I'm Dr. Corinne Votaw-Freer, a psychologist with more than twenty years of experience and one of the few intersex psychologists in the nation. I provide gender-focused therapy and evaluation for teens, adults, and families in more than 40 states, entirely online. If you have read the book, this is the clinical work behind it.
Families come to me from both directions. Some are afraid a clinician will affirm their child on the first visit and start a medical pathway before anyone has asked hard questions. Others are afraid a clinician will dismiss their child and call the whole thing a phase. Both fears are reasonable, because both things happen.
My practice is built on a third option: take the person seriously, take the questions seriously, and let the evaluation take the time it needs. I have spent my career in LGBTQIA+ clinical settings, I have collaborated with neurologists, geneticists, and endocrinologists on gender and development, and I wrote Gender Centered because I believe careful assessment serves everyone, whatever the answer turns out to be.
If your teen announced a transgender identity seemingly out of nowhere, you have probably encountered the term rapid onset gender dysphoria. ROGD is not a recognized diagnosis, and the research behind it is contested. But the thing parents are pointing at with that term is real, and it deserves a careful clinical answer rather than a slogan from either side.
That is what an evaluation with me is for. Sudden-seeming announcements can reflect long-standing dysphoria that stayed private for years. They can also reflect social influence, autism, trauma, anxiety, or an identity still in motion. The only way to tell these apart is unhurried assessment by someone who knows what each one looks like. I can help rule out rapid onset gender dysphoria as a family's explanation, or confirm that what looks sudden from the outside has deeper roots, and either answer puts you on firmer ground than guessing.
You should not have to choose between a clinician who won't question and a clinician who won't listen.
Much of this field runs on speed. Single-visit letters, brief screenings, and quick conclusions in one direction or the other. I work differently. My evaluations extend across multiple sessions, because time is a diagnostic tool. What holds steady over an extended evaluation tells you something no single appointment can.
An extended evaluation with me includes:
Everything is conducted online, and every evaluation is conducted and signed by me.
Whether you are a parent trying to understand what is happening, a teen or adult wanting a thoughtful place to work through gender questions, or a family that needs a careful evaluation, reach out and we will figure out the right starting point together.
Want to understand the approach before you book? It's all in the book.