients, he estimates roughly [my partner not come out to me]. It effectively of Vanderburgh’s identity, but he doesn’t mind if half of them have been trans. held a mirror to my soul,” he says. they find out. The therapist determines self During the ’90s, the former Nancy Vander Vanderburgh spent the next two years post disclosure on a case-by-case basis. burgh was a founding member of the feminist poning a physical transition while the Portland “If it’s in the client’s best interest that they newspaper Rag Times, Portland Women’s Theatre Lesbian Choir recorded its first CD. In “gender know a particular fact about [me, I’ll] go ahead Company, Bridges Vix:al Ensem limbo-land,” he was known as and tell them.... This applies to all kinds of ble and Portland Lesbian male in some circles and issues— sexual orientation, addiction recovery, Choir. “I didn’t take female in others. “I parental status, religion, etc.” "I have not crossed the bridge too kindly to the felt split keenly,” he Vanderburgh also does volunteer work with realization that I’d r e m e m b e r s , Outside In, helping trans youth obtain gender- from 'fem ale' on one side, over an probably be hap “never being congruent legal identification and name immeasurable chasm, to become pier living as a able to quite changes through the state of Oregon. Some of guy,” he says. “I integrate these the kids he encounters are transitioning at a 'm ale' on the other side. Rather, I had quite a life various aspects of very early age— often before they have fully built up in the my life into one developed— using hormones they buy on the hove become the bridge." Portland lesbian cohesive whole, street. community...and leav I “I’ve heard people express concerns, ques ing that group was not on my came out to everyone who tioning whether a 13-year-old, for instance, can n horizon.” was important to me.“ possibly know for sure what their gender is. Vanderburgh never had fantasies about being After beginning hormones and going After all, they’ve only reached adolescence,” he male; he simply “never felt completely at home through top surgery, Vanderburgh found his life says. “I also believe that taking street hormones in [his] skin as a female." He was uncomfortable became much more simple. However, the phys can be dangerous, just as any other street drug with identifying as a lesbian or as a woman. “I ical transformation never felt fully complete. can be. However, I’ve known trans youth who was full of contradictions and felt an enigma to “I had transitioned from female to not were permitted by their parents and doctors to myself—not an easy life for a Virgo," he recalls. female,” he says. “I’m living la vida medea— life start hormones in their early teens, and their Mainstream beliefs about trans people also in the middle. I have not crossed the bridge from experience of adolescence is much happier than — ReidVanderburgh de“ eT fectZ are “ undergoing major life transformations it would be otherwise.” Vanderburgh believes the necessity for street drugs would be greatly reduced if legal services and parental support within a medical frame work were available to transitioning youth. “This concern [also] expresses the societal con fusion between gender identity and sexuality,” a conflict he has lived with his whole life. “I would love to see trans people taken seriously enough that someday transition becomes an adolescent process.” Vanderburgh emphasizes that there is no “one size fits all” answer to how gender and sex uality are interrelated. “The fact is,” he muses, “trans people are already ‘who we truly are.’ It’s just that we can’t completely modify our bodies to reflect our gender identities. How we face that...holds the key to how happy and fulfilled we can be living our lives as relational beings.” In addition to his psychotherapy practice and youth volunteer work, Vanderburgh also participates in presentations, panels and work shops on trans issues. “Obviously I can’t see every trans client in the world, so I feel I can make even more of a difference if I educate the therapists,” he says. Vanderburgh will be teach ing a continuing education class March 7, 2003, at Portland State University for licensed mental health practitioners. JP1 Contact R eid V anderburgh at 503-341-7001 , ReidPUX@aol.com or uww.transtherafnst.com. S arah L eimert is the Editorial Assistant at Just Out. CLACKAMAS VANCOUVER SALEM BEND BEAVERTON 16112 SE 82ND DR (503)650-8242 14415 SE MILL PLAIN BLVD (360)892-5905 3966 SILVERTON RD NE (503)363-4000 61249 SOUTH HWY 97 (541)388-0905 10367 SW CANYON RD. (503)643-5002
