connect with Shannon
Relationship Gardening by Shannon Batts
  • Couples
    • Antiracism Groups
    • Walk & Talk
    • Black, Trans Authors
    • About >
      • Shannon
      • Rates
  • Women's Groups
  • Spouses Resource Center
    • Couples and Families of Trans >
      • Transgender >
        • Trans Quotes
        • Trans in Couples
        • Gender Letters Portland
    • Spouses Group
    • Spouses Stories >
      • Partners of Trans Online Support
  • Reviews
  • Telehealth
  • Resources/Events
    • Events for better relationships >
      • Retreats for couples >
        • workshops for better relationships
    • Rethinking Psychiatry-alternatives >
      • Coming Off Psych Drugs
  • Store
    • Free Gift
  • Blog
    • IRL Misfit Mom Over 50
  • HIPAA
  • Hypnosis

Spouse of
​Transgender or Non Binary Partner
Online Support

Picture
When you learn of your partner's gender identity transition, it is hard to know who you can talk to since it is such a private matter. Sometimes you don't yet have the freedom to talk with your friends and family if your person is not quite out.

Your partner may be celebratory while you are in shock (normal), and you don't know where to take this grief.  Your friends and family of origin are sometimes clueless about how to respond in the way you need, or with love and respect as they deal with their own shock. They may need to catch up on what it all means and how best to be an ally for you and your partner. 
You may be fortunate to have the acceptance in your circles, or the reactions may be mixed, or changing.
You might be a spouse who doesn't feel shocked but instead have been wondering if your partner has some gender questioning to do and now that they are doing that can move into processing what it all means for you and you two in your relationship going forward.

For right now though, you as a spouse have a lot of your own questions or are just wondering, "where are the others like me?" You can meet people online who are in a similar situation or already successfully navigated through transitions. Start with the online lists, groups, and chats. The community is growing with 1.6 million transgender people 13 and over in the US (Williams Institute
).  That's a lot of partners too.

The internet is full of negativity and bashing of the relationship in transition.  Mute that and move on to people with success stories, many of which you can find in PFLAG support circles online. Here is a link to PFLAG-however you can look around for the ones in any states that have a trans family focus. https://pflag.org/

​Visit the other tab, Spouses Resource Center and watch a video message and more, or click here.

Transgender Partners

Resources for Significant Others, Friends, Family and Allies of Transgender People 

My Partner is Trans Reddit site

Click here to read the Share Your Story archived positive stories thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/mypartneristrans/ is the Reddit online community that also mentions other things you can connect to like Discord groups, online bookgroups, and partner groups around the world. 

Remember: love remains; we'll sort the rest out together.

Picture
Picture
email Shannon
New Enhanced Relationship Check-Up now available with streamlined 30% less questions, an easy way to reassess progress if we'd like, and plenty of information about strengths and what to repair. Available for $39 (to Gottman Institute) for clients of Approved Member therapist Shannon Batts.
DONATE to "Relationship Gardening by Shannon Batts" by clicking here to go to the checkout Square site where you can enter your donation of any amount and support resource redirection of free services to
​marginalized clients. 

​Or donate via Paypal.me/shannonbatts
​Thank you!
 
Gottman Approved Member



​TESTIMONIALS. WOWEEEEE!
(results not guaranteed)
 http://relationshipgardening.com/couples-therapist-reviews-portland.html
Proud Member of TherapyDen
Picture
How to find a good marriage counselor?  Ask Shannon Batts in Portland, Oregon.  Note from Shannon: Make sure they have advanced training (not just degrees and licenses) with couples, can describe what they learned and how they deliver it to you, and are also HAPPILY married!

​Can they speak to their privilege or marginalizations and how they impact counseling with you?


​

1. Oppezzo M, Schwartz DL. Give your ideas some legs: the positive effect of walking on creative thinking. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2014 Jul;40(4):1142-52. doi: 10.1037/a0036577. Epub 2014 Apr 21. PMID: 24749966.

​2. Calogiuri G, Evensen K, Weydahl A, Andersson K, Patil G, Ihlebæk C, Raanaas RK. Green exercise as a workplace intervention to reduce job stress. Results from a pilot study. Work. 2015;53(1):99-111. doi: 10.3233/WOR-152219. PMID: 26684708.

3. 
What moves you? Physical activity strategies in older women
Marily Oppezzo, Lauren Wegner, James J Gross, 
Daniel L Schwartz, Tessa Eckley, Abby C King, Sally Mackey, Marcia L Stefanick
First Published May 18, 2021 Research Article Find in PubMed
https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053211014593
Picture
Looking for a Marriage Counselor who studies and applies awareness of intersectionality, and the importance of examining her own hidden bias?
Shannon is a Race Talks Facilitator in Portland, Oregon, intentionally under (completed) training (100s+ hours) and ongoing mentorship by Donna Maxey (retired) and Shaina Pomerantz, JD, MSOL.
  





​Shannon Batts, Licensed Professional Counselor of Portland, Oregon, lic# C2379, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for Californians, lic# MFT 34477, is Marriage Friendly, with better than neutrality toward the outcome of your life long love commitment. Shannon Batts is a Portland, Oregon counselor, with advanced skills, education and training in assisting couples (extremely rare among counselors). Lesbian, gay, trans, mixed gender identity, questioning gender, nonbinary, and straight couples of all ages seek out tools and support for their relationships from Shannon Batts. Shannon trains ongoingly to be antiracist and is a facilitator and consultant at Race Talks PDX. Transgender, Black Americans, or unhoused clients will find amazing flexibility in counseling rates if you need it because you've been through enough!


​

www.couplesintransition.com
www.spousesgroup.com
www.spousesresourcecenter.com
www.spousesresourcecenter.org
www.relationshipgardening.com
all arrive at Relationship Gardening by Shannon Batts, and Spouses Resource Center so as to increase options for couples, including those facing gender transition to have excellent support for making it through transition together.
Couples with no LGBTQ identities also benefit by Relationship Gardening.
verified by Psychology Today
Electronic/internet based communication is not a guarantee of privacy as it is always subject to security breach or hacking. You do maintain the right to email, text or video chat regardless of the risk.
 Shannon is the counselor's counselor where couples go to grow a happy marriage, with Gottman research based relationship and marriage help and telehealth video sessions. Clinical hypnosis available as Shannon completed the 100-Hour Comprehensive Training in Applying Clinical Hypnosis in Strategic Psychotherapy intensive by Dr. Michael Yapko. Marriage Counseling, marriage therapy, couple's therapy, couple's coaching, premarital counseling, help for transgender or non binary coming out in marriage, support for spouses of transgender or non binary partners, couples group for transgender partners and cisgender spouses, questioning gender in your marriage, marriage retreats, marriage workshops, antiracist coaching for engaged couples, antiracism groups for white people, antiracism couples groups, antiracism groups for professionals, custom antiracism groups, marriage affairs or adultery, porn or sex addiction or compulsion in your marriage, couples communication training-whatever you call it-make sure your best marriage counseling choice in CA, or in Portland, Oregon has Advanced Gottman Institute aka Relationship Research Institute training.  A Gottman trained therapist like Shannon Batts knows how to move couples from sticky negativity to a garden of new possibilities from the very first couples' session.  Services available by Zoom for all of CA and OR. Walking sessions for individual meetings. relationshipgardening.com spousesresourcecenter.com 

Photos from torbakhopper, tedeytan, tedeytan