Referral Letters for Gender Affirming Medical Care

In order for a transgender person to receive gender affirming medical care in the US, a letter from a licensed therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist is typically required. This puts mental health clinicians in the role of gatekeeper, often the critical deciding factor in whether a transgender person is able to receive the necessary services to live a tolerable life in the body and identity that feels comfortable for them.

This course will offer clinicians tangible tools for writing medical letters in support of a client’s gender alignment. Clinicians will gain an in-depth understanding about the letter writing process as well as the various instances where clinicians may be asked to write medical letters. Clinicians will also be provided medical letter templates for their use in their future work with transgender clients. For every clinician that identifies as an ally for the Transgender community, this course is necessary in order to expand your allyship and support as you may be the deciding factor in the medical transition of a transgender person.

2 hours CE. Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 2.13 hours

CE CREDITS: 2.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 6/24/2021

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe at least two elements of the importance of therapist letters of support for medical and non-medical gender transition
• Identify at least two differences between the informed consent model and the diagnostic model of transgender care
• Identify at least two types of letters therapists write in support of transgender clients
• Outline at least four vital aspects of a therapist letter of referral

1. History of Transgender Affirming Medical Services
2. Medically Necessary vs. Non-medically Necessary
3. Why Referral Letters Are Required from Therapists
4. Types of Referral Letters Required
   1. Types of letters for medical processes
   2. Types of letters for non-medical processes 
5. Diagnostic vs. Informed Consent Models
   1. Diagnostic Model
   2. Informed Consent Model
   3. Ethical Considerations
6. Writing Referral Letters
   1. How To Decide to Write a Letter for a Client and Various Ways to Approach Care
   2. When to Say “No” to Writing a Letter Now
   3. WPATH Standards of Care
7. Scenarios to Consider
8. Other Instances for Writing Letters
9. Billing for Letter Writing Services
10. Wrap Up and Review
    1. Template Letters