Psychology within the Adult Gender Identity Service
Our psychology team provides specialist support for people on the gender treatment pathway.
The team offer a range of interventions including
- individual and group therapy to help with gender related challenges such as anxiety, low mood, self esteem, and relationships
- extended diagnostic assessments and evaluation of readiness for medical or surgical interventions
- collaboration with other specialists to ensure holistic care.
Not everyone will need psychological support, but therapy is available for those who want space to reflect, explore gender identity, or manage challenges with medical interventions. Extended assessments are offered for people who need more time to consider their gender identity and readiness for treatment.
If your needs are better met by local mental health services, we can help arrange referrals for appropriate support.
You can be referred to psychology by a Transcend clinician, usually during first assessment or follow up appointment. Let one of our staff know if you would like a referral for gender related mental health support.
Once referred, our team will review your referral and add you to the waiting list.
Please note: due to high demand, there will be a waiting period before appointments are available. When you’re near the top of the list, we’ll contact you to offer the next available appointment for an initial assessment.
We offer appointments online or in person at our Liverpool city centre clinic. If you’ve requested a preference, we’ll do our best to accommodate this.
Need to cancel or reschedule? Let us know as soon as possible, and we’ll arrange a new time.
Duration: About 90 minutes
Preparation: No need to prepare anything in advance, we just want to get to know you.
Focus: We’ll talk about your referral, your experiences so far, and what you’d like to address through gender related psychology.
At the end of the assessment, we’ll agree on next steps. This could include starting therapy or continuing with an extended assessment. Your plan will be tailored to your needs.
We offer one to one therapy and plan to introduce group sessions in the future. We work with your strengths to help you explore your experiences and feel empowered to take the next steps in your journey.
Therapy is:
- Person centred: focused on your goals and strengths
- Collaborative: we work closely with you and other Transcend colleagues to support medical interventions as part of your transition
- Flexible: tailored to your needs, whether that’s exploring gender identity, managing anxiety or low mood, or improving self esteem and relationships.
If other local services would better meet your needs, we’ll help connect you with them and can work alongside those services for additional support.
Diagnostic assessments usually take at least two sessions. Some people may need more time and discussion to explore their gender and decide on the right path for them. Extended assessments provide this space and help determine diagnosis and readiness for medical intervention are appropriate.
We understand that life happens and sometimes you need to cancel or rearrange appointments. Here’s what we ask:
Please try to give at least 24 hours notice if you need to cancel or reschedule. This helps us offer the slot to someone else who is waiting.
Two missed appointments (Did Not Attend) or repeated cancellations may result in discharge from the psychology service. Psychology works best when there is consistent engagement. If appointments are frequently missed or cancelled, it reduces the benefit of therapy and delays progress.
If you’re struggling to attend, please let us know. We are here to help and will try to work with you to find solutions.
Waiting times are currently long due to high demand. We’ll contact you when you’re near the top of the list. Unfortunately, we’re unable to provide regular updates during this time.