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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.
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