I tried to work with several women before finding my current T. None of them did me any good. There was a lot of incompetence but I do wonder if gender played a part as well. I have CPTSD and was afraid of men because of the trauma. Current T was very gentle/protective about making me feel safe in session in ways female T’s don’t really ever have to learn. That was an eye opener... in reality I was like 70% afraid of people in general but faking and maybe 30% afraid of men if even that much. All the women focused on the dramatic parts of the trauma and not a single one ever went farther or deeper. Current T did and we discovered a bunch of toxic family dynamics that created the space for the other things to happen. When I was preschool age I was a daddy’s girl, what little healthy affection I got was from dad... once I knew T wasn’t going to be violent with me it has been a lot easier for me to trust him. But, it is a completely different situation. I do have a female Pdoc and I use her for the feminine side of my healing.