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A member of the Gender Trust, member of G.I.R.E.S., founding member of Depend, and member of OII, my experience of providing support to gender and sexually variant clients began in the early 90’s.

I work comfortably with all forms of trans-identity (TV, TG, and TS), as well as offering genuine insight into the issues that can arise for those who are Trans-historied. (Non-transitioning, pre-transitioning, in transition and post-transition support given.)

Through valuing the uniqueness of the individual, and acknowledging the wide spectrum of possible life paths with equal respect, my counselling supports people who have diverse sex and gender concerns in finding their own ways forward to a more comfortable and fulfilling life.

I work with both MtF and FtM people.

Please be aware that counsellors based in the U.K are unable to prescribe, currently this is the province of specialist gender practitioners, who can be accessed via the NHS or within the private sector.

Things people say about working with Tina

"After many years of suppressing and ignoring my Gender Dysphoria, Transition was something I knew I needed to do but was a very daunting prospect for me; I really had no idea where to start.

After asking on various online forums, Tina Livingstone came highly recommended, so being more than a little nervous I contacted her and arranged my first session. As the day of the session arrived I nervously made my way to the counselling rooms. I need not have worried as Tina put me at ease.

Over the next few years, she allowed me to take things at my own pace, building confidence and moving towards being full time, allowing me the space I needed. Tina was invaluable with coming out at work, which was one of my largest worries.

Having been full time for three years now, my transition has been smoother than I could ever have wished for in a large part due to Tina's help."

 

"I came to Tina as a lifelong Transvestite male, who at 55 was suffering from a major crisis of confidence. My feelings of self-worth were up and down like a yo-yo and I had become a not particularly nice person to know and certainly not a good person to live with.

When I first made contact , I did so with some trepidation. I thought that counselling was for Transsexuals, and not for people like me, In fact, I had no idea what I was and that frightened me badly. The two options appeared to be Pervert or Woman and I didn't really feel like either.

My trepidation was completely unfounded and working with Tina taught me that it didn't actually matter what I was, it was who I was that was important. With a great deal of patience and no small amount of wit, warmth, and humour, Tina helped me to discover myself and to give myself permission to be that person. I am now able, not to determine my destination, but to travel hopefully and enjoy the journey. What more can anyone ask of life?"

 

"When I first came to Tina I had various problems relating to my Gender Dysphoria and, although I had come to terms with being Transsexual, I didn't know how to deal with it and I had various problems which were preventing me from doing so. These problems related mainly to my lack of self-confidence and my desperate need to protect my marriage to a very loving and supportive partner. I was very unsure and very depressed because I was unable to deal with my Gender Dysphoria, so I needed to understand and overcome these problems.

Whilst many transexuals gain support from their friends, from each other, I had no friends in a similar situation, (who could identify with the problems of being transexual within a loving relationship because so many relationships breakdown), and therefore no one who I could also confide in. Tina has been able to take on that role for me. She has an excellent knowledge of the TS community and the problems that we face, whilst at the same time she can also view our situation from the outside, from the point view of my partner.

It was my lack of confidence and uncertainty of my future that actually led me to contacting Tina in 2002. I had no clue as to what I wanted nor how I was going to achieve it. Although I did know that I desperately wanted acceptance from the public and to be treated correctly as a woman, I did not have the knowledge or confidence to achieve this on my own. This was not helped by the fact I knew so few other Transexuals so I could not comprehend that other people were experiencing these problems too, 'I was not alone'. Over the time that I saw Tina she has been able to educate me with the extensive knowledge she has gained through many years of counselling other people like myself. Knowledge that until now I have lacked.

3 years ago I had no idea of how to take myself forward, I was depressed, fearful for my marriage, unconfident and had very low self-esteem. I have also been unemployed for two years and had a terrible phobia over interviews, which was preventing me from returning to work, and I was also afraid of how people would react to me. Today I have started my transition and I now live F/T as 'me'. I am confident, happy and I can actually say I love myself for the first time ever, and today I have just found myself voluntary work, which is the first step toward getting myself back into the system of life.

Tina has been a significant part of my transition, although she has never influenced me, she helped me evaluate how to deal with my Gender Dysphoria and to understand the options open to me and she gave me the confidence to make my own decisions that were right for me and my spouse.

Once I made the decision to transition, Tina helped me to gain the confidence to do so although my transition has been fraught with delays and other problems, mainly relating to my lack of confidence and my low self-esteem, she has always been there to give me encouragement and support and to help me through the difficult times. Tina also supported my spouse during these difficult times when a loved one decides to transition.

Today my transition is a success. I live as 'me', have a loving spouse and a job. This is what Tina and I have been working toward over the past 3 years, for me to transition and get myself back into the work place and to keep my marriage of 24 years intact. Over the past few days I've been thinking about what Tina and I have discussed: about my low self esteem, my fears of interviews and how people would react to me and Tinas' confidence that I would be ok. It's difficult to see it yourself at the time, but now I understand that confidence she had."

"I have never thought that I would need a counsellor.
I am able easily to analyse and resolve problems, I am used to making decisions and do so without difficulty. I have not been unsuccessful in life and I have every reason to think that others hold me in respect.

But for all that my life is a mess! I am racked with grief following the death of a wife I loved with all my heart and my transsexuality, which I have suppressed for so many years, is becoming ever more difficult to bear. I feel alone, afraid, and utterly worthless.

And that is why I need you Tina. I need help to peel away the defences with which I have protected myself for so long, to discover a sense of self-esteem. I need non-judgemental acceptance, informed understanding, humanity. You meet that need and you meet it in a way to which I can relate and respond.

And yet I could not blame you if as I talk your thoughts are far away. So I have watched your eyes, the windows on the soul as someone said, and they betray the woman beyond. A caring and responsive woman who makes me feel safe in her presence.

We have a long way to go, you and I, but I am beginning to feel that with your help there might yet be some hope for me. I do not expect the road to be easy but I no longer feel that my cause is hopeless.

I do not know where all this will end but we are making progress and that is more than I had ever thought possible.

To say thank you seems inadequate but it is said sincerely."

Tina has asked me to describe what it's like when I visit her for counselling… well, I've got no idea what to write as all I do is go there & we chat. But maybe it's rather more than that.

I have no idea 'how' Tina counsels but I have heard her say that she tries to offer "unconditional positive regard" for all her clients & that's certainly true. At times I had zero good to say about myself & was sure the world felt the same… yet Tina knew the good was there & even managed to let me find it for myself.

But that's maybe the key thing in all of this, all I discovered, all I came to realise, all the choices I made, all came from within me. The most frightening person to be honest to is myself, not to Tina. It seems that Tina's role is to help with the personal exploration & to move the chain of thought in the required direction. My direction, on the journey I needed to travel. That direction however may well not be the one I intended, nor the one I wished for, or maybe it was very painful.

So what is counselling like? For me it was having the time to be 'me' & having a person who cared to listen 'me'. It is 'my' safe space, a space where what I said & what I felt was important. In no way did Tina judge or pass comment or in anyway belittle me ever. Even when I let slip my deepest darkest secrets that I was sure I would be hated for, all I ever felt from Tina was respect & love for 'me'.

The hardest part was making the first phone call, arriving for the first session & the first time I had the courage to say "help" in a very little voice. But it does get easier. So it's safe to say Tina Doesn't bite… well not very much anyway!"

 

When I was forty five, something happened to put a crack in the wall I’d erected around the woman living deep inside my heart. As time progressed, so did that crack. The wall began to crumble — and with it my grip on my own sanity.

I needed to talk to a therapist, but the very thing I needed to talk about was exactly the thing I had no intention of ever talking about!

Enter the cavalry. Or in this case, the Internet. I found a therapist who was working with the community, Tina Livingstone. I’d read her posts on-line. I liked her philosophy and her style. I contacted Tina.

The sessions were powerful stuff. Working with Tina took the pressure off. I started thinking in terms of my condition as something I could talk about. Something I didn’t need to hide from everyone. As something that didn’t make me crazy.

This time has helped me learn how to live with my issues. Not just to survive, but to thrive, live and love my life.