| Try Therapy for a Change copyright 2011 Antonia Caretto |
| www.BeTreatedWell.com |
| Antonia Caretto, Ph.D., PLLC (248) 553-9053 |
The construct of gender is perhaps the primary organizing feature we use to categorize individuals. Gender is constructed by language which uses words as symbols for knowledge. Using the appearance of external genitalia at birth, we utilize a dualistic system of symbol representation with two mutually exclusive descriptors: those whose genitals represent the group symbolically known as male; and those whose genitals represent the group symbolically known as female. These groups define the construct we call gender. We could create some other construct with any number of representatives. Imagine an infinitely large box of crayons in which between any two hues there are infinite gradations...Preschool children may know orange from yellow but may not have a concept of orange-yellow. Conversely, artists may have a host of names to describe various hues of what the more advanced child sees as orange-yellow. Based on knowledge of the construct of color and experiences, for each individual there exists a precise increment at which yellow-orange ceases and orange-yellow exists. All knowledge comes from the experience of sensations and perceptions. No two people can have the same perceptions; therefore, there are no universal truths or ultimate realities, only the representations that are created and limited by language. Gender is a construct which creates and limits distinctions among individual experiences of essence or being. Each individual experiences their gender as a private experience that, by nature of being sensed and perceived by that individual, is their truth. One’s perception and experience of ’gender’ is not sensed in that same precise way by anyone else. Furthermore, perceptions are not static, but fluid. Within any paradigm, knowledge based on perceptions is not only individual, but is constantly evolving. Individual and societal experiences of gender are not static, but are constantly changing. Addressing the question, “Why ‘gender’?’’ is a large part of the treatment done with Transgendered individuals. Transgenderism is the movement that honors this innately transcendental experience of gender. The connotation of the prefix “trans” is not “to transfer,” as in a dualistic paradigm but rather “to transcend,” as in moving beyond the constructs of gender, male and female. It is natural for me to work with Transgender individuals because all my treatment is a process in which an individual’s reality, derived from their inner perceptions and experiences, is made conscious and organized in a way that is coherent to that individual. The therapeutic relationship aids this process by providing additional perceptions and experiences, and a forum in which to engage in evolving awareness.
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