Toby Barron Therapy

It can be appropriate and even highly beneficial to include family members or partner(s) during a session. All of this depends on what we are working on and where we are in that work. We can always discuss whether it’s the right time and whether it’s something you are interested in. As long as it serves your needs and feels like a healthy choice, I’m happy to support it.

Most of my career has been focused on helping people of the LGBTQIA+ community; especially trans and gender nonconforming clients. I’ve also done a lot of work supporting HIV-positive clients. I am trained and certified in a variety of modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Action and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Gender-Affirmative Therapy, etc. See my about page for a full list.

First, you should feel safe and understood. This is imperative because you’ll be discussing very personal information in therapy and that feeling of safety is necessary in order to open up. Second, you should feel secure in their competence. They should be able to discuss their experience and approach to therapy in a way that you can understand. Lastly, you should feel challenged. A great therapist should make you feel understood and supported while also gently challenging you to grow.

Therapy can help you foster more peace, self-awareness, and confidence. By working through underlying issues, we can relieve depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and stress. In doing so, you’ll reconnect with your needs and feelings and learn useful new communication and coping skills. We’ll work to cultivate self-love and confidence by discovering and accepting who you truly are.

In therapy, we will be identifying patterns in your life that aren’t working for you. This kind of pattern can develop without your awareness and can create undesirable outcomes. By illuminating these patterns and their causes, we can work to interrupt them and find a healthier path.

A first appointment is an opportunity for you to connect with your new therapist and share whatever part of your story you’d like. Your therapist will listen with compassion and reflect on your experiences with you. Often people can feel alone in carrying their story, so this can feel cathartic. Some people need a little more face time with a new therapist to develop a relationship before they divulge personal details, and that is an equally valuable use of time! By the end of the session, you should feel heard and seen, and your therapist may collaborate with you on a plan for your work together.

You and I will check in regularly about how you are progressing and what your needs are. When it starts to seem like your need for therapy is winding down, we will make a plan for you to take all your new tools and perspectives with you into the next chapter of your life. If you ever need to revisit therapy after you leave, you can always reach back out.

At this time, for public health reasons, I am primarily offering telehealth (video and phone) services. I’ve been very glad to see how well clients took to services online and plan to keep offering it for the foreseeable future.

Yes! Writing letters for gender affirming surgery is one of my passions and I have a great deal of experience with it. I have worked with a wide range of surgeons and insurance companies and supported hundreds of trans and gender non-conforming clients through this process.